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All beginning has an end and
History has been written in Oslo tonight: A-ha started their final farewell
tour in Norway
To Julian
in Mexico City Who is a
good friend and a huge fan of A-ha. OSLO, 23
August 2010 (Text & pic © AVS/LIOWLB - Enkidu Magazine): All beginning
has an end and History has been written in Oslo tonight. The excitement
started in the subway (T-bane) where hundreds of people of all ages and from
all over Europe (and at least one Mexican –AVS–) were together for some
hours. All of us heard, watched, sang and enjoyed the essence of Morten
Harket (vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards), and Pål Waaktaar (guitars),
whom, in 1982 in the capital of Norway got the idea of using an international
expression to name their band: A-ha. 30,000 people, most of them of
Viking origins, were there. The
sensation of being a human being of 1.68 meters tall, in the middle of The
Golden Circle (the one closest to the stage), surrounded by persons that in
average, I would say, were 1.85 meters tall was in itself a huge (sic)
experience. So far, in 2010, with over 35 million albums sold worldwide, A-ha
started their farewell tour in Norway: The 'Ending on
a High Note' tour is
taking them to 15 countries, covering four continents. As mentioned above, the night of the 21st of August was the first concert in Norway. The site: Ullevaal Stadium, where some days before had the presence of 200 workers of the production in order to give shape and form to, for example, a 600 m2 video screen. And it was all transported in 40 trailers to reach a total of over 1,500 tons! For me, Agustin Villalpando, being surrounded by human giants (men and women), singing with them, in this order, “Sun always shines”, “Move to Memphis”, “Blood that moves the body”, “Scoundrel days”, “Stay on these roads”, “Manhattan Skyline”, “Hunting high and low”, “Bandstand”, “Looking for the whales”, “Butterfly”, “Nonstop July”, “Crying in the rain”, “Minor Earth”, “Forever not yours”, “Summer moved on”, “I’ve been loosing you”, “Foot of the mountain”, was an incredible experience. In this moment I had remembered things of years past. A couple of the songs I had rarely heard, but this context, these young and not that young singing. Before we entered the stadium, we walked around the place. Bicycles parked in order, policepersons and ambulances ready, security in every entrance (not the aggressive security seen in Mexico City, of course, just a couple of persons that took food & beverages in the entrance and from time to time checked one of the people in line), all in such an order and with such punctuality as I have never seen in the capital of Mexico. After a revision of the career of A-ha in the huge screen, where moments and the cover of the albums of the group were shown, the concert went on: “Cry wolf”, “Analogue”, “Living Daylights”. Thanks to the screen, I have to say, I could follow the concert as you can imagine, dear reader of Enkidu Magazine, as when 1.90 meters tall are jumping, giving a round of applause or even just breathing and singing, a Mexican my hight “feels” the Earth moving. I was happy for so many reasons: for the concert was, and is, a healing psalm for the soul and the mind. It was a great show, based in the force of the lyrics and the music that has the power of ancient and contemporary feelings. For Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein Borge it
was like this (due to his health he had to sit down while I went to the
center of the area): “During
the concert, to some extent it was like the final act of my youth in a way. I
was a child in 1982 and I have grown up with A-ha and now they have their
farewell too, so it occurred to me that I am growing older too. I listened to
then in my youth and now they are saying good bye. “Many of
the fans that were in the stadium yesterday were not even born when A-ha
started. I could have been the father of many of them. Can you imagine? “So, it
occurred to me that my youth has ended because the ones I listened are saying
good bye and they also make the appeal to coming generations, they will go on
listening to them, their music lives on forever. Perhaps in 200 years the
people will speak about them as the Bach of the late XX century. “I did
not feel like jumping and sharing, but perhaps 20 years ago I was doing
exactly what the young people (and some not that young) were doing, and I
was, with them but in a different way, enjoying and sharing the moment. “I also
have to say that I have never been a big fan of rock concerts, I like to sit
comfortable and listen to the music, I dislike being standing in a concert. I
remember it because in 1987 I was in a concert by Metallica and even though I
was having a lot of fun, it was more because of my friends I was with and I
knew already concerts in stadiums were not my favorite place to be.” I (AVS) was also amazed by the languages
listened among the public in a fact given for granted in this land:
Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German, Italian, French, British English… Can you
imagine? As for me (Agustin Villalpando), I liked a lot the finale, “Take on me”, which was the first music animated-living people video I saw in my life. The technology of it, the story portrayed, the comics turning from and to life. They live, they will live, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, and Pål Waaktaar with A-ha whom are 'Ending on a High Note'. We want
to thank Stageway and in particular Nina Therese Luriteen, Head of Promotion,
for the support for Enkidu Magazine. Vi ses
snart! (Nos vemos pronto! – We see each other soon!). Dear
reader of Enkidu Magazine, you can find all the information about A-ha and
the Ending on a High Note tour here: Official
Site (English): http://a-ha.com/ History:
http://a-ha.com/the-band/ Videos –Youtube– http://aha2010.no/?page_id=153 The Official
Site (Norwegian): http://aha2010.no/
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