Archive for September, 2012

Apparatjik at Astrup Fearnley, September 29th

Apparatjik and Lowell, September 29th (From YouTube video)

Between 2500 and 3000 people found their way to the Apparatjik concert at the new Astrup Fearnley museum in Oslo last night.

Here are some YouTube videos, posted by Alyssa Nilsen, “eveghost” and “realme978”:

Supersonic Sound   Unknown song   Arrow and Bow
Shake Him Off   Snow Crystals   Josie
Pakt / Control Park / Time Police / Supersonic Sound / Do It Myself

Buenos Aires concert, September 28th

Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 28th

Morten and his band played at the Gran Rex theatre in Buenos Aires yesterday, for an enthusiastic crowd. At the end of the show, he put on an Argentinian football shirt, to much applause from the audience. “Somebody gave me this. It certainly looks better on a footballer, but there you are”, Morten said.

YouTube videos posted so far:
Arriving at the airport   Lightning   Stay On These Roads   We’re Looking For The Whales   Out Of Blue Comes Green   Crying In The Rain   Foot Of The Mountain   Applause at the end

Photo galleries:
Flickr set by Synth 101   Backstage “meet & greet”

Update: Check out this multi-camera edit of the complete Buenos Aires gig, filmed from the front row in excellent HD quality: YouTube playlist

Apparatjik preview concert

Apparatjik did a preview concert for press and industry people at the Astrup Fearnley museum last night. Some videos have been posted on YouTube by “eveghost”:

Deadbeat   Arrow and Bow   Pakt/Control Park   Unknown song/Superpositions

There are also some rehearsal videos from earlier on, posted by Alyssa Nilsen.

The main event – tonight’s free concert at Astrup Fearnley – starts at 9:00 PM and features a new cube.

“The new cube is made especially for this show. We were originally planning on positioning it above the water, but they’re expecting a spring tide, and combined with 220 volts through our instruments that wasn’t such a good idea”, Magne says in an interview with Dagsavisen today.

Guy Berryman once again seems to be busy with Coldplay, so he’s not taking part.

Astrup Fearnley museum opens

Outside the new museum, September 27th

Magne, along with Jonas Bjerre and Martin Terefe, attended the official opening of the new Astrup Fearnley museum in Oslo today. There’s a photo gallery from the event at vg.no.

Afterwards, they were guests on the radio programme Kulturnytt on NRK P2, to talk about their first impressions of the museum and the upcoming Apparatjik performance there on Saturday.

Magne was asked how the Apparatjik concept will fit in at the Astrup Fearnley museum:

“I don’t think it fits at all, because we’ve made it a specialty to fall between two stools. Most people in the art world think we’re way too pop-oriented. And those expecting to hear pop music think we’re too arty. So we have ended up somewhere in between, where we don’t manage to connect with anyone. But we do create music that we like, and the songs are quite structured. We’re not attempting to create very inaccessible stuff. We just don’t want to do things the way we’ve used to in our main projects.

We were shocked when we entered the stage at Roskilde this summer and looked out on an audience of 40.000 – 50.000 people, who stood with their jaws dropped for the first 15 minutes and then ended up jumping up and down to music they had never heard before. It was very exciting. I had never entered the stage before, without having at least a few hits to get the audience going. So it was incredibly fun. I think people with a certain sense of humour will feel this is something they should witness. And it takes place on Saturday at 9:00 PM”, Magne said.

“It’s important to stress that this is not a concert for the elite, but a free concert for the people of Oslo – and anyone who comes from out of town. We’re going to create a lot of noise, so this is not a part of those posh opening ceremonies”, he added.

The whole interview is available as an MP3 file at nrk.no.

Tonight, Apparatjik and Lowell did a “secret” warm-up show at DogA – the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture in Oslo. A few pictures were posted on Instagram by Monika and Tini from The Voice.

Be also sure to check out a couple of new videos from the Roskilde concert on Vimeo, here and here.

Sao Paulo concert, September 26th

Sao Paulo, September 26th 
(Picture from UOL)

Morten played the last of his Brazilian solo concerts in front of 3500 people at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo yesterday. No changes in the setlist.

Photo galleries:
UOL   Caras Online   Musicao   CGN

Video clips:
With fans outside hotel   Concert videos

While in Brazil, Morten also found time to answer a few questions sent in by Brazilian fans, which can be seen in this YouTube video.

The tour ends with concerts in Buenos Aires tomorrow and Santiago on Sunday.

Belo Horizonte concert, September 23rd

Belo Horizonte, September 23rd 
(Picture by T4F)

Morten continued his South American tour at the Chevrolet Hall in Belo Horizonte on Sunday night.

The setlist was reportedly the same 18 songs as in Rio the day before.

Photo galleries:
vitormaciel.com 
Sou BH 
T4F on Flickr

Videos:
YouTube

The tour continues in Sao Paulo tomorrow.

Magne prepares anniversary exhibition

Magne doing tests in connection with his outdoor installation 
(Picture from LiveIn Asker)

Magne is currently preparing a new solo exhibition, to be held at Galleri Trafo in Asker from 27. October – 18. November.

Local magazine LiveIn Asker has an interview with him in its fall 2012 edition, where he talks about the plans:

“- This will be a kind of anniversary exhibition. In connection with my 50th birthday in November, Galleri Trafo and the house owner asked me if I would be interested in doing something to mark the occasion. I said I would. I have kept artworks from many different periods of my career as a visual artist, and I want to show a mix of old and new. These works haven’t been exhibited together before, so it will also give me a chance to see the works side by side for the first time and thereby get a look at any artistic development. Retrospectiveness is not something I have done too often.”

In addition to the exhibition, Magne is also planning an outdoor installation called Bouquet, the magazine can reveal:

“During the opening of [art festival] Kunst Rett Vest [on October 9th], Magne Furuholmen will do something no one else has done before. By using a gigantic nylon sheet, he is going to create an artwork on one of Asker’s most spectacular buildings. Torvgården will light up in artistic letters. The building will literally be wrapped up in Magne’s art. He’s not yet sure how it will look, but the renowned artist can promise a sight that people will remember.”

“- This is a temporary artwork that will put its mark on the whole area during a limited period of time – in the way graffiti and street art can do, albeit in a more legal and controlled form”, Magne says.

The whole interview is available as a PDF file at livein.no.

Rio concert, September 22nd

Citibank Hall, Rio de Janeiro, September 22nd 
(Picture from UOL)

Morten opened his mini-tour of South America at the Citibank Hall in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last night.

According to Brazilian fansite a-ha the best, this was the setlist:

Picture from Jornal do Brasil

1. Burn Money Burn
2. I’m The One
3. Keep The Sun Away
4. Crying In The Rain
5. Out Of Blue Comes Green
6. Move To Memphis
7. Forever Not Yours
8. When I Reached The Moon
9. Los Angeles
10. Spanish Steps
11. A Kind Of Christmas Card
12. We’re Looking For The Whales
13. Movies
14. Wild Seed
15. Lightning
16. Stay On These Roads
17. Foot Of The Mountain
18. Lay Me Down Tonight

Compared to the Oslo concerts last weekend, “Send Me An Angel” was dropped and “Forever Not Yours” was back in the set.

YouTube videos from Rio have been posted here, here and here.

Pictures from the concert can be found at QUEM, Terra, Flickr, UOL and Jornal do Brasil. There is also a video interview on YouTube.

In an interview with Dagbladet today, Morten says he’s not sure how he’ll be received as a solo artist in Brazil:

Ipanema, Rio 
(Picture from Dagbladet)

“I’m not sure. This is a kind of test project. If it works out, we’ll need to try and build up a platform here, invest more time and work more seriously than we did with a-ha. We came, shot from the hip, and left. I can see a great potential here, because Brazilians are interested in the music I stand for.”

Morten, who says that he would be interested in taking part in “Rock in Rio” in September 2013, doesn’t hide the fact that touring can be a lonely lifestyle:

“But it’s easier and less lonely to tour on my own and with my own band than it was with a-ha. I have more contact with my band now than when I toured with Magne and Paul. I also feel more free. I can speak out on issues that I care about. I couldn’t do that when I was part of a-ha”, Morten claims in the interview.

An update on Paul

Picture by Jakob

During Saturday’s Q & A session, a fan wanted to know what Paul is up to these days.

Catherine from a-ha.com said:

“I actually have some information from Paul. He is really excited to be getting prepared to release some music very soon. He asked me to pass along his thanks to all of you for your interest in his projects. And I told him that we get a lot of questions on the website about what Paul is doing, and he was excited and glad to hear that. Very soon you’ll hear more, and he’s looking forward to connecting with you more online.”

Harald Wiik added:

“He is doing really well, and he’s written a lot of new music. I think he’s got probably a couple of albums worth of songs. Of which I’ve heard around 7 or 8, but they’re really, really good, so I hope you get to hear them soon.”

Another fan followed up on this, asking if this new material is in connection with Weathervane or Savoy.

“The plans are not that concrete, so I can’t really speak on behalf of Paul. But I don’t think it’s Weathervane. It may be Savoy. It may also be…there’s a female singer that has recorded a lot of Paul’s songs, that may be released. And maybe he’ll write a song for Morten, who knows…”, Wiik said.

New album from Morten next year?

During the Q & A session at Sentrum Scene on Saturday, manager Harald Wiik was asked when we might expect Morten to release another solo album:

“Basically, what we’re doing is to finish this tour now, with the South American dates. And when we’re back, basically sit down and talk about it. I know Morten wants to do an album in 2013. He has also started writing, among others with Peter Kvint – who worked on the Out Of My Hands album. So they’re gonna do a session in October, and then we’re going to Stockholm in November to do some more work with him. And then we’ll take it from there. It’s hard to say really, but possibly in September/October next year”, Wiik told the audience.

Oslo concerts, September 14th/15th

Sentrum Scene, September 15th 
(Picture by Jakob)

The setlist at Morten’s concerts in Oslo this weekend was noticeably different from the standard setlist earlier this year. “Just Believe It”, “Scared Of Heights”, “Forever Not Yours” and “Take On Me” were dropped, and instead replaced by “Wild Seed” (performed live for the first time since the 90s), “Movies”  and “Send Me An Angel” (in a new live arrangement).

To celebrate Morten’s birthday on Friday, the backing band surprised him at the end of the show with Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday”. Martin Halla also came on stage to join them, as you can see in this YouTube clip.

Here is the setlist from Friday’s concert:

September 15th

1. Burn Money Burn
2. I’m The One
3. Keep The Sun Away
4. Crying In The Rain
5. Out Of Blue Comes Green
6. Move To Memphis
7. Los Angeles
8. Wild Seed
9. Lightning
10. When I Reached The Moon
11. We’re Looking For The Whales
12. Movies
13. Foot Of The Mountain
——————–
14. Send Me An Angel
15. Stay On These Roads
16. Spanish Steps
——————–
17. Lay Me Down Tonight
18. A Kind Of Christmas Card
19. Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder cover)

On Saturday, the setlist was mostly the same, but “Spanish Steps” was performed twice due to technical problems. The set ended with “A Kind Of Christmas Card”.

Check out more YouTube clips from the concerts here.

Catherine with the panel; Harald Wiik, Erik Ljunggren, Dan Sunhordvik and James Maillardet 
(Picture by Jakob)

Another highlight of the weekend was an interesting Q and A session with Harald Wiik, Erik Ljunggren, Dan Sunhordvik and production manager James Maillardet at Sentrum Scene on Saturday. One of the more amusing stories involved getting booked to play a venue called Circus in Novosibirsk, Russia earlier this year – and then arriving in the city and realizing that the venue was an actual circus (complete with lions backstage!).

Stian Andersen and Morten, interviewed by Asbjørn Slettemark 
(Picture by Jakob)

Later in the afternoon, Stian Andersen and Morten were interviewed in front of a large crowd at Oslo Book Festival. This can be seen on YouTube, posted by Chris F: 
Part 1   Part 2

Articles in the Norwegian press: 
Fra grillfestival til Harket 
Nostalgisk bursdagsselskap

More info from the 30th anniversary weekend to follow…

30th anniversary weekend in Oslo

Fans from a number of countries are gathering in Oslo this weekend, to attend Morten’s solo concerts at Sentrum Scene and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the start of a-ha.

According to the book Så Blåser Det På Jorden (1986), Magne and Paul visited Morten’s home on his birthday, 14th September 1982, to welcome him as the new singer in their band – which is exactly 30 years ago today.

Morten had actually auditioned for the duo a year earlier, in Magne’s basement in the summer of 1981, but an unfortunate misunderstanding put any potential collaboration on hold. After impressing the two of them with his voice, Morten had left his microphone in the basement and said that he would return when he’d had some time to think about the offer to join them.

One day the microphone was suddenly gone, which Magne and Paul interpreted as a blatant refusal to join the band. The truth was, however, that the microphone didn’t actually belong to Morten, and instead its rightful owner had taken the opportunity to collect it.

By June 1982, the misunderstanding had still not been cleared up. But after spending half a year in England without any results, Magne and Paul were so desperate that they decided to swallow their pride and contact Morten once again. Morten was reluctant and decided to go on a vacation to Greece while considering the offer.

Luckily, he finally agreed to join the two others – and 14th September 1982 is the day a-ha was born (although the band name would arrive a bit later).

English book cover

Anyway…the full schedule of this weekend’s events, with the fan party, exhibitions, guest speakers and more can be found on a-ha.com. Fans who have pre-ordered the a-ha photo book should note that the pick-up and signing at Sentrum Scene is taking place today, Friday, between 14:00 and 18:00, instead of Saturday.

In connection with the photo book, Morten and Stian Andersen will appear at Oslo Book Festival tomorrow at 15:45, where they will be interviewed by music journalist Asbjørn Slettemark.

There is also another a-ha book being published this weekend; the English translation of Larissa Bendel’s “Hunting High and Low”-book from last year.

“a-ha’s “Hunting High And Low” is a piece of Norwegian history – the story of three young hungry musicians in London, sky-high ambitions and several ground-breaking videos. Larissa Bendel from Germany played an important part in a-ha’s international fan club in Germany and gives a unique perspective on the band, both how she witnessed their adventure as a teenage fan and how she today is reading the band’s music as an established academic, supplemented by the band members’ own comments”, the publisher Falck Forlag says in a press release.

The 104-page book will be available for sale at Sentrum Scene this weekend and can also be ordered online here.

Morten’s next single: “I’m The One”

Single cover

Morten’s next single from Out Of My Hands will be “I’m The One”, according to hr-online.de.

The song was already made available as a radio promo in the UK earlier this summer, but will now get a proper single release in Germany.

The release date is October 26th, but whether it will be available as a CD single or download only is not yet known.

Like on the album and first single, the cover photo was taken by photographer Just Loomis.

Morten at the Clean Tech Media Awards

Morten performing in Berlin, September 7th 
(Picture from cleantech-award.de)

Morten attended the Clean Tech Media Awards in Berlin yesterday, where he was presented with the Green Music Award for his focus on environmental issues (see Aug. 25th story).

He also performed “Burn Money Burn” during the award show, which was held at the Tempodrom concert hall.

Earlier in the day, he took part in a press conference in connection with the awards.

Related links:
cleantech-award.de   berliner-zeitung.de   bild.de

Update: Here’s a video of Morten getting the Green Music Award and performing “Burn Money Burn”: YouTube link

a-ha to be awarded The Royal Order of St. Olav

Order of St. Olav, Knight First Class

His Majesty King Harald of Norway has decided that the members of a-ha will be appointed Knights First Class of the Royal Order of St. Olav, after a proposition by Music Export Norway.

This was announced in a press release today:

“The Norwegian Royal Order of St. Olav is awarded for distinguished services for Norway and mankind. Each of the three members of a-ha, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy will, after a proposition by Music Export Norway, receive this Royal Order for their outstanding musical contribution.”

The full press release is available in English at musicexportnorway.no.

“Magne, Morten and Paul are very honoured to be awarded the Order of St. Olav”, a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells Dagbladet.

The official ceremony will take place in Oslo on November 6th.

Other Norwegian musicians who have received the same honour in the past include Jahn Teigen, Åge Aleksandersen, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Jan Garbarek and Truls Mørk.

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