Archive for September, 2010

BBC Radio 2 live session

ButterflyShoot_12jul10

a-ha are now in the UK to promote 25, which is being released there next Monday.

Today they did a live session on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2 – their third live session at the BBC Maida Vale studios since 2006. In addition to playing five of their own songs, the band performed a cover version of Soft Cell’s 1982 hit “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”.

Setlist:
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Butterfly, Butterfly
3. Analogue
4. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Soft Cell cover)
5. Take On Me
6. (Seemingly) Nonstop July (Bonus online track)

The whole show, featuring the live tracks and interviews with the band is available on BBC’s website for 7 days here.

 

On Sunday, a special programme about a-ha called “A Life in Music” was broadcast on Smooth Radio. The 25-minute radio special, featuring interviews with all three members, can now be heard again here.

 

In addition to the standard version of 25 there will also be a 3-disc Deluxe Edition released in the UK, which features a DVD with 17 music videos. Although not a complete video collection, the DVD includes “Dark Is The Night”, “Angel In The Snow”, “Shapes That Go Together”, “Butterfly, Butterfly” and “Take On Me” (1984 version) – all of which are being released on DVD for the first time. The DVD also includes the videos for “I’ve Been Losing You”, “Lifelines” and “Did Anyone Approach You”, which were previously only available on a 2003 Spanish promo DVD.

The 3-disc deluxe edition of 25 can now be ordered from Amazon.co.uk.

Oslo press conference

Morten at the press conference

Morten at the press conference

Morten held a press conference in Oslo on Friday, to talk about the upcoming concert in Oslo Konserthus on 4 October, where all the proceedings will go to the Christian organization Mercy Ships.

Also present was Lord Ian McColl, medical surgeon and chairman of Mercy Ships UK, who has done volunteer work for the organization since 1996.

Morten first heard about Mercy Ships one year ago, when a cabin neighbour told him about it. The neighbour, Erling Natvig, turned out to be the chairman of Mercy Ships Norway.

I couldn’t understand that I hadn’t heard about this fantastic project before. Therefore the most important thing about this concert is to spread the word about Mercy Ships“, Morten says.

They take care of people with limited resources, and heal them. It’s an impressive work.

For the concerts in Oslo and London, a-ha will be backed by 30 musicians from Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.

This won’t be an ordinary charity show, where the program has been put together at the last minute. The audience will get to hear our whole debut album, “Hunting High And Low”, in a unique concert“, Morten says.

Links:
TV2: a-ha synger for sykehuskip i Afrika (with video clip)
Dagbladet: Morten Harkets giver-iver
VG: a-ha gir bort billettpenger til flytende sykehus
Dagen Magazinet: Harket hyller Mercy Ships

“Singin’ in the Rain”

Kristiansand, 11 September (Picture by Jakob)

Kristiansand, 11 September
(Picture by Jakob)

It was a rather wet evening on Saturday, when a-ha played their last-ever outdoor concert in front of 15.000 people at Sør Arena in Kristiansand. So instead of the usual Tchaikovsky intro we got Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain”.

The roof over the middle part of the stage didn’t seem to be of much help, when the rain came in sideways. From behind a large protective plastic case, Magne commented that his keyboard had turned into an aquarium, while during the acoustic set Morten said that he was almost sliding off his chair, as it was so wet.

Kristiansand, 11 September (Picture by Jakob)

Kristiansand, 11 September
(Picture by Jakob)

But despite the weather and some technical problems, the show went ahead as planned. “We’ll try to do our part to make this night as memorable as possible for you“, Magne said before “Stay On These Roads”. The setlist was the same as in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim – 21 songs starting with TSASOTV and ending with TOM.

Our very first concert in Norway took place in Kristiansand, back in 87. Thank you so much for inviting us back“, Magne told the audience at the end.

The concert gets 5 out of 6 from the local newspaper Fædrelandsvennen.

For Karl Oluf it was a special night, as he is originally from Vennesla, not too far from Kristiansand.

The audience sang along loudly and created a good atmosphere, even if the rain was pouring down. That was great. Magne was super-happy afterwards and Morten thought it was a special show, since Kristiansand is partly home territory for him as well“, he said in an interview afterwards.

Here is the first of my YouTube clips from Kristiansand:
Crying In The Rain

Kristiansand, 11 September (Picture by Jakob)

Kristiansand, 11 September
(Picture by Jakob)

 
The next concert is the Hunting High And Low-performance at Oslo Konserthus on 4 October. There was a ticket presale today; more info on a-ha.com.

 
And Happy Birthday to Morten, who is 51 today!

“It’s our gift to the audience”

Kristiansand, September 7th

Kristiansand, September 7th

Magne and Morten were in Kristiansand yesterday to promote a-ha’s last ever stadium/outdoor concert.

Fædrelandsvennen has a video interview here, while Radio Sør has an audio interview here.

There was also a TV report on NRK Sørlandet, which can be seen here (starts after 7.45 minutes).

Magne:We’re now ending the most grandiose stadium tour in Norwegian history in Kristiansand on Saturday, so that will be a special concert for us and it will be very special for those who are coming to see it as well.

We have lots of friends and family down here, so it will be really cool to put on a real show at Sør Arena. We have brought along the world’s most amazing stage production and I think people’s jaws will drop. There’s never been anything like it in Norway and I don’t think any other band besides us could have done the same. And I don’t think anyone would have been crazy enough to pay for such a big production for so few shows. You need to tour for a year in order to pay for a production like this. It’s our gift to the audience.

13.500 tickets have been sold for the Kristiansand concert so far. The rigging of the stage is being streamed live here.

 
And here’s a new interview with director Steve Barron about the “Butterfly” video:
promonews.tv

Stavanger, Tromsø and Trondheim

Stavanger, 2 September (Picture by Jakob)

Stavanger, 2 September
(Picture by Jakob)

The band had a busy few days this past weekend, with three concerts in three days in different parts of Norway.

Stavanger, 2 September (Picture by Jakob)

Stavanger, 2 September
(Picture by Jakob)

In Stavanger they played at the first annual Rått og Råde Festival in front of 10.000 people. The setlist (18 songs) was a bit shorter than the stadium concerts, leaving out the acoustic set. The local newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad gives the concert 5 out of 6.

I will be uploading some of my video clips from Stavanger on YouTube – here is the first one:
Stay On These Roads.

In Tromsø, 13.000 people saw the band at the Døgnvill Festival – where a-ha also played in 2007. Anneli Drecker, who was a-ha’s backing vocalist from 2000 – 2002, came on stage for a duet with Morten on Crying In The Rain. Many of the other songs can also be seen on YouTube here. The concert gets an outstanding review from iTromso.no (6 out of 6) and a more moderate review from nordlys.no (4 out of 6).

At Lerkendal Stadium in Trondheim on Saturday they were back on their own Butterfly-shaped stage, with an audience of 15.000 people. The concert included the full 21-song set for an appreciative crowd, despite a chilly temperature. Some reviews can be found at adressa.no and NRK.no. NRK also has a picture gallery here.

 
Apparatjik have announced their third concert, which will take place in London on 23 September at the Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park. More info on apparatjik.com.

 
And happy birthday to Paul, who turns 49 today!

Trondheim, 4 September (Picture by Jakob)

Trondheim, 4 September
(Picture by Jakob)

Powered by WordPress