A-Ha Unveil Final Concert DVD
aaamusic | On 02, Apr 2011
a-ha
Ending On A High Note
THE FINAL CONCERT LIVE AT OSLO SPEKTRUM 4TH DECEMBER 2010
18TH APRIL 2011
On 4th December 2010 Norway’s capital city, Oslo, hosted a-ha’s final show. Exactly nine months earlier, on 4th March, a-ha had set out on their Farewell Tour, also billed as Ending On A High Note. Now, this landmark concert is being released on four separate formats: standard CD, limited deluxe album (2CD + DVD), standard DVD and Blu-Ray.
The band had played South and North America, Europe and Asia and, even though farewells had already been said in their home countries, the audience at Olso’s Spektrum included fans from England, India, Mexico, South Korea, the USA, Spain, Germany, Canada, Italy – every place where a-ha had touched people. Oslo’s sub-zero temperatures weren’t going to keep anyone away.
“We want to be part of this farewell”, said a fan from Seattle and some German fans wore special shirts saying, “you made the soundtrack of our lives”.
“It’s always special to play your home town … there seems to be people coming from so many corners of the world”, noted Pål Waaktaar-Savoy.
This was something special. But it was even more than that – the final show from the band that had found worldwide success in 1985. Twenty-five years on, a-ha had decided that it was over. “It was always an adventure”, says Magne Furuholmen. “It could have lasted two years, it lasted more than 25. No one can ask for more.”
“It doesn’t kill the music”, says Morten Harket. “All three of us are still around. This is the end, but it is also a beginning. It opens doors up. But we don’t know what that will be”. Speaking to the Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten, Morten added “I do not feel any sadness. We end with victory.”
But not everyone could make it to Oslo. There were only so many tickets. Thankfully, cameras were there to capture a-ha as they bowed out at the end of 2010.
Back in 1982, Magne and Pål came to London to see if their music could make its way abroad. They returned in 1983 – with Morten – and concentrated on honing their music, recording demo after demo in a south London studio. At the end of the year they signed with Warner Brothers. But success wasn’t instant. Take On Me, after being re-recorded, hit the world’s charts in 1985. “We assumed we were going to have the summer hit of 1983”, confesses Morten. “We didn’t realise it actually takes time.”
At the Spektrum, a-ha opened their final show with The Sun Always Shines On TV, the single which said that they were here for good. On its heels was 1991’s Move To Memphis, underpinning that this final show was about the journey. “I have always felt that my commitment was for the long run”, confirms Magne. “We never doubted for a second that we would break through somehow”, says Pål. “We couldn’t think of one good reason why that wouldn’t happen”.
