SKÅNE - The Daily Roxette has reached Per for a short debriefing after the successful "tour":

Per, you've just landed after the tour, or as you called it - "merely a handful of concerts".  How do you feel now, better or worse than when we talked before?

Oh it's been a wonderful "tour", so many hi-lites, so few downers. The very last show in St. P. was outstanding. Marie in top shape, Chris finally becoming the rock god he really is and the whole band kickin' serious ass. But all the shows have been great. It's a beautiful band, we really love to play together and I'm sure it shows. It's really really hard to stop playing live now!!

Did everything meet your expectations?

Rox has suddenly become much bigger than expected! Example: last time we played Moscow & St. Petes in 2001, we had around 5000 people per show. This time we had 9500 + 11000. Amazing!! What's cool is that Ozzy Osbourne played the same St. Petersburg-venue the night before us and had 6500 people, Sting performed the night after us and had 6000… And we had 11000… The interest in what we do is growing rapidly and it feels fab of course.

How was the audience?

Oh, without the crowd it could never have worked out! We're totally driven by the response from the audience. You know the Carlsberg-slogan? “Probably the best beer in the world”?? We're saying that about our fans: probably the best fans in the world!!!!!!

How was Marie?

Marie was great. Her hi-lites were Halmstad, Stavanger and St. Peter. She needs to take it easy and rest a lot and unfortunately she had a cold when we played Moscow and that affected her, of course. But all in all, she has impressed us all. The future is so bright, we gotta wear shades.

How was the band?

I cannot praise this bunch of people enough. Not only do they play World Class Power Pop but they're also great to hang out with and that is very very important in my book. And newcomer Malin is a good sport. Even Pelle is nice. Sometimes.

How were you?

Pretty tired after 45 minutes every show. Have to work out some more… Otherwise, I'm lovin' it!

How Do You Do!

Oh, that became a showstopper. We didn't realize how big that song really is. Extremely fun to play.

Best show?

St P.

Best memory?

My bodyguard in Moscow who took his job very seriously…

Worst memory?

The strange and negative media coverage from the Danish concert. We left that show feeling really good. It was a magic night for both ourselves and the crowd. Trust me.

All the shows were recorded for future generations, what are the plans, if any? DVD, Blu-ray? Live album?

We have it all down, let's see what happens…

On a side note, how did it feel to be on stage with the boys in GT again?

Cool, they're such a great band. We rehearsed 12 minutes before the Halmstad gig… it sounded fab immediately. One of these years we have to do something together…

I think UN is writing a declaration about that as we speak. The crowd in Halmstad just lost it when GT came on stage…

Well… We are the boys next door…

Indeed you are! Word has it Roxette is planning a real tour for 2011, what can you share with our readers?

We'll let you know pretty soon what's going on. I'm sure no one will be disappointed.

That's good to hear. And now you're back in damp Skåne, mixing, recording, filming no less. The  guys in the band tell me they run when they hear you coming with the camera, what do you say about that?

That's the game. To grab them in their underwear or killing a cat or something. I have my ways…

How is the studio work going? I saw a Tweet that the first single may be delayed until 2011?

It's going great. Almost done. Have a few biz deals to sort out before we can release something. The album sounds really cool and we're all very happy and positive about it.

Isn't it about time to put out a few seconds teaser on the web?

HEHEHEHEHE

And with that Per slams down the receiver on the phone, with that weird laughter echoing in my ears…