new reports: 2003 - 2005

These reports you can already read from 2003 until 2005 here:

Make poverty history: a-ha at live 8 in Berlin (D), the 2nd July 2005

On 2nd July the Live 8 concerts took place in London, Paris, Rome, Philadelphia, Berlin and other cities worldwide. The10 free concerts were staged to help draw attention to poverty in Africa and the developing world. A mix of German bands (Die Toten Hosen, Wir sind Helden, Juli, Silbermond, Sasha, Herbert Grönemeyer, …) and international stars, which included Reamonn, Green Day, Chris de Burgh, Faithless, Brian Wilson, Roxy Music and a-ha, came together in one of the most diverse concerts of the day.

I had the chance to go to the free concert in Berlin, Germany, and among other artists a-ha should play there. I was really curious, how the Live 8 event would be. The concert in Berlin was on the street of 17th July, between Victory statue and Brandenburg Gate. The boulevard, running through the city park called Tiergarten, was filled with a huge crowd. Nearly 200.000 people came to see a-ha and the other artists. It was really amazing.

The concert started at 2 p.m. with the German band Die Toten Hosen and their performance energized the audience. The band also called the audience to travel to Scotland for the G-8 summit, where the leaders of the world's eight major industrialized nations discussed - among other things - aid to Africa

Juli and Silbermond were also favoured by the crowd. They played their hits "Geile Zeit", "Perfekte Welle", "Zeit für Optimisten", "Durch die Nacht". Between the performances of the artists in Berlin, people could see on big screens other artists like Coldplay, REM, Madonna, Will Smith, Robbie Williams and much more, who performed in London, Philadelphia or in one of the other cities worldwide. The concert in Berlin was 3 hours behind the schedule and so we had to wait for a-ha, who played nearly at the end of the event, even longer. The time went by so slowly and staying in the huge crowd wasn't all time a pleasure, because people pushed and the audience was always moving.

Short time before a-ha should come on stage, we had the chance to go into the separate area which was normally only for invited guests. But the security opened a part of this area, so that some people who were really pushed in the front rows of the audience could come into this area. It was really great to be there, because in this area in front of the stage, there where no more pushing and we had enough space to stay and dance.

After the performance of Brian Wilson, and Madonna's performance which people saw on the screen, a-ha came on stage about 9 p.m. (there were scheduled for 6 p.m.!). a-ha performed only three songs. Magne welcomed the crowd at the beginning and said "Hey Berlin, it is just about the most beautiful crowd I've ever seen, thanks for making this moment". Then a-ha started their first song "Hunting High and Low" and the end of the song the audience sang along with Morten and he said "It's great to see you, thank you all". Followed by "Take On Me" which made the people moving and clapping. Morten had during the performance difficulties with his earpiece and he said that we could not hear himself singing. Only the Norwegian press reported later that a-ha`s performance was a defeat and that Morten complained too much about the sound problems.

Morten also said that it is really great to be here and that it is a particular course why they are in Berlin and that it is great that people come here for that. Besides he said that people can meet at the "Siegessäule" (Victory statue) where The Long Walk To Justice to Edinburgh started the next day. Followed his comments a-ha played their last song "Summer Moved On". After the song a-ha received enthusiastic applause and Morten asked the audience if they would like one more song. But unfortunately a-ha`s allotted time was over - Morten`s comment was "Time out" - and they had to leave the stage. After the performance Morten left the stage with a smile on his face and said "it was good, it was great, it was short, but it is just great to be part of it" and that Live 8 "is something we just do, it's not about us". And Magne said in an interview "For me it's a little bit the Woodstock of our time". After a-ha`s performance Reamonn and the German artist Herbert Grönemeyer and others should still playing in Berlin, but we left the area, because I had to go to my husband and to look after my little baby, at this time only 3 month old, who were waiting in front of the Victory statue.

Later the evening my friend and I went to the hotel bar to have a drink and we saw Morten and Magne and other artists who where also in the hotel bar to diner and to talk. There were all in a good mood and with the help of all of the artists who played without getting money the Live 8 concert in Berlin was really successful. It was a nice ending of a strenuous day, but we were happy to be part of Live 8. It was the greatest event on which I ever participated and it was great to see a-ha there as well. Now we are looking forward to a-ha`s European tour which starts on 29th October in Cologne, Germany, and of course we will be there. A report will follow shortly. You can be curious about it.

Copyright & written by: Birgit Stonis (birth name Meyer), August 2005

a-ha at the festival Rock Under Broen in Middelfart, Denmark, the 12th June 2004

The second concert of a-ha for his year has been at the one-day-festival Rock Under Broen (engl. Rock Under The Brigde) in Middelfart, Denmark, the 12th June 2004. The festival wasn't sold out with 14.000 sold tickets, but the location of the festival under the Lillebaeltsbro was really amazing. The festival is established there since 1989. Unfortunately there have been some small and big showers of rain at the festival day, but when a-ha came on stage the sun was shinning bright.

Rock Under Broen, 12.06.2004; The audience during a-ha's gig

A-ha acting for Joe Cocker at the festival from 17.45 - 19.15 o'clock, because Joe Cocker cancelled his concert. A-ha came to the festival area about 16.30 o'clock and they went into the backstage area where the musicians stayed before their concert. In the backstage area the artists had the possibility to eat and drink something and to change their clothes there.

The main stage at Rock Under Broen, Middelfart, Denmark

A-ha's backing band did a short sound check about 17.00 o'clock, before a-ha came on stage about 17.45 o'clock. It was a surprise to see that the area in front of the stage first had filled short time before a-ha's concert. The reason for that was maybe the fact that different bands played alternate on the mains stage and in a tent, and the most part of the audience stayed where a band has been at that time. The festival was also a kind of family party. There were a lot of groups of people and a lot of children present. Besides there were different stalls.

Headliner at the festival was the band Nickelback (http://www.nickelback.com) from Canada with their famous songs "How You Remind Me" (from the album Silver Side Up, 2001) and "Someday" (from the album The Long Road, 2003), they played first at 22.30 o'clock on the main stage. Also the Danish artist Tim Christensen (http://www.timchristensen.dk), who played after a-ha from 20.15 until 21.30 o'clock, was a favourite of the audience. But on the international market he and his current album Honeyburst (2003) aren't very much known yet.

The bands on the main stage

Morten at Rock Under Broen, 12.06.2004

The set list wasn't very much different from the one a week before in Bergen, Norway. In Middelfart a-ha let out for reasons of time the songs: "Lifelines" and "Did Anyone Approach You". During the faster songs the audience clapped their hands enthusiastically. And the visitors of the festival liked especially the both songs "I've Been Losing You" and "Take On Me", because these two songs of a-ha are well-known. The audience sang along with Morten "Hunting High And Low" not so energetically like it is the case on other a-ha concerts. The reason for that has been the audience of the festival which was very mixed. The whole evening Morten's vocal was really convincing and he was in a good form. Paul did his best when he performed "Sycamore Leaves" and he impressed with his guitar solos. Magne forgot his lyrics when he sang "Dragonfly", but he laughed at himself and he tried to find back into the song. The last song before the encores was "The Living Daylights". At the end of the show a-ha performed a really rocking version of "The Sun Always Shines On TV" which was the second encore after the song "Summer Moved On" and then the guys left the stage after 90 minutes.

Magne at Rock Under Broen, 12.06.2004

Paul at Rock Under Broen, 12.06.2004

After the concert a-ha went back to the backstage area and Morten wrote on the way from the stage until the entrance of the backstage area some people and children autographs. I also had the possibility to meet Morten there and to talk to him. I praised him and a-ha for their concert and he thanked me for that and he didn't answer me at my question when the new a-ha album will come out exactly. But if I believe some press articles the new a-ha album will be published next year. Unfortunately a-ha hadn't much time after the concert and about 19.30 o'clock they drove from the festival area back to their hotel in Middelfart. Magne, Paul and the backing band left the hotel again and drove away. Later they went to the hotel bar and spent from 23.00 until 1.00 o'clock the rest of the evening there. Morten already departed directly after the show from the festival area, because of personal reasons.

Morten wrote some autographs after the show, 12.06.2004

Magne after the show on his way to the backstage area for the artists, 12.06.2004

Also Chris Norman (http://www.chris-norman.co.uk) and his band were later in the hotel bar. He performed from 21.30 until 22.30 o'clock in the tent at the festival. And I also had the chance to exchange some words with him and his backing band. Chris Norman will play several concerts and he will perform at some festivals this summer. Since he has won in the German TV show Comeback, he is again a popular artist (the new album is: Break Away, 2004). Rock Under Broen is a wonderful festival and if you like, you will have the possibility to spent a nice day there next year. On the official website http://www.rockunderbroen.dk you can read information's about the last and the following festivals and about the artists and bands which will perform there next time. The preparations for 2005 have already started. Besides the festival will even be two or three days long in 2005. You can lock forward to another great festival with great artists then.

More pictures of Rock Under Broen you can see in the rubric pictures.

Copyright & written by: Birgit Meyer, June 2004

a-ha at the Folkefest in Bergen (NO), the 4th June 2004

a-ha played a concert at the Folkefest in Bergen, Norway, the 4th June 2004, on a floating stage which was in the bay called Vågen. My friend and I decided to travel to Bergen, because in this year there hasn't been much possibilities to see a-ha live in concert.

On 3rd June we arrived in Bergen when the sun was shinning bright and the blue sky was wonderful. We made a stroll in the city centre of Bergen and we also visited the bay where the a-ha concert should be the next day. The crew already has been really busy to build up the stage and some people (I guess they were fans) looked really interest what happened there. We continued our stroll and we also found Magne's sculpture. Unfortunately the weather changed this evening and it started to rain. Also in the morning of the 4th June 2004 it was rainy, but although it was cloudy in the afternoon and in the evening of the concert day, there were fortunately no more showers of rain during the concert. On the right: Magne's sclupture in Bergen, Norway (in the back you see a part of the stage)

a-ha during the sound check in Bergen, 04.06.2004 More pictures of the sound check you can see: Here!

A-ha did their sound check about 14.00 o'clock and the area, where the concert took place, hasn't fenced in at that time and so some people and fans went to the pier and listened to the sound check. A-ha played several songs during the sound check, f.e. "The Swing Of Things", "I've Been Losing You", "Lifelines" and "Manhattan Skyline". They finished the sound check about 15.00 o'clock and left the floating stage with a boat - which also had brought a-ha to stage before the sound check - and they cruised back to their hotel Admiral.

The inlet for the concert should be about 18.00 o'clock, so it has been written on the ticket. But at this time the construction of the concert area wasn't finished and so the inlet was first about 19.30 o'clock. The fans were really happy when they finally could enter the area. People, who had tickets for the floating area in front of the stage, got also a rose-coloured ribbon.

About 20.30 o'clock the Norwegian band Magnet came on stage and after them a choir. At 22.15 o'clock when a-ha stepped on the stage the audience acclaimed. They started the concert with the songs "Forever Not Yours", "Minor Earth, Major Sky" and "There's A Reason For It". About 10.000 people had tickets for the concert, but also without a ticket it was possible to join the concert. From windows and balconies or from cafés, which were higher located and from were you had a view of the bay and the stage, a lot of people saw the concert for free. A special highlight of the show was "Hunting High And Low" where the fans sang along with Morten. After the song Morten left the stage and Paul and Magne did their best during the songs "Sycamore Leaves" and "Dragonfly".

Morten sang along with the audience during "Hunting High And Low"

Morten and "Magnet" (Evan Johansen) sang "Lay Lady Lay"

When Morten went back on the stage, the singer of Magnet came with him. Morten and Magnet performed the Bob Dylan song "Lay Lady Lay" together. The song is as a cover on the newest album of Magnet (called "On Your Side"). Finally the singer of Magnet (Evan Johansen) gave Morten a kiss on his mouth. That was a great fun for the audience.

A-ha left the stage after "The Living Daylights" and the audience kept on singing the song. The encores were "Summer Moved On" and "The Sun Always Shines On TV". A third encore wasn't possible, because it was already 0.00 o'clock and it wasn't allowed that a-ha play longer. After the show a-ha cruised with the boat back to their hotel and went into the hotel. Morten had at night a small press conference in the hotel and took some pictures with fans in the lobby.

The next morning Paul was the first who left the hotel. Morten was in a hurry when he departed the hotel with his girlfriend Anne Mette Udlien and his daughter Henny about 11.00 o'clock, because they had to go to the airport and get their flight. Magne came into the lobby about 12.00 o'clock. He also talked to some fans there and took picture with them before he departed about 13.00 o'clock. My friend and I stayed until the 7th June 2004 in Bergen, because we wanted to have some more time to visit this beautiful town. Bergen is really worth to see, also without an a-ha concert. There are different fjords in the near and also the trip with the Floibanen (a tram which goes on a mountain and from Floyen you have a wonderful view of Bergen) is great. So if you will go to Bergen one timeyou should not miss it. The trip to Bergen was again an amazing a-ha experience which I won't miss in my life.

Magne in front of the hotel Admiral in Bergen, 05.06.2004

More pictures of the Folkefest you can see in the rubric pictures.

Copyright & written by: Birgit Meyer, Juni 2004

a-ha at the student festival UKA03 in Trondheim (Norway) the 03. + 04.11.2003

When I heard that a-ha will play some concerts in October and November 2003 in Russia, in the Ukraine and also two concerts in Trondheim, Norway, at the student festival UKA03, my friend and I decided to travel to Trondheim to see a-ha in the end of this year live again. There were no more concerts planed in Europe this winter and there also were rumours that these concerts would be the last a-ha concerts which a-ha would play together in the next time.

The travel from Oslo to Trondheim with the train through this beautiful norwegian nature with woods, mountains and rivers and also the town Trondheim itself, was it worth to travel there.
On 2nd November my friend and I arrived in the afternoon in Trondheim. One day before we have landed with a plane in Oslo. In the evening of the 2nd November my friend and I joined a little international fan meeting in the "Viking Hotel" in Trondheim. At the party were some german and english people, Monicha from Switzerland, Simo from Italy, Ola from Norway and Ninam from France. A many coloured mixed group. It was a nice evening and it was great to see that so many international fans travelled the far way to Trondheim just to see a-ha.

The next morning, my friend and I went for a stroll through Trondheim to see the city centre and the sights. Especially the old town and the cathedral of Trondheim are worth seeing. But also the city centre has many cafés, restaurants, hotels and shops which are interesting and where people can stay. Unfortunately the boats tours at the fjord and the visit of the island "Munkholmen" were not possible at this season. So it is worth while to come back in summer for this. On 3rd November we went about 15.30 o'clock to the tent at the "Dødens dal", where a-ha should play the concerts this evening and tomorrow evening. When we arrived the place, there were just a few people there waiting for the inlet. Only some international fans - many which have been at the fan party on 2nd November as well - stood there.

The old town of Trondheim and in the back the cathedral.

The poster for the announcement of the a-ha concerts on 3rd and 4th November 2003 at the student festival UKA.

My friend and I walked away until 17.00 o'clock, for visiting the area of the university and to get the magazine of the student festival UKA03, because in the magazine was also a report about a-ha. When we came back to the place where the tent for a-ha's concert was standing, there were still only some few people waiting. a-ha did a sound check about 17.00 o'clock, so we and the other fans had the chance to listen to it. Also on 4th November a-ha did again a long sound check from 17.00 until 17.45 o'clock. The inlet in the tent was at 19.00 o'clock - respectively on the second evening at 19.30 o'clock. We made it on both days to stay in the front row and we stood one evening in front of Pål and the second evening in front of Morten.

During these concerts, Anneli Drecker was not as the background singer with a-ha on stage, but they had the same backing band like on the tour in 2002. The concert itself started two hours later, at 21.00 o'clock. Or to be exact, the concert on 3rd November started at 21.15 o'clock - with a delay of 15 minutes. (Maybe that was the reason why a-ha had no more time on the first evening to play more than two encores, because at 23.00 o'clock a-ha had to stop.) The first song was "Forever not yours", followed by "Minor earth, major sky" and "There's a reason for it". During the first three songs it was possible that some photographer took pictures. But it was not permitted that the audience took pictures and the security punished everybody who tried to take a picture. The security seized also some cameras and handys with an integrate camera. Therefore this report includes for the first time no pictures of the concerts made by myself. It's a pity, but I stood in the first row and I was always in the centre of interest of the security.

Copyright of this picture: Tronder Avisa, 05.11.2003, Fotogjengen på Samfundet

"Time and again" and the acoustic version of "Stay on these roads" were the ballads of both evenings. After "Hunting high and low", another highlight of the show where the fans sang together with Morten, Morten left the stage for two songs and Pål sang "Sycamore leaves" and Magne "Dragonfly". After that Morten came back on the stage with a different outfit and the song "Scoundrel days" followed. The audience liked very much this song and also the song "The swing of things" which a-ha played earlier in the evening. "The living daylights" was the last song before the encores. The fans sang loud this song and also didn't stop as a-ha left the stage. When a-ha came back on the stage, they finished "The living daylights" once more (only on the first evening). After that they played the two encores "Summer moved on" and "The sun always shines on tv". On the second evening a-ha played two more encores: "Locust" and "Cry Wolf". During the song "Locust", a-ha had in the middle of the song a power failure. That was the highlight of the second evening. Morten spent these minutes smiling on the stage and he tried to communicate with the audience with gestures. The rest of the band tried to organize themselves. During the "blackout" the audience raged and applauded, because they didn't want that a-ha left the stage. When the power was back, a-ha played the last encore "Cry Wolf". Magne was sitting with his guitar on the stage and swung his legs into the ditch where the security was standing. The only difference of the setlist of the two evenings, were the two additional encores which a-ha played on 4th November and which a-ha didn't play on 3rd November.

Last but not least some comments to both concerts in general: Especially during the first concert, Morten forgot rather often some passages of the lyrics. More than normally, in my mind. He seemed inconcentrate during the first evening . The second concert was better, but everybody knows Morten, it is almost normal that he forgets some lyrics sometimes. Pål's guitar solos where really brilliant, on both evenings, the songs were really rocking and Pål put all his energy into his solos. Magne was in good humour, he talked to the audience which was also overwhelming and he also introduced the backing band in the middle of the concerts.

The two concerts evenings were really wonderful and special and the atmosphere was really personally, because only 5000 people were in the tent on one evening. Besides the audience were in a good mood. a-ha were a little anxious, because of so many people in this little tent. But there were no dramatic incidents at all. Only after the concert, the one exit wasn't enough and there was a little press. Most of the time it were quite evenings and there were only a few faint girls and some drunk Norwegians, but they didn't make much trouble.

Pål in the Radisson hotel in Trondheim, 04.11.2003

After the two concerts we were in the Radisson Royal Garden hotel in Trondheim where a-ha stayed their nights in Trondheim as well. There we had the chance - together with some other fans - to meet Morten, Magne and Pål when they came back to the hotel after the second concert. All three reached the hotel one after another. Especially Pål and Morten wrote patient autographs (also with dedication), took pictures and talked to the fans when they came back to the hotel between 01.00 and 02.00 o'clock. Morten told us that he works on solo-songs, but he said that he doesn't know if the album will come out already in 2004. Besides Morten said that it was really "Cool" when a-ha had the power failure during the second concert. Pål's answer on the question if there will be a new a-ha album soon, was really open and I suppose that there will be no new a-ha album in 2004, but let us wait and see.

Morten in the Radisson hotel in Trondheim, 04.11.2003

Magne came after the second concert really, really late in the night in the hotel (I heard that he came after 05.00 o'clock in the morning), so many fans - like ourselves - have not seen him. But we already saw him several times in the hotel lobby before the concerts - like Pål and Morten, too. On 5th November we had to leave our hotel really early to get our train back to Oslo, so we have not seen a member of a-ha on this morning.

On the whole, I'm really happy that I had the chance to join these two beautiful and special concerts. My friend and I would do this trip at any time again, although the prices in Norway or in Scandinavia are not low at all. Not only because of the two a-ha concerts, but also because Trondheim is a really nice town and worth seeing, I don't want to miss this experience and this great trip to Norway.

The setlist:
1. Forever Not Yours
2. Minor Earth Major Sky
3. There's A Reason For It
4. Manhattan Skyline
5. I've Been Losing You
6. The Blood That Moves The Body
7. Time And Again
8. Did Anyone Approach You
9. The Swing Of Things
10. Lifelines
11. Stay On These Roads
12. Hunting High And Low
13. Sycamore Leaves
14. Dragonfly
15. Scoundrel Days
16. Take On Me
17. The Living Daylights
Encores:
18. Summer Moved On
19. The Sun Always Shines On TV
Additional encores on 4th November 2003:
20. Locust
21. Cry Wolf

Copyright & written by: Birgit Meyer, November 2003
Copyright of the concert picture: Tronder Avisa, 05.11.2003, Fotogjengen på Samfundet

Morten Harket at the christening of the norwegian ship MS Midnatsol
in Hamburg (Germany) the 22.03.2003

The christening ceremony of the new norwegian ship MS Midnatsol (engl. midnightsun) of Hurtigruten (the norwegian costal voyage) took place at the harbour in Hamburg, Germany, the 22nd march 2003. The Hurtigruten ships are known as The world´s most beautiful voyage and this norwegian costal express connects different towns and small villages in Norway. To celebrate the christening in Germany was to thank all the german fans of these ships, because many germans really like to travel with Hurtigruten and are often guests on bord.

The new ship Midnatsol will replace the old Midnatsol from 1982 in april 2003. Here you can see the Midnatsol leaving the harbour in Hamburg the 22nd march 2003.

The Hurtigruten ships are nowadays really comfortable and are really important for Norway to transporte goods on seaways on the way from Bergen to Kirkenes and to reach the destination faster than with trucks on land ways.
The invited guests (about 700) had the possibility to take part at the christening party of the MS Midnatsol at the old DFDS Terminal at the harbour in Hamburg from 2 pm on. There were a really delicious fish buffet and drinks offered by the Crew of the MS Midnatsol.

The presenter of the christening party was Birgit Schrowange - really famous in Germany - and she is also a fan of Hurtigruten and Morten Harket who performed on the party later in the afternoon. Morten did a short sound check about 11am when no guests were on the dock area. During the party a cheque over 5.000 Euro was handed from the Norwegian Ship agency (NSA) to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) Germany. The charity is a part of the money from people who visited the new ship in Germany and is needed for the protection of the polar bears at Spitsbergen in Norway.

Morten´s performance started about 3.20 pm. He was accompanied by the norwegian guitarrist Knut Reiersrud (his new album is called Sweet Showers of Rain, 2001). Morten and Knut performed together at the christening party three songs. The beginning was an instrumental-intro of the song A change is gonna come (of Morten´s solo-single Burning out again (a kind of christmas card), 1995) followed by the song Many Rivers To Cross. Both songs are cover-versions of songs of Sam Cooke. After that they performed the song Lord (of Morten´s Wild Seed solo-album, 1995).

Knut Reiersrud

Finally Morten sung Summer Moved On (of a-ha`s album Minor Earth, Major Sky, 2000). During this song Morten was also accompanied by the string quartet of the Tromsöer symphony orchestra which had performed already some songs during the diner.

Between the performed songs Morten has been interviewed by Birgit Schrowange. Morten said that he accepted the invitation for the christening, because it is a special norwegian event for him and he remembers gladly the beauty of the nature in Norway when he is abroad. From the ships of the Hurtigruten people can see all this wonderful nature. The question how and where Morten lives, he answered with a smile that people won´t to know how he lives. Morten was really surprised that also at the MS Midnatsol he wasn´t spared from another a-ha band member.

Morten Harket & Birgit Schrowange

Magne Furuholmen, 2003

It turned out that from Magne Furuholmen are some paintings at the Midnatsol. The range Arpeggio - Triptychon (oil on canvas) reflects the bonhomie associated with Norway´s national beverage, Aquavit. Here you can see one of the paintings which are at the ship.

The diner and the performance of Morten was followed by the christening ceremony at 4 pm outside in front of the ship MS Midnatsol and a press conference at 5 pm , before the ship left the harbour of Hamburg at 6.30 pm with some invited guests - among them also Morten Harket - for a trip and reached Hamburg first in the morning of the 23rd march 2003 again. More pictures of Morten´s performance you can see here: Morten pictures.
Somebody who is interested in a journey with Hurtigruten or Norden Tours should contact the websites of the companies directly.

Copyright & written by: Birgit Meyer, March 2003

back to the beginning of this site

back to a-ha