LINKÖPING – How would you imagine a typical great Swedish summer day? Sun, yes. A small town with lots of young people. Warm air. People with picnic baskets on the green grass near a river. Relaxing. Listening to some good music. You know, Swedish summer tunes such as…. “Sommartider, hej hej!”. Yep, welcome to the Gyllene Tider concert in Linköping!

The problem was, and this will be the only complaint I will have this time, that exactly these Swedes I mentioned sat outside the venue in what seems to be a great summer sport in this country. You can see literally hundreds of people sitting right outside the fences listening to the concert for free.

The paying audience instead was a good mix of all ages, interests and probably countries. The Swedish audience is a very kind and happy one. They dance, they sing along, they party to the songs. There is a very positive mood all over the place. Even the guards smile and move their hips. Really lovely to see, and this alone is worth going to one of GT’s gigs. But wait…

You’re waiting for the concert review? Well, this is easily done. All their hits, the old ones and some new ones, being played by a band which seems to enjoy this rare summer tour to the fullest. They are so tight together, keep doing rock poses, run all over the stage as if they were still as young as in 1996 when the Återtaget ’96 tour happened. Per himself is a born entertainment machine. He is all the time looking to create contact with the audience, he is surprisingly sporty considering he is “not 50 anymore”. And it is important to point out that his personality changes when he does concerts in Sweden. He is not the Roxette superstar here, you rather get the feeling that Sweden has found it’s own Bob Dylan and people listen to the stories he has to tell. It’s a big difference compared to international Roxette concerts where people just want to be entertained. Here in Sweden, everyone lives up when they sing “We’re going fishing” or “When the two of us become one.” It’s their language, it’s stories that have happened to most of them. It’s also about the tunes they all grew up with. Every bigger Swedish radio station plays GT a few times a day at least. You simply cannot drive through the countryside without having heard “Sommartider” or one of the later singles at least once. That’s Sweden for you. Once they love something they won’t let it go. One of the basics of GT’s success here.

Micke who actually had been banned from singing for lifetime (and it still needs to be revealed what exactly has happened that’s made him actually perform songs in front of a crowd again) is visibly enjoying his short but intense part in the show. It’s when he leaves his drums and intonates some of the older songs in a style that an important but rather stupid Swedish newspaper once declared as “Aprés ski” entertainment. Well, they have a few points here but it’s Micke’s very warmhearted and personal way of attracting the audience that makes this small section in the show worthwhile. Even though he insists calling Per by his full name, which may endanger future appearances of this kind…

Fritte, Anders and MP all get their well deserved attention in this show as well. They are the ones that keep the rocky feeling alive when they pose like in the olden days. It’s interesting to see that many of the fans take a lot of photos of exactly these three guys. They seem to know why.

Before you all get tired of reading all this high praise; enjoy at least one or two of these splendid Swedish summer nights with one of the most talented bands this lovely country has brought up ever. It’s a must. Everyone we talked to, every single one, has had fun during the concerts. Go there and see what entertainment and joy were like when the times were still good. It were the golden times of Rock’n’Roll. In Swedish: Gyllene Tider.

Attached to this review you will find a selection of photos taken by both this reporter and Miss Justyna Bereza during the show in Linköping.