Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, the Netherlands November 18th 2005
A-HA
Two days before the concert I received an email from Universal that I was granted a photo pass for the concert of the legendary Norwegian band A-HA. Arriving one and a half hour too early at the backstage entrance of Heineken Music Hall I was really looking forward to seeing and photographing my first A-HA concert.
After a three-and-a-half year break, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy are back. With their eighth studio album and a European tour, A-HA continues their remarkable career.
The album Analogue and the tour of the same name exactly mark the 20th anniversary of their first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 when they stormed the pop world with ‘Take on Me’. After this, A-HA continued to show that their first hit had only scratched the surface. A collective that works in a surprisingly complex way has always been hidden beneath the surface. As friends, musicians, stars and human beings, A-HA have in the course of time accomplished almost everything. ‘Analogue’ is their current stocktaking – that does not mean that things have reached a happy end, because A-HA will in the future also continue to remain true to the maxim “work in progress.”
‘Analogue’ is an album that treads new ground and thereby undeniably represents A-HA, starting with the first single Celice, which is both cold and affectionate, up to the irresistibly catchy ‘Analogue’ and ‘Halfway Through The Tour’, up to the reflective, sensitive ‘Keeper Of The Flame’ as well as the band’s personal favorite ‘Cosy Prisons’. (Source: a-ha.com)
Music
A-HA started off with their new single ‘Celice’. I was anxious to hear to new songs, because I heard and read a lot of mixed reactions about the new album ‘Analogue’ which is released on November 4th.
I think that ‘Celice’ is a real and sensitive ear-catcher, which was also been noticed by the audience. The song was received with big screams and a big applause even as the band. During the concert old songs, like the big hit ‘Take on Me’, the beautiful ‘Stay on These Roads’, the James Bond classical ‘The Living Daylights’ and a couple more were exchanged with new songs form ‘Analogue’. The new songs were certainly not bad at all, but I needed to get used to them.
That Morten Harket (Vocals) is still a splendid singer, he proved us this night. The high parts on ‘Take on me’ were sung with no effort and all songs were sung with a load of emotion. Magne (Guitar and Keys) switched during the concert a couple of time between the guitar and the keyboard and also joined Morten by with backing vocals. A-HA had three other artists with them, but when introducing them I couldn’t hear their names well. That the other artists contributed to the sound was very obvious. Drums and catchy bass lines made a terrific sound and a magnificent concert this night.
The album Analogue and the tour of the same name exactly mark the 20th anniversary of their first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 when they stormed the pop world with ‘Take on Me’. After this, A-HA continued to show that their first hit had only scratched the surface. A collective that works in a surprisingly complex way has always been hidden beneath the surface. As friends, musicians, stars and human beings, A-HA have in the course of time accomplished almost everything. ‘Analogue’ is their current stocktaking – that does not mean that things have reached a happy end, because A-HA will in the future also continue to remain true to the maxim “work in progress.”
‘Analogue’ is an album that treads new ground and thereby undeniably represents A-HA, starting with the first single Celice, which is both cold and affectionate, up to the irresistibly catchy ‘Analogue’ and ‘Halfway Through The Tour’, up to the reflective, sensitive ‘Keeper Of The Flame’ as well as the band’s personal favorite ‘Cosy Prisons’. (Source: a-ha.com)
Music
A-HA started off with their new single ‘Celice’. I was anxious to hear to new songs, because I heard and read a lot of mixed reactions about the new album ‘Analogue’ which is released on November 4th.
I think that ‘Celice’ is a real and sensitive ear-catcher, which was also been noticed by the audience. The song was received with big screams and a big applause even as the band. During the concert old songs, like the big hit ‘Take on Me’, the beautiful ‘Stay on These Roads’, the James Bond classical ‘The Living Daylights’ and a couple more were exchanged with new songs form ‘Analogue’. The new songs were certainly not bad at all, but I needed to get used to them.
That Morten Harket (Vocals) is still a splendid singer, he proved us this night. The high parts on ‘Take on me’ were sung with no effort and all songs were sung with a load of emotion. Magne (Guitar and Keys) switched during the concert a couple of time between the guitar and the keyboard and also joined Morten by with backing vocals. A-HA had three other artists with them, but when introducing them I couldn’t hear their names well. That the other artists contributed to the sound was very obvious. Drums and catchy bass lines made a terrific sound and a magnificent concert this night.
Performance
That A-HA is not one of the most moveable bands on stage, we all know. But that’s okay. A-HA’s music doesn’t need much to reach the highest point. Morten (Vocals) sort of drowned into his own songs when singing them and it looked like each member played their own part. Sometimes they interact with each other by granting smiles, hugging and standing next to each other playing, like Paul and Magne (Guitar and Keys) did a couple of times. Nevertheless you still see the joy each member has on its face when standing and performing on stage. The band had a lot of interaction with the audience ass well, which was very funny to see. During ‘Hunting High and Low’ Morten (Vocals) let the audience join in and gave them the end of the song. Turning the microphone to the audience and acting to turn on the sound louder and louder he made the people sing louder and louder.
The only thing which I found was a pity was the light show. During the first song white front lights shown onto the stage which was beautiful. After that a lot of blue and red front light were exchanged, which was just too bad. Red front light made the faces look flat and you can barely see the emotion on the faces, which I think with A-HA is just so important. The lightshow on the back of the stage seemed to be nice, but I missed that part while standing on the side.
This was my first concert of A-HA, but it made me this enthusiastic that I really like to go again next time! Great band!
Setlist
01. Celice
02. Move to Memphis
03. Stay on These Roads
04. Cozy Prisons
05. Manhattan Skyline
06. Scoundrel Days
07. Keeper of the Flame
08. Take on Me
09. I' ve Been Losing You
10. Hunting high and low
11. I Call Your Name
12. Living Daylights
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13. Analoque
14. The Sun Always Shines on TV
15. Summer Moved on
16. Dark is the Night
Rating
Music 8
Performance 7
Sound 8
Light 6
Total 7
Music 8
Performance 7
Sound 8
Light 6
Total 7
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