Posted By: Catherine 
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A night to remember
Text from Jamil, 10:27pm, December 3: “‘Take on Me’ just started. Morten in red suit!”
The pre-arranged text was our warning that party guests would be arriving in about ten minutes, to give us time for final preparations at Folketeateret for the official fan party. I had no idea what ‘Morten in red suit’ meant, it sounded somehow significant, but there was too much to do to spend time trying to figure it out!
Already there was a queue outside the doors, mostly those people who did not attend the concert on December 3, so we were working fast to get ready to welcome everyone. Just before 11:00pm, with the fan party crew in place and concertgoers joining the queue, the doors opened and hundreds of excited fans made their way inside.
As people waited to hand in their party tickets and receive wristbands, drink tickets and raffle tickets, Jamil and I walked up and down the queue to answer questions and make sure everyone knew what was going on up at the front. It is never fun to wait, but these fans were cheerful and friendly, definitely ready for a fun night celebrating a-ha’s career!
To set the scene:
Inside, DJ David Sowtz played only a-ha songs and the crowd was already dancing and enjoying themselves. You couldn’t tell at all that David had spent two stressful days trying to find a way to get to Oslo from Scotland, where flights had been cancelled due to bad weather. He was amazing, people told me many times during the evening how much they enjoyed his mixes.
There was a merchandise table where people could buy copies of The Swing of Things: 1985-2010 and pick up their fan party t-shirts.
A special video presentation was projected onto one wall of the main room, with Wesley nearby to answer questions about the clips and keep things running smoothly. The three-hour presentation kept some people’s attention for long periods of time, while others only watched it occasionally.
Party guests who needed tickets to the final concert eagerly entered a special raffle drawing for a chance to win one of four free concert tickets. The prize tickets were all donated by fans who had extras and wanted to make sure that true fans had a chance to be there for a-ha’s final show. For a while we needed help managing this raffle entry table, and some of the Dutch fan club members stepped in and made sure things kept moving smoothly. Enorm bedankt!
For those who wanted to meet other fans, there was an ‘ice breaker’ game that worked like a quiz: there was a list of facts and each person had to find fans who matched the descriptions. Those who completed their game card were entered to win a special prize drawing of fan party branded gift items.
In between requests for drink tickets and guest list confirmations, I was called aside by security, who told me that “Paul’s wife and sister are here, could you come up front to greet them?” I saw that Lauren and Tonje were standing to the side and I greeted them happily. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I said as Lauren and I hugged, and she replied, “I thought it would be a fun surprise!” Lauren and Tonje spent quite a while speaking with fans, taking photos and having their photos taken as well.
Also visiting the party was author Jan Omdahl, who consented to answer a couple of questions about his perspective on the band’s career and future endeavors. Jan also announced the winner of a signed copy of The Swing of Things, which was kindly provided by Press.
By midnight the party was in full swing, people were talking and enjoying the special atmosphere: perhaps the only time in their lives being surrounded by fellow fans and listening to a playlist of danceable a-ha songs! It was wonderful to see people celebrating a-ha’s musical legacy together.
There were several prize drawings throughout the night, and lucky winners took home tour posters, promo CDs, t-shirts and other a-ha merchandise. The final prize drawing was for the free a-ha concert tickets, and the winners were ecstatic to be going to the final concert!
Throughout the evening, as people left Folketeateret, party guests were given a DVD copy of the video presentation Wesley made as their keepsake from the event. Unfortunately not everyone received their DVD, having either left before we began handing them out or avoiding the queue on the way out not realizing there was a gift to receive. If you did not receive your DVD but bought a ticket to the party, please contact us at party@a-ha.com.
All too soon it was time to say goodnight. Some fans left from the party and immediately joined the queue at Spektrum for the final concert, and other fans went to their homes or hotels for some much-needed sleep!
It was a night to remember, and so wonderful to see everyone! Special thanks to the fan party crew, who worked very hard to make the night so amazing, and to Folketeateret for being such great hosts. Thanks also of course to the band for their support. Already some international fan clubs are talking about keeping up the fan party tradition in their countries, so no doubt we will soon be posting announcements about such gatherings on the newly reopened Fan Corner section of a-ha.com!
Pre-Party Slideshow
Here is a slideshow of pictures fans sent in before the fan party, to be shown that night. We received over 160 pictures from all around the world! Enjoy!
Party Photos
Here is a small selection of fan party photos:
Over 150 more party photos are up on Flickr now! Photos by Marieke van der Veen.
Video clips
There are a couple of great video clips from the party on YouTube here: Clip 1 | Clip 2
The party crew
Samantha, Niamh, Helen, Anne, Solaris, Ann, Sonia, Tore, Yvonne, Beth, Nicola, Jamil, Kati, Sally, Stefanie, Sharon, Wesley, Kirstie, Catherine, David, Marieke. Not pictured but a huge help to us: Vikki, Lorraine, Mark, Peter, Narve, David, Amanda, and the Dutch fan club!
Thank you all x
Time: 13:06 pm 
Well done to the fan party team for such a successful party. Was gutted not to have made it, but it’s great to see the pics on here & flickr.
Thanks also for letting my friend Olga in. She was stranded in Oslo without us as I had paid for our 3 tickets but my flight was cancelled & I got stuck in the UK. Whoever it was that got her in has my sincere thanks! Andrea x
What a lovely report! I enjoyed reading it very much, and it brought me back to the party. One of the best nights in my life, and certainly the most surreal one! I’d never been to anything like it before — not this big, anyway.
It really was a fantastic event. And I hope there will be more fan parties in the future. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for them, that’s for sure.
Thanks once again all who helped arrange the party, all who came, and all of you who couldn’t come but were there in spirit!
/Malin
Thank you all !!!
It was a night to remember.
ThanXXX everyone in the organisation (great job)!
ThanXXX everyone there (loved meeting, dancing, talking to you)
And ThanXXX Catherine for the véry sweet words about the Dutch fan club, we loved to help out and had a blased! (great picture Marieke!)
I will remember the week and the fan party forever!
Thank you all friends
Big Dutch Hug,
Adry
ps If you see anyone in our famous shirt please tag us (or contact me)
hello everyone from Ukraine:)
I was there, it was a great night.
Only Aha music Yes !!
It was an A W E S O M E evening!! Thank you for organising it soooo brilliantly and let’s definitely hope we can do that again: I am looking forward to it
Hi to everyone who was there and I was happy to meet and greet
Rob (Singapore)
Hi everyone,
I have been there and it was exactaly as described in this report. We could feel that it was prepared with care. In there I met people from Brazil for the first time, and we just knew each one by internet. I did not know that Lauren has been there, that was a pity! It was great to see people from Japan, France, Ireland and other countries, joined for an only reason: Love for a-ha.
CONGRATULATIONS for all of you who worked hard to offer such good time.
Oh…thank you very much for the memories
I LOVED looking through those pictures…great job, Marieke! And the party looked so fun; I wish I could have been there. : )
Thank you very much !!!! I saw some of the pictures I sent you in the pre-party slideshow !!!!
On December 4, 2010 at the same time that began the last show in Oslo, the Argentinian fans met to celebrate a party. And it really was a celebration that we live with joy! There were no sad faces nor tears. This was the celebration of 25 years of wonderful music that delighted our ears and our souls. Those who attended the shows you gave in your first coming to Argentina in 1991 told our stories, and we also shared the beautiful moments lived in March waiting for you at the hotel and in the show at Luna Park at the beggining of the Farewell Tour (it was magnificent and unforgettable). And we also danced and sang !! The karaoke was very fun …. It was a lovely evening …
Here you will find the page with the pictures of the party:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=125435304156855&v=photos
Kisses from Argentina !!!!
Roxy.
To have arranged such a large party with so few incidents for so many happpy people for me was a new experience! In all ways! Amazing!
I would have wished more time to talk to more of the fantastic fans!
So, let’s do it again!
Hi again1 I already left a message on the previous post about the party to say a big THANKS!!!! You guys did a FABULASTIC job with the party. It was simnply SENSATIONAL! So big kudos to Catherine and the whole organizing team (including the Dutch team) for a night to remember. One of the highlights of my life as an a-ha fan.
I miss you a-ha unfortunately I couldn’t go to party
Thank you A-ha for being part of my life! Your music will be live forever in your fan hearts! Good Luck in your new life!
congratulations A-ha! We’ll keep you her: <3 forever !
LOVE YOU! (: Päl,Morten & Mags
It was great to be part of such a wonderful night!
Can I add to the thanks to include my husband Mark who helped get the AV gear up and running and acted as a bouncer for the party crew area!
xxx
Hey great night and weekend in Oslo.
Who was the morten look a-like at the party? I presume that must have been one of his brothers, but never got chance to talk to him!?
hello,
I was there and you really did a great job. We could feel that you also enjoyed doing that and everything was done so everyone had a great night…Thanks for the dvd…nice thought for a-ha fans.
Thank you so much for the party. The team has been fantastic and allowed us to enjoy this great moment between fans. The slideshow and the dvd are a good way to remember this moment.
Many, many thanks to all for the party
, it was fun, I even found some friends and me in the pictures, it was great and I watched the keepsake I got. Now I got a better appreciation related to a-ha and I’m reading ‘the swing of things’ to get a deeper insight to the extremely interesting background of my most appreciated band.
!
It’s near, so I wish everybody already
Merry Xmas eller God Jul ønske jeg hver
So glad all the fans enjoyed a fantastic night at the a-ha
party. I wish I could have been there, I’m so jealous.
What a night, it was like being a teenager again. My
partner (Joe) and I had an absolute blast and had great fun meeting
new friends. Special mention to Linda from Dublin for whom the
night was like ‘all her birthdays, christmasses and rides coming
together’. And to Kostos from Greece, great dancing with you, we
were definitely shapes that go together, pity you didn’t take on me
so that we could lie down in darkness. Thanks to all the organisers
for one of the best nights of my life, and to Morten, Mags and
Pal…..How sweet it was!