Hamburg concert

a-ha performed for a sold-out Color Line Arena in Hamburg last night.

I don't have the confirmed setlist, but it was probably the same as in Cologne and Berlin.
If you have the correct setlist, please send me an e-mail. Update: Simone from the Netherlands kindly sent me the correct Hamburg setlist, which was slightly different from the other concerts ("Analogue" and "Cry Wolf" were switched around).

Here are some reviews and picture galleries from the concert:
Hamburger Morgenpost
NDR 2
Radio Hamburg
Hamburger Abendblatt

YouTube clips:
The Sun Always Shines On TV
Hunting High And Low
Analogue

The next single outside the UK is "Nothing Is Keeping You Here". The German 2-track CD-single, to be released on 20 November, can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.de.
Tracklisting TBA.

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Berlin concert

The tour continued in Berlin yesterday, where a-ha played for an audience of 11 000 people at the O2 World Arena. The setlist was the same as in Cologne the day before.

YouTube clips from the concert include "The Sun Always Shines On TV" (including the new intro), "The Bandstand", "Velvet", "Foot Of The Mountain", "Summer Moved On", "The Living Daylights" and "Take On Me", plus some shorter clips of "Scoundrel Days" and "Manhattan Skyline".

The concerts in Cologne and Berlin are getting really good reviews in the German press.

Here are some links:
derwesten.de
koeln.de
ivz-online.de
an-online.de
ksta.de
Welt.de
bz-berlin.de

The good response in Germany is also mentioned by VG Nett in Norway. The tour continues in Hamburg tomorrow.

Some other news:

A Deluxe Edition of Foot Of The Mountain can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.de. It will include the album + a DVD. Release date is 4 December 2009. No more info about the content of the DVD is available at this point.

And there was a TV-report from Cologne on Brisant yesterday. Watch it on YouTube.

(Thanks to Antje, Sandra, Arite and Verni)

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Tour opening in Cologne

a-ha opened their Foot Of The Mountain Tour 2009 in front of 10 000 people at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne last night.

As you can see in the picture above, they have a new stage design, with several large video walls behind them showing animations and abstract visuals.

The biggest surprise of the evening was probably the fact that Morten played guitar at an a-ha concert for the first time ever! You can see him playing in YouTube clips of "Forever Not Yours" and "Velvet", for example. He is also still playing drums at the end of "The Bandstand", although it's synth drums this time.

The setlist could have been more interesting, and it completely left out songs from East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon and Memorial Beach. But it did include some changes since the concerts earlier this year, such as "And You Tell Me" (being played live for the first time since the late 80s) and "Velvet" (first time since 2002). And "Sunny Mystery" from the new album had its live premiere.

Thankfully the cool new versions of "Train Of Thought" and "I Dream Myself Alive" are still part of the setlist. The latter song included possibly the most bizarre moment at an a-ha concert ever, as the guys left the stage and were replaced by three large, inflatable versions of themselves shooting up from the floor. You can see it here (after 2:10 minutes).

Here is the full setlist:

  1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
  2. Riding The Crest
  3. The Bandstand
  4. Scoundrel Days
  5. Stay On These Roads
  6. Manhattan Skyline
  7. Hunting High And Low
  8. The Blood That Moves The Body
  9. Dream Myself Alive
10. And You Tell Me
11. Velvet
12. Train Of Thought
13. Sunny Mystery
14. Forever Not Yours
15. Shadowside
16. Summer Moved On
17. Foot Of The Mountain
---------
18. Cry Wolf
19. Analogue
20. The Living Daylights
---------
21. Take On Me

Earlier in the day there was a small report about the tour opening on ZDF's "Leute Heute". It can be seen on YouTube here (with English subtitles).

(Thanks to Jenn and Alex for the setlist and Echicca and Chris for the "Leute Heute" video clip)

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"We'll make it a party"

The paper editions of both VG and Dagbladet feature interviews with a-ha today.

"This will be a really exemplary way of summing up 25 years. We'll make it a party - because we're worth it", Magne says about the farewell tour in VG.

But not surprisingly, Paul wouldn't have had a problem with continuing:
"It could have gone both ways for me. Another album had been no problem, and I guess I had already started working on the next a-ha project."

I have put up an English translation of the whole VG interview here.

In the Dagbladet interview Magne makes it clear that this is really the end of a-ha:
"- a-ha will never return after 4 December 2010. There will be no more album releases or concerts."

But he also says that they are ending it in style:
"Furuholmen can promise a big and spectacular ending to a 25 year long adventure, and tells us that the audience will get to experience a version of a-ha that we have never seen before."

You can read the translated Dagbladet interview here.

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Aftenposten interviews Morten

Aftenposten.no has interviewed Morten in Cologne, the day before the tour starts.

This is the first time he comments on the break-up of the band:

"All things do eventually come to an end. We can look back at a fantastic 25-year career, and we're now experiencing success once again. We're riding on a really good wave. Getting the opportunity to end things while you're on top of your game is a privilege."

I have posted a translation of the whole interview here.

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More German TV / Single updates

Morten, Magne and Paul were in Cologne on Wednesday, October 21st, for the taping of RTL's Die Ultimative Chartshow.

This was their first appearance together since October 10th, and the first since the break-up of the band was announced. In the meantime Paul had been back in New York. Some pictures of the guys arriving, taken by "take41", can be seen here.

According to postings on the German forum, a-ha performed live versions of both "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Nothing Is Keeping You Here". The songs will apparently be shown in two different episodes of the show, with NIKYH as part of "Most successful comebacks" on November 27th, and FOTM as part of "Most successful hits of 2009" on December 4th.

a-ha will also appear on TV Total on Pro7 on November 28th

According to this website Foot Of The Mountain has now been certified platinum in Russia for selling more than 20 000 copies. And in Norway the album has now sold 45 000 copies, according to Dagbladet.

The third single to be released in the UK is "Shadowside". Release date is November 2nd. Like the previous two UK-singles it will be available as a digital download only, and will include the single edit and radio edit of the song.

The next single in Germany and the rest of Europe is "Nothing Is Keeping You Here".

Only two days now until the Foot Of The Mountain Tour kicks off at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the first of 18 concerts that a-ha are doing in Germany, UK, Norway, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia and Japan over the next few weeks.

The press conference that was supposed to be held tomorrow has been cancelled, however.

A new German TV-ad promoting the album and tour can be seen here.

(Thanks to Sandra, Catherine and Johannes)

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Extra concert in Oslo Spektrum / Possible concert in Bodø

As expected, a second-last concert in Oslo Spektrum on 3 December 2010 has now been added.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at 9 am on Billettservice, according to a-ha.com.

Bodø may be one of the Norwegian cities to get an a-ha concert next year. Thomas Olavsen, who is responsible for booking artists to the annual Parken Festival in Bodø, has been in contact with a-ha's management to look into possible dates.

"We'd be happy to take the trip up north. We're looking into the possibilities, and it would be fun if it worked out", a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells the local press.

"Booking requests are coming in from all over the world. We'll gradually look into the offers and decide on who will get to organize the concerts on the farewell-tour. We'll know more in a month's time", Wiik adds.

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"Willkommen bei Mario Barth" TV-show

a-ha were guests on the German comedy show "Willkommen bei Mario Barth" on RTL, broadcast on Saturday evening. Their appearance was taped on October 10th.
("German comedy" - now there's a contradiction if ever there was one...)

Their appearance turned out to be a waste of everyone's time, especially Paul who had come over from New York. It started with a stupid dance-guessing contest featuring The Backstreet Boys. This was followed by a playback performance of "Shadowside", which was completely ruined by the annoying host trying to be funny by joining them on stage.

Scheduling an appearance on this show; a piss-poor management decision.

Those of you masochistic enough to want to suffer through this nonsense, can watch it on YouTube:     Part 1    Part 2

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a-ha manager talks to VG / World tour update

VG's paper edition has an interview with a-ha manager Harald Wiik today.

Apparently, the re-negotiated contract that a-ha signed with Universal Germany and ProSiebenSat1 not too long ago included three albums, of which Foot Of The Mountain was only the first one.

But Wiik says that it won't be a problem to end the contract. He also says that the co-operation with the Germans will hopefully continue next year with a possible live-DVD and TV-specials.

Read a full translation of the interview here.

And check out a-ha.com for an update on next year's world tour plans.

According to Oslo Spektrum's website (on a page that now seems to have been removed) the whole 2010 world tour - just like the final Oslo concert - will be called "Ending on a high note".

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Magne interviewed in London

Magne was interviewed on TV2's nine o'clock news. He is in London for the opening of his Alpha Beta exhibition at the Paul Stolper gallery tonight, but he took time to comment on the announcement that a-ha will disband next year.

The whole interview can be viewed online here. And here is an English translation:

--------------
Reporter: - Is this a special day for you?

Magne: - Every day is a special day! But it's clear that this has been a day that's been filled with an extraordinary amount of inquiries.

- What can you say about the decision? Has it been a long process?

- Yes and no. This is the perfectly natural time to end a fantastic career. For us, it's been one big adventure. And now we're calling it quits - while we're still wanted. And that feels very right. There are no ambivalent feelings toward this, at least on my part.

- Would you say that you are relieved, or sad, or something else?

- Right now I'm focusing on the fact that I'm opening an exhibition right behind me here, and that's actually the most important thing for me right now. But of course there's a little of both, there's some relief and it's also a bit sad. The important thing for us is that this gives us an opportunity to really celebrate what we have created together, in 2010. Throughout the whole of 2010 we will be touring a lot, and we'll just have to hope that people don't get tired of us before the end of the year! [Laughs]

- Was it a unanimous decision?

- It's not like you sit down around a table and simply decide on something like this. This is something that has evolved over time. We have made a lot of albums together, perhaps more than we thought there would be the last time we took a break, and this is the time to end it.

- One more question, if that's OK. Is there anything you will miss the most?

- As I said, we're ending it while the going is good, and after a year of slowing down, or whatever it takes, I guess it will be easier to talk about what I will miss. But we have experienced so much, and we are deeply grateful for the role that we've been able to play in people's lives for 25 years. So this is in many ways a joyous day, as we acknowledge that we have a lot to celebrate next year.
--------------

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The end of a-ha.

a-ha announced today that the band will end its career after next year's world tour.
The last ever a-ha concert will be held at Oslo Spektrum on 4 December 2010, and tickets go on sale tomorrow.

The press release, which can be read in full on a-ha.com, says:

a-ha manager Harald Wiik gave some additional comments about the announcement in an interview with Dagbladet.no:

-----------------------
"The fact is that a-ha have made pop history in the 25 years they have existed, there are no Norwegian bands that come anywhere near them. The band is very happy about this level of success and they now want to retire while they're still on top", the band's manager Harald Wiik tells Dagbladet.
(...)
According to Wiik, none of the band members want to say anything about the decision today.

"They have chosen not to give any comments about the details today, I guess they assume that there will be a lot of interest about this in the coming days. But it's not the end today, we have 15 months of planning, touring and concerts around the world coming up, so I'm sure there will be opportunities to talk about this later."

- But this is the definite end for the band?

"Yes, this is the end. This is first and foremost about celebrating the band's 25th anniversary, and at the same time giving the audience a chance to see them one last time and say farewell in a proper way", Wiik says.

- Will the concert in Oslo Spektrum 4 December 2010 be the only concert here in Norway?

"That is the last concert, but how many concerts there will be in total is up to the audience. There is an incredible amount of devoted fans all over the world, and it's important to them that they get a chance to be part of this event. We have many plans", Wiik says.

The band will start the world tour with three weeks in South America, before they travel around the USA for two weeks. They will then do festivals and other performances in Europe throughout the summer, before they tour the UK, Germany and other major European countries.

"It's a bit difficult to say how big [the tour] will be, but this is what we have planned. Either way, we feel it's right to to start by telling the fans what the last concert will be, so they can have the opportunity to be part of that event", Wiik says.
(...)
"There is undeniably a certain logic to the fact that they're ending it now. Pop bands are not supposed to last forever, and a-ha are not The Rolling Stones. The last album was good enough that they can retire with a certain dignity. But at the same time I guess we can just start waiting for the comeback. There is a sticky web of attraction and resistance connecting the three guys", Dagbladet's commentator and a-ha biographer Jan Omdahl says.
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According to Dagbladet, a-ha will hold a press conference in connection with the break-up in Cologne on 26 October, the day before the tour starts.

Savoy drummer Frode Unneland was interviewed on the TV news channel TV2 Nyhetskanalen this afternoon. He feels that the end of a-ha is both negative and positive. Positive in the sense that it gives him and Paul more time to work on the next Savoy album when the a-ha tour has finished.

The news has also spread all over the world, appearing on the websites of BBC News, Washington Post and NME, to name a few.

If you want to share your thoughts on the announcement, join the discussion on the WOTM forum.

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Shadowside CD single / Bliss interview

Amazon.de has now posted both the front and inner cover of the "Shadowside" CD-single, which will be released in Germany on Friday, October 16th.

The cover confirms that the second track on the single is a demo version of "Mother Nature Goes To Heaven":

1. Shadowside (3.31)
(New single version)

2. Mother Nature Goes To Heaven (4.34)
(Demo version)

Shadowside produced by Martin Terefe & Roland Spremberg.
Mother Nature Goes To Heaven produced by a-ha.

Order your copy of the CD single now at Amazon.de!

Yesterday's interview with Morten and Magne on the UK music channel BLISS is now up on YouTube: Part 1    Part 2

And here is another small interview with Morten from Smooth Radio, done back in July.

(Thanks to Caterina, Verni and Anne)

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Premiere of "Shadowside" music video

The "Shadowside" music video, directed by Uwe Flade, will have its TV-premiere on VIVA in Germany tonight.

The video is already up on VIVA's website, but is not available for viewing outside of Germany.

But it has also been uploaded to YouTube - you can see it here.
Update: Here is the video in better quality.

(Thanks to Tine, Echicca and Chris)

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"Engelen" premiere

Magne and Heidi attended the premiere of director Margreth Olin's new movie "Engelen" ("The Angel") at the Colosseum cinema in Oslo tonight. Among the audience was also King Harald.

The movie stars Maria Bonnevie, who you may remember from the movie "Øyenstikker" and Magne's "Dragonfly" music video. It's about the life of a woman who becomes a drug addict and is based on a true story.

The movie trailer can be seen on YouTube

Press articles:
Dagbladet.no     Side2.no     SeHer.no