KARLSTAD – The Daily Roxette team consisting of me and Kai-Uwe Heinze was in Karlstad to share their reflexions of the 8th Gyllene Tider concert. The story’s below. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Standing up early with the sun shining brightly through the window in my hotel room. Golden reflexions on the wall tell me one thing… the Golden Boys are in town! The last preparations before we hit the road to the concert place at Mariebergsskogen in Karlstad. Camera bags are well packed, smiles are on and we’re ready to enjoy the show all evening long.

There we are, at the parking place where we face the usual Swedish brilliant organisation. Around 10 people are there to show us our parking place, a nice big gap between two other cars. Thank you, good service. Karlstad, what a wonderful place you are! The sun  is bathing in the lake that touches the venue, people enjoying the calm evening by sitting at the coast doing picnic. The lake is full of boats with people sipping wine while trying to catch the sounds from the stage. It was before 6pm when we arrived. We did small stroll to see if we can meet the well known international fans from the Golden first row. And yes, we found them easily at the start of the queue! All of them happy and waiting excitedly but very patiently for the gates to open.We did a small talk about their extremely exciting journey from one concert to another, with us they shared their emotions and stories about following the band. Some of them came to Sweden only to see and hear Gyllene Tider, some of them for the first time, just like me. The list of shows to see is long. I heard about seven or even more. Isn’t this real love? It surely is!

During our chat the guards opened the gates. The talk stopped instantly. Now they were ready to enter their destination, the best places in the first row. We still had some time so we used this sunny afternoon to take a walk at the lake. “Andas in, andas ut.” Maybe we should bring fishing poles next time…?  But let’s get back to the topic…

Shortly before the gig started, we had the opportunity to talk with Cecilia, a very friendly lady working for Live Nation, the tour organizer. She was happy because the GT tickets are selling well this year. According to her sources, 11,000 people would show up in Karlstad this evening. After the concert Per posted on Facebook’s “Gyllene Tider Official” the message which positively surprised everyone: 13,000 people came to see GT in Karlstad! Wow! We’re happy to hear it. The venue was packed there but this is nice when you’re enjoying this lovely evening surrounded by happy, friendly people who share their passion with you.

Around 8pm. we reached the place at the left-hand side of the stage in order to wait for the signal to enter the pit before the stage together with the other photographers. There were also the lovely wives of the band members, taking pictures and videos of their beloved ones. The show started with a small delay which gave the photographers more time to check the settings on their cameras. The speakers played the brilliant playlist prepared by Per himself to sweeten the time for all those waiting for the real deal and than the show began…

The concert started with “Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej.” Such a fantastic song it is! The best choice to start a gig with a real strong kick! Whenever I hear the song and see the band performing it I have the lyrics of “The wild one” by Johnny O’Keefe in my mind. Next songs in the row were “Juni, juli, augusti” and “Det hjärta som brinner.” The first three songs were over faster than we thought. We left “the zero row” to continue taking pictures from the audience’s perspective and inbetween we were also enjoying the concert. The band looked extremely good (as always), wildly entering the stage, being Dressed for Success. Per, well known as the most successful three accords guitar player in the band was dressed in a very stylish shirt (or rather a collection of similar shirts with the GT logo in different colors) which he was changing during the breaks and Oh boy, did he look good in black! The other boys changed their stage fashion during the breaks as well. Göran, well known as the Goldfinger of the band and patron saint of “När vi två blir en,” was changing his clothes a few times, starting as “mafia boss whose look could kill,” later being a very proud fan of the local football team who looked like he just came back from a match that ran well. Anders, the wildest & most handsome bass player in the band, made the female part of the audience happy by simply dressing less. It always works! Micke, well known as the hottest drummer in the band, fitted his sporty body into a tight and good looking dark jacket which made him appear extremely young and attractive. MP, when on stage best known as the wildest guitar player in the band was dressed very comfortably, good looking and elegant. That’s how he is! Yes, these guys got the look and they can also make a lot of noise with a lot of good vibrations!

The whole concert consisted of 24 songs including the gem track “Arabiska Nätter.” Yet, “Skicka ett vykort, älskling” and “En sten vid en sjö i en skog” didn’t appear on the Karlstad tracklist.  The audience definitely had fun, as well as the band during the whole show. I don’t have to mention which songs excited the audience the most, do I? The show ended as usual with the best GT ballad ever, “När alla vännerna gått hem,” and the emotions couldn’t be hidden. I always have a tear in my eye when I listen to it, how about you? The music faded out… The last greeting, the last bow for this evening. But hey, if you couldn’t be there with us then take your chance to enter one of the next concerts. The tour goes on and the summer is long!

What more can I add? The truth is that none of the reviews, mine or anyone else’s will give you the same feeling as if you actually were there! Gyllene Tider is the best example that the best pop music is made in Sweden and these five guys made the Swedish summer time unforgettable for many fans from all over the world. I’m proud to have met these guys on my way, in my life. I do love good music!

Update: A gallery with photos of this gig has been added now for your entertainment.