ending on a high note

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Posts Tagged ‘ending on a high note’

Last UK TV appearance / Nearing the end

Posted by Jakob S on November 24th, 2010

a-ha made their last ever UK TV appearance on Monday, when they appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV1. Following a short interview, they did a live performance of “The Sun Always Shines On TV”. Thanks to Chris for uploading the clip above to YouTube.

Brighton, 15 November
(Photo by Elliott Wright – more on the gallery page)

The UK part of the tour started in Brighton last Monday, November 15th. The setlist was the same as before, but in later concerts “(Seemingly) Nonstop July” has been replaced by “The Swing Of Things” and the order of the songs has been changed around somewhat.

For some good video clips from Brighton, check out this playlist on YouTube by Chris.

Recent UK interviews:
22 Nov: Manchester Confidential (Paul)
21 Nov: Bournemouth Echo (Paul/Magne – also includes audio interviews)
18 Nov: Wales Online (Magne)
14 Nov: Express.co.uk (All 3)
12 Nov: The Star (Morten)
12 Nov: Chronicle Live (Morten)
5 Nov: This is Nottingham (Morten)

MTV in the UK aired a special called “a-ha’s Greatest 80’s Videos” on October 31st, where the band introduced 40 music videos from the 1980s. Most of the video introductions have been compiled by Chris into a 7-minute clip on YouTube, which can be seen here.

The last four concerts in Oslo next week are fast approaching. There is no support band in Oslo, and the stage time will be 8:30pm – so don’t be late!

a-ha.com also announced last week that the final concert on December 4th will be filmed for a DVD release. Hopefully it will be available on Blu-ray as well.

Some fans are planning a “fan action” moment during the last concert, where the audience should hold up “thank you”-signs. More info is available on Facebook.

For those of you going to Oslo, the a-ha exhibition at the National Library is open from 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 6pm on Saturday, December 4th.

There is also an exhibition at Galleri MAP, showing a-ha photos taken by Janne Møller-Hansen between 1985 and 1987, which is open from 1pm to 8pm on November 30th and December 2nd, 3rd and 4th. On December 1st, it’s open from 1pm to 5pm.

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, brighton, ending on a high note, itv

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Tour update / More links

Posted by Jakob S on November 7th, 2010

Siemens Arena, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2 November
(Picture by Agne)

a-ha played at the Palace of Sports in Minsk, Belarus yesterday. Since the last news update the band has also performed in Braunschweig, Mannheim, Hamburg, Berlin, Riga, Vilnius and Kiev.

They are playing it safe, with the setlist continuing to be the same at all the gigs. But the press reviews have been good all along.

Vilnius, 2 November
(Picture by Agne)

Sadly, Morten’s mother Henny passed away on Tuesday, November 2nd. She was 80 years old. The funeral will be held on November 12th, the day after the concert in St. Petersburg.

The Shropshire Star had an interview with Magne on Thursday, November 4th. Read it here.

A radio interview that the guys did on Absolute Radio in the UK last month is now also available for viewing on the station’s website.

The 25-minute interview can be seen here.

Morten made a surprise appearance in a comedy sketch on BBC1’s The Armstrong and Miller Show last Saturday, October 30th.

The musical number, which sees Morten appear as a seller at a farmer’s market, is available on YouTube here (after 2:30).

And I’ve been contacted by a fan named José, who wants to share the YouTube clips he filmed at the Royal Albert Hall concert on October 8th – from behind the band.

He has posted all the songs on his YouTube channel here.

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, ending on a high note, vilnius

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Tour update / Media links

Posted by Jakob S on October 24th, 2010

Basel, 17 October
(Picture from ch.tilllate.com)

The band played for 5000 people at the Stadthalle in Rostock yesterday, after having said farewell to audiences in Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Basel, Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Lepzig during the last couple of weeks.

The setlist seems to have remained the same at every gig so far.

For extensive fan coverage of each concert, with links to picture galleries, video clips and more – visit the tour forum on WOTM.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, Munich 18 October 2010

Munich, 18 October
(Picture from br-online.de)

Yet another date has been added for the final week in Oslo. This very last (?) addition to the tour schedule takes place on 30 November and tickets go on sale on Tuesday, 26 October.

Jimmy Gnecco has announced in a blog entry on his official website that he’ll be supporting a-ha at all the 10 UK dates in November as well.

BBC Radio 2 broadcast parts of the Royal Albert Hall concert on Thursday night; the whole HHAL album + 3 songs from SD. The broadcast is available for a few more days on the BBC website. Or you can find details on how to download a high-quality recording made by Chris on WOTM.

The German website BoostTV.de has a 12-minute video interview with Morten that was recorded back in July. It can be seen here.

And it turns out the radio interview that Jian Ghomeshi did with the band for Studio Q on CBC in Canada on 14 May was also filmed. The whole 43-minute interview can be watched in HD on Q TV’s YouTube channel.

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, basel, ending on a high note, munich

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Amsterdam concert

Posted by Jakob S on October 11th, 2010

Morten Harket and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, Amsterdam, 10 October 2010

Amsterdam, 10 October
(Picture from gooddayz.nl)

The final leg of the farewell tour started at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on Sunday night, featuring some changes compared to previous indoor concerts earlier this year.

The stage was basically a scaled-down version of the Norwegian stadium concerts, using parts of the butterfly-screen as backdrop.

The setlist also seems to have been identical to the stadium concerts – 21 songs starting with “The Sun Always Shines On TV” and ending with “Take On Me”.

Some pictures from Amsterdam has been posted by Sandra here.

For videos from the show, check out Malin’s YouTube clips here. She has also written a report on the WOTM Forum.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the 25 collection has entered the album chart at number 10, selling 10,835 units in its first week. It’s the fifth a-ha album to reach the UK top ten. Well done!

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, amsterdam, ending on a high note

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a-ha perform two full albums in Oslo

Posted by Jakob S on October 5th, 2010

Oslo Konserthus, October 4th

a-ha surprised the audience at Oslo Konserthus last night, by not only playing the Hunting High and Low-album, but also the entire Scoundrel Days-album – 20 songs in all.

Another surprise was that Paul and Magne had decided to change sides on stage for the first time since 1994.

Clips up on YouTube so far:
Take On Me
Train Of Thought
Hunting High And Low
And You Tell Me
Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale
Here I Stand And Face The Rain
October
Manhattan Skyline
The Weight Of The Wind
Soft Rains Of April

The audience of 1300 people included Queen Sonja, Princess Märtha Louise and her husband Ari Behn.

Aftenposten has an article about the concert here, while Dagbladet has a review here.

There is also a review in Dagsavisen (5 out of 6) and an article at popsenteret.no.

Dagbladet’s reviewer Sven Ove Bakke gives the concert 4 out of 6, and is not entirely satisfied with a-ha’s collaboration with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra:

(…) Adding string arrangements to cool and quite minimalistic synthpop is a challenge.

The strings should preferably seek out the darkest and coldest corners, and bring out the underlying unease and dark melancholy that run through the early a-ha material.

But Kjetil Bjerkestrand’s bombastic, light romantic string arrangements did little else than rub the a-ha material with the hairs.

On its best, it gave the durable a-ha classics a sort of extra pomposity, predictably mood-enhancing, but not too annoying.

Luckily “Here I Stand And Face The Rain” and “Soft Rains Of April” – both strong endings on their respective albums – benefited from effectively sweeping and ending credits-like dramaturgy.

In the worst cases – where “And You Tell Me” stood out as a horrible low point – you got an overly sweet Disney-Christmas feeling.

Mostly, they were positioned somewhere in between – arrangements so dead that Princess Märtha Louise in the seventh row was probably the only one who got something of value out of them. (…)

On Friday, the audience in London will get a chance to hear the same concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, ending on a high note, oslo konserthus

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“Singin’ in the Rain”

Posted by Jakob S on September 14th, 2010

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)

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)

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!

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, ending on a high note, kristiansand, sør arena

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Stavanger, Tromsø and Trondheim

Posted by Jakob S on September 6th, 2010

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)

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)

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, døgnvill, ending on a high note, lerkendal, rått og råde, stavanger, tromsø, trondheim

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Bergen concert

Posted by Jakob S on August 29th, 2010

Bergen, 28 August
(Picture by Jakob)

a-ha continued their Norwegian tour in Bergen last night, where they played another excellent concert in front of 25.000 people at Brann Stadium.

The setlist was identical to Oslo, but the band seemed to be a bit more relaxed this time and Morten almost remembered all the lyrics.

Here are some HD videos that I have uploaded to YouTube (more to follow):
The Bandstand
Butterfly, Butterfly
(Seemingly) Nonstop July

Bergen, 28 August
(Picture by Jakob)

The good reviews continue in the local press, with 5 out of 6 from both Bergens Tidende and Bergensavisen. There’s also a positive review from NRK Hordaland.

And Natt og Dag has a lot of photos from the concert here.

Bergen, 28 August
(Picture by Jakob)

Setlist
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Move To Memphis
3. The Blood That Moves The Body
4. Scoundrel Days
5. Stay On These Roads
6. Manhattan Skyline
7. Hunting High And Low
8. The Bandstand
9. We’re Looking For The Whales
10. Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)
11. (Seemingly) Nonstop July
12. Crying In The Rain
13. Minor Earth, Major Sky
14. Forever Not Yours
15. Summer Moved On
16. I’ve Been Losing You
17. Foot Of The Mountain
—————
18. Cry Wolf
19. Analogue
20. The Living Daylights
21. Take On Me

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, bergen, brann stadion, ending on a high note

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Ullevaal concert

Posted by Jakob S on August 23rd, 2010

Confetti at the end, followed by fireworks.
(Picture by Jakob)

a-ha impressed audience and critics alike when they opened their Norwegian tour at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo on Saturday, featuring a massive stage and an amazing video show.

The concert was a special celebration of a-ha’s career in front of their home crowd, and after performing “Butterfly, Butterfly”, Morten said:

“We would like to thank you for 25 years. [Long applause] During these 25 years that we have created together, the three of us… I read in the paper today that we are incompatible. I’m no a-ha expert myself… [Audience laughs] …but that statement is not compatible with how I have experienced things. But these are 25 years that you have been a part of as well, and which I would like to thank you for.”

The reviews in VG, Dagbladet, Aftenposten and Dagsavisen all give the concert 5 out of 6.

An amazing video show. Here’s the moon during “Minor Earth, Major Sky”
(Picture by Jakob)

The concert had a bizarre opening though, with the classical Tchaikovsky intro suddenly interrupted by Nelly’s hip-hop tune “Hot in Herre”, before leading into “The Sun Always Shines On TV”. Who came up with that combination?

No new songs in the setlist, but “Butterfly, Butterfly” was done acoustically for the first time, “Crying In The Rain” was back and “(Seemingly) Nonstop July” was performed live only for the second time since 1994. And unlike all the other concerts on the Farewell Tour, the songs were not played in reversed chronological order this time, but instead old and new songs were mixed up. “The Sun Always Shines On TV” was back as the opener, like it was on the FOTM tour in 2009.

Picture by Jakob

Setlist (with YouTube links):
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Move To Memphis
3. The Blood That Moves The Body
4. Scoundrel Days
5. Stay On These Roads
6. Manhattan Skyline
7. Hunting High And Low
8. The Bandstand
9. Looking For The Whales
10. Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)
11. (Seemingly) Nonstop July
12. Crying In The Rain
13. Minor Earth, Major Sky
14. Forever Not Yours
15. Summer Moved On
16. I’ve Been Losing You
17. Foot Of The Mountain
—————
18. Cry Wolf
19. Analogue
20. The Living Daylights
21. Take On Me

More video clips:
TV2 interview with Magne and the vocalist in Shining before the concert:
Magasinet

The opening song filmed by TV2:
The Sun Always Shines On TV

On Saturday, NRK had an interview with P. A. Stenersen, who owns the biggest a-ha collection in the world. Stenersen, who has donated parts of his collection to the upcoming a-ha exhibition at the national museum in Oslo, meets up with Morten in the clip and receives a few very rare additions to his collection:
Lørdagsrevyen

Posted in a-ha, Ending on a High Note Tour

Tags: a-ha, ending on a high note, oslo, ullevaal

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Getting ready for Ullevaal

Posted by Jakob S on August 19th, 2010

Setting up the stage at Ullevaal, August 18th

The largest concert of the farewell tour is now being prepared at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.

The stage construction – reportedly the largest ever built in Norway – weighs 1500 tons and takes four days to set up. 65 meters wide and 18 meters tall, with a 600 square meters video wall, it has been specially designed for these Norwegian concerts by Stageco. It will be brought around Norway using more than 40 semitrailers, and a team of 200 people working on the rigging.

Parts of the stage have been tested indoors at Oslo Spektrum during the last few days. A video clip from this can be seen at Dagbladet.no.

An additional 1500 tickets have now been released, which means that nearly 30.000 people will be in the audience on Saturday night.

Posted in a-ha

Tags: a-ha, ending on a high note, oslo, ullevaal

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New Savoy album
Under
(2024)
New Savoy studio album,
featuring the singles
"Lonely Surfer", "Digital River",
"Life and Times of a Wannabe"
and "Coming Down".

Get it here:
Digital CD and Vinyl
Book about a-ha
a-ha:
Down To The Tracks
by Barry Page
(2020)

"In the first a-ha book of its kind, Barry Page looks back on an extraordinary 40-year musical odyssey". Hardback edition. Colour pictures. 400 pages. English language.

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a-ha remastered
Minor Earth | Major Sky
(2000)
Remastered 2CD Deluxe
Edition released in 2019

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Lifelines
(2002)
Remastered 2CD Deluxe
Edition released in 2019

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a-ha remastered
Hunting High and Low
(1985)
Remastered 4CD Expanded Edition released in 2019

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Posts Tagged ‘ending on a high note’

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