Original Article By H†kon Moslet - (Translation by Sabine Clement) In November, a-ha will go on tour for the first time in more than six years. But Norway is not part of the concert plans.Even though 'Minor Earth, Major Sky' became a bestseller in their home country, a-ha postpones playing here until next summer.
With a sales figure of over 700.000, a-ha's comeback album is a success story in many a country. None the least in Norway, where 'Minor Earth...' went straight to the number 1 spot and secured itself of platinum status long time ago. But only the Japanese and the Germans will have the pleasure of seeing Harket, Waaktaar and Furuholmen live on stage in November, when they will hit the road for the first time since 1994.
"Norway is not on the tour schedule this time around," a-ha manager Brian Lane confirms to Dagbladet. Band and management had planned to do a concert at the Kalvoya Festival, on Sunday, August 13.
"We wanted to do a big concert in Norway this summer already. In principle, the festival organizers and we had agreed to play there, but we felt that we wouldn't manage to do it right," Lane explains.
a-ha wanted to make a major thing out of the Kalvoya concert, with a symphonic orchestra and all. But in the end, the whole Kalvoya Festival was cancelled, and with that, the possibility for an a-ha concert also went down the drain.
Now Lane and a-ha have postponed plans for an extravagant concert on Norwegian soil until next summer
"We could have done Spektrum in the fall, but that would have been so ordinary. On top of that, it was difficult to find a day that wasn't booked yet, this autumn," Lane says.
"We will do a large outdoor event, rather than a customary concert. We want a-ha's concert to be remembered as something special, we want the concert in Norway to become the climax of next year's tour," an enthusiastic Lane dreams.