Next year a-ha will return to the US for the first time since 2010, to play three shows at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
The dates are 25, 26 and 27 September 2020, and will be part of the band’s Hunting High And Low Tour. The Wiltern has a seated capacity of only 1,850 people, so these will be very intimate events.
The Los Angeles shows will be the only US dates next year, but the band is hoping to return for more in 2021.
Tickets are available now from ticketmaster.com.
Morten on stage in Tallinn
(Instagram screenshot)
a-ha were in Tallinn, Estonia this week, to perform at a private event held at the Pirita convent ruins on 29 August, according to Estonian media.
Drummer Karl Oluf Wennerberg posted a picture from the rehearsals, and there was also a picture of Magne, Karl Oluf and Even Ormestad visiting the Tallinn restaurant 180 Degrees.
According to the Estonian news site Elu24.ee, the event was the 50th birthday party of Rina Vosman, the wife of Russian oligarch Oleg Tinkov. Guests included Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov and his wife.
A video clip of a-ha performing “Take On Me” in Tallinn has been posted on Instagram here. Oleg Tinkov has also posted a picture of him and his family on stage with Morten.
Also performing at the event was UK singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The three-day celebration is reported to have cost around two million euros.
a-ha live at Telenor Arena, performing for 3500 people on August 17th
a-ha performed at another corporate event in Oslo this past weekend, August 17th, as the cooperative building association OBOS celebrated its 90th anniversary with a big concert for its employees at Telenor Arena on Saturday night.
Other acts performing were Silya, Hkeem, Ina Wroldsen, Ole Paus, Ingrid Bjørnov, Timbuktu and Gyllene Tider.
a-ha’s setlist included The Sun Always Shines on TV, Stay On These Roads, Hunting High and Low, The Living Daylights and Take On Me.
Like their previous Oslo performance in June, they were joined on stage by Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums, Even Ormestad on bass and Erik Ljunggren on synth.
The vinyl editions of the new Minor Earth | Major Sky and Lifelines remasters
The long-awaited remasters of Minor Earth | Major Sky (2000) and Lifelines (2002) will finally be released next month, 27 September.
Both albums will be available in 2CD Deluxe Editions, which will include previously unreleased songs such as “Sole Survivor”, “To Show It is to Blow It”, “Life’s Not Fair” (early version of “I Wish I Cared”) and “One in a Million” (early version of “White Canvas”), plus a-ha versions of “We’ll Never Speak Again” and “The Breakers”.
The 2CD Deluxe Edition of Minor Earth | Major Sky has a total of 33 tracks, while Lifelines has 37 tracks. The booklets include new liner notes by Kieron Tyler.
Both albums will also be available on vinyl for the first time, but only featuring the original album tracks.
Pre-order here:
Minor Earth | Major Sky (2CD Deluxe Edition): Amazon.de Amazon.co.uk
Minor Earth | Major Sky (2LP Vinyl): Amazon.de Amazon.co.uk
Lifelines (2CD Deluxe Edition): Amazon.de Amazon.co.uk
Lifelines (2LP Vinyl): Amazon.de Amazon.co.uk
Two sample tracks are already available for download/streaming now; “The Sun Never Shone That Day” (Early Version) and “Forever Not Yours” (Demo).
Read the full press release on a-ha.com.
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Tags: a-ha, lifelines, minor earth major sky 
Comments Off on Minor Earth | Major Sky and Lifelines remasters coming soonThe latest tour announcement for next year’s HHAL tour is that a-ha will tour Australia for the first time in 34 years, plus New Zealand for the first time ever.
There will be eight dates in total, of which five of them will be part of the A Day on the Green outdoor summer festivals:
19 February: Kings Park & Botanic Garden, Perth, Australia (A Day on the Green)
22 February: Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, Australia (A Day on the Green)
23 February: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia
26 February: ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney, Australia
29 February: Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, Australia (A Day on the Green)
01 March: Sirromet Wines, Mount Cotton, Australia (A Day on the Green)
05 March: Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, New Zealand
07 March: Villa Maria Winery, Auckland, New Zealand (A Day on the Green)
The support act will be the British singer Rick Astley.
“Australia was the country we played our first ever live concerts and was our first brush with worldwide fame. It was a thrilling adventure to be there on the opposite side of the world and it’s a thrill to return in 2020 – finally we will be back where it all started!”, Magne said in a press release.
To promote the tour announcement, Morten was interviewed on the Australian morning talk show Studio 10. A video clip of the interview can be seen on the Australian a-ha fansite on Facebook.
Posted in a-ha Tags: a-ha, australia, new zealand Comments Off on a-ha to visit Australia and New ZealandThe first international tour dates of the 2020 tour have been announced today, and they will be in South Africa:
14 February 2020: Green Point A Track, Cape Town
15 February 2020: Marks Park, Johannesburg
This will be the first time a-ha visit the African continent since they played in Senegal in 2006, and their first visit to South Africa since the Memorial Beach tour in 1994, when they did a six-date tour of the country.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 26 June at 10am. For more info, visit the website of promoter BreakOut Events.
More tour dates for next year are expected to follow soon, including “areas the band hasn’t visited since their 1986 world tour”, which would mean North America or Australia – or both. According to one report, the HHAL tour will continue until December 2020.
Update: To promote the South African dates, Paul has been interviewed by Texx and the City and radio station KFM 94.5 (audio).
Posted in a-ha Tags: a-ha, cape town, johannesburg, south africa Comments Off on South African tour dates announced
a-ha on stage in Oslo, June 6th
a-ha performed a 6-song set in Oslo last night, as part of the closing party of the Nor-Shipping Ocean Leadership Conference 2019. They were joined on stage by Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums, Even Ormestad on bass and Erik Ljunggren on synth. Serving as a preview of the upcoming Hunting High And Low Tour, all the songs were taken from the first album.
Setlist (with video links):
1. The Sun Always Shines on TV
2. Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale
3. The Blue Sky
4. Hunting High and Low
5. Train of Thought
6. Take on Me
This marked the first time “The Blue Sky” had been performed live since 2010, and only the fourth time since the 1980s. “Train of Thought” was the album version, instead of the demo version they did on the Electric Summer tour last year.
Other performers at the outdoor concert included the boys choir Sølvguttene, Sissel Kyrkjebø and Andrea Bocelli. The event was only open for invited guests with a 4-day Conference Pass which cost 4000 kroner ($460). Although the weather forecast had predicted heavy rain in the evening, the rain storm passed over Oslo earlier in the afternoon and there were only a few drops during the concert.
Update: The Nor-Shipping website has a few seconds of official footage from the a-ha performance here (at 2:35) and here (at 1:08).
Magne, Morten and Paul in the 1970s
In recent years I have been looking through old archives, working on compiling a list of Paul, Magne and Morten’s early concerts/performances in the years between 1977 and 1983. From Spider Empire to Bridges and from Laelia Anceps to Souldier Blue.
The list, which currently includes 54 performances can now be seen on this page:
Early bands and concerts 1977-1983
If you have any corrections or additional dates, contact me here.
The tour continues…
The upcoming Hunting High and Low Tour will be extended into 2020, the official site announced today, with the first date being Trondheim, Norway on 7 February 2020:
Due to popular demand, a-ha’s ‘Hunting High and Low Live’ tour is extending into 2020!
Today we’re announcing the first show of 2020, taking place in Trondheim, Norway!
The show will be on 7 February 2020 at the brand new indoor stadium, Trondheim Spektrum, opening in October 2019. a-ha is the first band to be announced to play at the arena.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday 11th March at 9:00 am CEST, however there will be a fan pre sale on Saturday 9th March from noon CEST!
Pre Sale Link – Click here
General Sale Link – Click here
More dates in 2020 will be announced soon, including areas the band hasn’t visited since their 1986 world tour. Stay tuned and spread the word!
According to the organizers in Trondheim, this will be the only Norwegian concert on the HHAL Tour. But such statements should be taken with a pinch of salt, as we’ve seen numerous times in the past.
Article: A-ha fremfører sitt legendariske debutalbum i Trondheim Spektrum
Posted in a-ha Tags: a-ha, hunting high and low, trondheim Comments Off on HHAL Tour to be extended into 2020
Album cover
A special a-ha vinyl album, Hunting High And Low – The Early Alternate Mixes, will be released in connection with the upcoming Record Store Day 2019 on April 13th.
The 10-track album (1LP, black vinyl) will include the same alternate mixes first released on disc 4 of the 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Hunting High And Low in 2015, and comes with an alternate cover image from the original album cover shoot by Just Loomis.
According to the Record Store Day website, the release will be limited to 6000 copies worldwide.
Tracklist:
1. Take On Me (Video Version) [2015 Remastered]
2. Train Of Thought (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
3. Hunting High And Low (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
4. The Blue Sky (Alternate Long Mix) [2015 Remastered]
5. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
6. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Alternate Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
7. And You Tell Me (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
8. Love Is Reason (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
9. Dream Myself Alive (Early “NYC” Mix) [2015 Remastered]
10. Here I Stand And Face The Rain (Early Mix) [2015 Remastered]
This will be third a-ha release in connection with Record Store Day, following the “Take On Me” 7″ picture disc in 2015 and the a-ha hits South America 12″ live EP in 2016, which were limited to 3000 copies each.
See a list of participating record stores in your area here.
Posted in a-ha Tags: a-ha, hunting high and low Comments Off on “Hunting High And Low – The Early Alternate Mixes” vinyl release
