Posts Tagged ‘ending on a high note’

Santiago concert

Santiago, March 23rd

Santiago, March 23rd

The South American tour ended with the rescheduled concert at the Movistar Arena in Santiago last night, where the band played for an audience of 9000 people.

Morten’s voice is clearly improving after the problems he had last week, so it was back to the 20-song setlist this time.

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

There’s an article with more pictures from the concert on rocknvivo.com.

Fortaleza concert

Paul in Fortaleza. More pictures can be seen on this blog.

Paul in Fortaleza.
More pictures can be seen on this blog.

a-ha played their last ever Brazilian concert at the Siara Hall in Fortaleza yesterday. Because of Morten’s voice problems, they did the same shortened 18-song set as in Recife. But it seemed like his voice had improved a bit since the last concert, a fact he mentioned himself during the show.

The setlist:

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

 
Now it’s off to Chile for the last concert of this first leg of the tour on Tuesday.

“It’s been a strange experience”

Morten on stage in Brasilia earlier this week

Morten on stage in Brasilia earlier this week

“It’s been a strange experience to be on stage without my singing voice, but absolutely fantastic to be met by such overwhelming support from the entire audience during the concerts in both Brasilia and Recife. a-ha is definitely more than just me, and the band has performed brilliantly in the absence of my voice, singing along instead of me”, Morten tells VG Nett today, in a text message via his personal manager Sverre Flatby.

a-ha are supposed to perform their last ever Brazilian concert in Fortaleza tonight, and hopefully it will go ahead as planned.

“His condition is being continously monitored. Morten has to a large degree managed to avoid these problems through a 25-year career and has an impressive track record of not missing many concerts. Ideally he should be giving his voice complete rest at the moment, but Morten is weighing this up against a strong wish to not disappoint all those who have been waiting for a-ha in South America”, Sverre Flatby tells VG.

Morten’s voice problems are also mentioned on Dagbladet.no.

“Morten has performed two concerts with a virus infection on his vocal chords, and was therefore examined by doctors in both Brasilia and Recife”, a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells the newspaper.

Recife concert

Morten was flown by helicopter to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

Morten was flown by helicopter to a local hospital where
he was diagnosed with pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

Because of his throat infection Morten’s voice was in even worse shape last night in Recife. Therefore the setlist was shortened by another two songs, leaving out “Summer Moved On” and “The Swing Of Things”.

Despite undergoing medical treatment in a local hospital earlier in the day, Morten was almost voiceless when the band entered the stage at the Chevrolet Hall nearly an hour late, as you can see in this clip.

The air conditioning was reportedly switched off in the venue, which made the temperature unbearably hot. But his voice did seem to get better later in the concert.

Under different circumstances the show would perhaps have been cancelled, to prevent any damage to his vocal chords that could affect future concerts, but I guess since it’s the Farewell Tour with little chance of rescheduling they went ahead anyway.

“I’ve lost my voice, as you can hear, but I don’t want to cancel the show. So you need to help me”, Morten told the crowd before “Minor Earth Major Sky”.

The setlist:

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

Brasilia concert

Brasilia, March 16th

Brasilia, March 16th

a-ha played for an audience of 5000 people at the large indoor sports arena Ginasio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia yesterday. Morten was struggling with his voice because he’s gotten a throat infection. This caused the concert to be the shortest of the tour so far, with only 20 songs on the setlist.

I need you to help me out today, because I have a throat infection“, Morten told the audience – as you can see in this video clip. And they were happy to oblige, singing along whenever Morten held out the microphone to the crowd.

Setlist:

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

Belo Horizonte concert

Belo Horizonte, March 14th

Belo Horizonte, March 14th

An audience of 5500 witnessed the sold-out concert at the Chevrolet Hall in Belo Horizonte yesterday. No surprises in the setlist this time. “You Are The One” was not played last night and the band seems to be alternating between 22 and 23 songs.

Here is the setlist:

Belo Horizonte, March 14th

Belo Horizonte, March 14th

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

Festival dates in Japan

Two festival dates in Japan were announced on a-ha.com a while ago, only to be removed shortly afterwards. The dates now seem to be back on, with the Summer Sonic festival’s website now featuring a-ha as part of its lineup.

The festival is held in Tokyo and Osaka on 7 and 8 August.

Rio concert

Rio, March 13th

Rio, March 13th

The band had yet another surprise in store when they played before an audience of 7000 people at the Citibank Hall in Rio de Janeiro yesterday; an acoustic version of “You Are The One”, a song that hasn’t been played live since 1991.

The new acoustic-ish version of “Minor Earth Major Sky” remained in the setlist, while “Touchy” seems to have been dropped after its only appearance in Bauru.

The setlist (via a-ha.com):

Rio, March 13th

Rio, March 13th

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

Press reviews: O Globo   Rock em Geral

Sao Paulo concert

Sao Paulo, March 10th

Sao Paulo, March 10th

Last night’s concert at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo saw some positive changes to the setlist, with “Minor Earth Major Sky” (new acoustic version) and “The Swing Of Things” being added. “Touchy” (which didn’t really seem to work the previous night) was dropped, along with “And You Tell Me” and “Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale”.

The concert was sold out, which meant around 7500 people in the audience.

The setlist (with YouTube-links):

Sao Paulo, March 10th

Sao Paulo, March 10th

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

Brazilian press reviews: Terra   UOL Musica   R7   MTV Brazil   Rolling Stone Brazil   Yahoo Brazil   Yahoo picture set on Flickr

Now the band has a few days off before the next concert in Rio on Saturday.

BTW, the concert in Brasilia on the 16th has been moved from Centro de Convenciones to Ginasio Nilson Nelson, which is a larger venue.

Bauru concert

Bauru, March 9th

Bauru, March 9th

a-ha played the first of seven Brazilian concerts yesterday – and their first ever show in the city of Bauru.

The concert was held in a huge tent that had been set up in the parking lot outside the Alameda Quality Center and attracted an audience of 3 000 people.

With 23 songs in total, the setlist was even longer than in Buenos Aires and included a rare performance of “Touchy” – which hasn’t been played live since 1994. In addition, several songs were shuffled around during the last half of the set.

The setlist (with YouTube-links):

Bauru, March 9th

Bauru, March 9th

1. The Bandstand
2. Foot Of The Mountain
3. Analogue
4. Forever Not Yours
5. Summer Moved On
6. Move To Memphis
7. Crying In The Rain
8. Stay On These Roads
9. Touchy
10. The Blood That Moves The Body
11. The Living Daylights
12. Early Morning
13. And You Tell Me
14. Scoundrel Days
15. Manhattan Skyline
16. We’re Looking For The Whales
17. I’ve Been Losing You
18. Cry Wolf
————–
19. Train Of Thought
20. The Sun Always Shines On TV
21. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale
22. Hunting High And Low
————–
23. Take On Me

 
During “Take On Me” Morten asked security to bring a fan in the audience called Viviane up on stage. You can see a picture she took on stage together with Morten here. “The most unforgettable moment in my life“, she said afterwards.

More pictures from the concert can be seen on 94 FM‘s website and in this set on Flickr.

Local reviews: Jornal da Cidade

Here is a short interview clip from TV TEM and here is a look backstage before the concert.

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