A-ha – much better than feared

Fortunately, there was an A-ha concert on Wednesday night. And after a somewhat rough start, it also ended relatively well
finally. Both for the band and the audience.

The great excitement the last time has been whether it would be any of the announced concert at Bergenfest.

And especially whether Morten Harket was still able to sing as the band has been severely plagued with health problems in recent months. Both sore throat and covid have resulted in canceled concerts and tours both abroad and at home.

My first concert experience with A-ha was in Bergenshallen in 1987. At that time, the trio was both Norway’s and one of the world’s largest pop bands with their fan base mainly among those under 30. That the band would still exist and draw full houses 35 years later, I could hardly have imagined . The last time A-ha played in Bergen was six years ago at Koengen in front of 16,000 listeners. Not quite as large capacity at Bergenhus, but the lawn was packed for a while before the concert itself began. Even with a varied Bergen program to choose from, it was clear that it was A-ha most people had come to see this evening.

Like the band members in A-ha, the fans have also become considerably older over the years. The average may not be as high as the age of Morten Harket, who turns 63 later this year, but it was not that far away either.

This fall A-ha comes with a new album, but the audience was fortunately spared new songs from here. A band that largely lives on the greatness of the past, is a little too seasoned in the game to make such mistakes.

It starts with over 30 years old «Sycamore Leaves». Morten Harket poses with sunglasses and a white wool sweater. He struggles a bit with his voice at first, but there is no crisis at all. But A- ha does not seem particularly inspired and does not manage to arouse any great excitement in the audience in the first minutes. But with three extra musicians in the back and good sound, it’s still not completely hopeless.

It’s getting a little better when the Everly Brothers’ classic “Crying In the Rain” comes as song number three. But it is only with “Cry Wolf” that some of the old A-ha magic is really starting to show. It then also clearly spreads to the audience who sing along to the chorus of full throat. And from here it goes reasonably well. Harket has warmed up his vocal cords and both Magne Furuholmen and Paal Waaktaar Savoy seem a little more on the cutting edge. With “Hunting High and Low”, “The Sun Always Shines on TV” and “The Living Daylights”, the entire Lawn is also on the notes.
But no A-ha concert is complete without “Take On Me” as a conclusion. Undoubtedly one of the best Norwegian pop songs of all time – even after almost 40 years.