World cup fever in Copenhagen!

by Judith Heinrich, Petra Meier and Judith Fasler. Photo: Lars Gundersen

About a week ago, a-ha were playing in front of an audience of over 23 people in Oslo and critics thought that this could hardly be topped, especially not with a club gig. They should be proved wrong…

a-ha arrive in Copenhagen for their sold out concert at ‘Vega’. The band managed to fit parts of their Oslo stage set up into the club and 6 screens have been arranged for an artistic lightshow. An audience of 1500 people fills the split-level venue and from the moment the lights are off, everyone from front row to the back of the venue is drawn into the magic atmosphere.

The band has slightly changed the order of their set list and kick off the show with ‘Minor Earth Major Sky’, followed by ‘An Afternoon High’ and ‘The Sun Never Shone That Day’ which gets everybody going and clapping along.

One of the many highlights of the show is the strong and expressive ‘You Wanted More’, which seems almost autobiographical reflecting the band’s history – and also seems to become the motto among the audience!

It’s time to go back in time and a-ha play their old time favourite ‘Manhattan Skyline’; from the first note onwards, the audience is singing along and cannot stop clapping before a-ha continue with an experimental version of ‘I’ve Been Losing You’. Even though this is one of the few songs that a-ha have been playing live since 1986, it is amazing to see that they still manage to uplift the song and even add some tunes of ‘The Blood That Moves The Body’ at the end of it.

It’s almost half time but not before a-ha astonish the audience with an amazing live version of ‘Did Anyone Approach You’. Already on the album, this is one of the strongest songs, but with its live potential, it is one of the highlights of the show.

Time to calm down – ‘Turn The Lights Down’ (in a duet with Anneli Drecker which the fans greatly appreciate), ‘Stay on These Roads’ and a whole ocean of people joins into ‘Hunting High And Low’ and the applause afterwards is breathtaking.

After ‘Locust’, the stage sinks into a green light wave and a-ha rock the stage with an outstanding guitar-focused version of ‘Scoundrel Days’. It is great to see that this song has finally found a permanent place in the set list.

An extremely rocky version of ‘Take On Me’ and ‘The Living Daylights’ finish off the show – an enthusiastic crowd is trying to bring the roof down with their loud cheers and those 1500 sound a lot closer to an actual stadium audience being at the world cup! And even when a-ha leave the stage, they keep on singing ‘The Living Daylights’ at full voice until the band decides to come back once more.

Extra time – ‘Lifelines’ & ‘Summer Moved On’ – before a-ha finish off their masterpiece with an amazing version of ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’.

While a-ha played the same songs as they did in Oslo, simply by changing the order on the set list, the concert seems to have a much better flow. And not to mention the exceptional intense atmosphere that is created in a club of this size.

Set list Copenhagen 14.06.02

Minor Earth Mayor Sky
An Afternoon High
The Sun Never Shone That Day
You Wanted More
Forever Not Yours
Manhattan Skyline
I’ve Been Losing You
Time And Again
Did Anyone Approach You?
Turn The Lights Down
Stay On These Roads
Hunting High And Low
Locust
Scoundrel Days
Take On Me
The Living Daylights

Encores:
Lifelines
Summer Moved On
The Sun Always Shines On TV