An A-HA experience!

Like more than a hundred thousand others - some sources say 150 thousand - I headed for Frognerparken in Oslo on Saturday, August 27. Not to celebrate the Centennial for Norsk Hydro but to watch the Norwegian supergroup A-HA perform one of their rare concerts on home soil. It did help that the concert was free (sponsored by the aforementioned Norsk Hydro).

Several artists performed in the living daylight hours, including the popular act Ravi & DJ Løv. But the masses were waiting patiently for Pål, Magne and Morten. As the darkness descended upon us, the stage and the large screens around the park lit up and we were treated to videos about A-HA, such as an interview with Coldplay's Chris Martin where he said that A-HA was the first band he really loved.

At 9.30 the famous trio entered the stage, with a great light show and a crystal clear sound (at least where I was standing). And for close to two hours we got treated to a mixture of new songs (such as their brand new single "Celice" from the upcoming album "Analogues") and their classic hits; from "Take on me" and "Living a boy's adventure tale" to "Scoundrel days", "Move to Memphis" and "The Living Daylights".

The band was in a good mood and cracked jokes ("And you thought we were professionals!", Magne erupted as he had to turn off a synthesizer that ran amok during an acoustic song) as well as making people sing along to their best known songs, in particular on "Hunting high and low" the audience joined in strongly and Morten just stood there listening. What an experience, both for band and audience, as we switched roles for a few minutes!

A-HA returned for encores twice, which indicates how well the audience liked their performance. The extras kicked off with a wonderful version of their best song, in my opinion, "The Sun Always Shines on TV". Even in the dark it felt like the sun was shining!

The concert was given top reviews in the national newspapers the next day. By all means, it was a historical event!