Montreux, July 1st
(Screenshot from live stream)

a-ha have played three headline shows so far this week; outdoors in Barcelona and Nice and indoors at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The 18-song setlist was the same in all three cities.

The concert in Montreux was streamed live online (albeit with a 1-hour delay) through Qello Concerts. If you missed it, someone has also uploaded the show on YouTube.

While in Montreux, Magne took time to get interviewed by several Swiss news outlets. Two video interviews have been posted online; Le Matin and Blue News.

Magne also posted a picture from a visit to Shania Twain and her family, who live in Switzerland, while Paul posted some pictures of the view in Montreux. Morten posted a picture and video clip from Barcelona.

An unexpected moment occured at the concert in Barcelona on Monday, when Karl Oluf seemed to experience problems with his bass drum at the beginning of “Cry Wolf”. “We just need to change a drum. We have a drummer with a very strong foot”, Magne explained to the audience. This lead to a very extended intro and what Magne described as “the longest version of ‘Cry Wolf’ in history”. It can be seen in this video.

A video of the complete Barceona concert has been uploaded here.

 
Photo gallery from Barcelona (by Carlos Maciá)

 
Morten’s voice problems are still noticeable at times, and particularly in Montreux where he was also struggling with hearing himself in the venue. But he does his best, as he told the audience in Nice:
“My voice is still a little dodgy, but I do the best I can with it. So sing along if you feel like it, and always when I ask you to.”

Some videos from Nice on Wednesday:
You Have What It Takes   Various songs

Anneli Drecker did not appear at any of these three concerts, but she is currently working on a new Bel Canto album and may have other commitments.

Next up is two outdoor shows in the UK; Scarborough tonight and Cardiff on Tuesday, before returning to Norway to play at Stavernfestivalen next Friday.

On Instagram Paul revealed it was a challenging journey to get from Switzerland to the UK in time:
“Long day. Our flights got cancelled so we had to improvise… took us 18 hours to get here via [bus, plane, train and car]”.

 
Setlist in Barcelona, Nice and Montreux

1. Sycamore Leaves
2. The Swing Of Things
3. Crying In The Rain
4. The Blood That Moves The Body
5. Train of Thought
6. Foot Of The Mountain
7. We’re Looking For The Whales
8. Cry Wolf
9. Forest For The Trees
10. You Have What It Takes
11. Analogue
12. I Dream Myself Alive
13. Here I Stand and Face the Rain
14. Hunting High and Low
15. The Living Daylights
– – – – – – – – – – – –
16. The Sun Always Shines on TV
17. I’ve Been Losing You
18. Take On Me