Now, I was a barely casual fan of a-ha going into the concert; I only knew about 5 of their songs off the top of my head. But, after seeing them in concert I am
officially goo goo for a-ha. Those of you that have talked to me already know that it's true. They're just so good! And soooo maligned as a One Hit Wonder!!!!!! It really frosts my cookies. In fact, just to rub salt in the wound, I happened to be watching VH1 Classic's '100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s' in the hotel room before heading out to the concert and who should appear at #3 but a-ha and "Take on Me"! The nerve!!!! Now, while part of me was at least happy that they were in the top 5 (if you're going to misrepresent the band with the OHW label they should at LEAST be one of the best ones of all time, right?) the other part of me wanted - and still wants! - some clarification on just what criteria VH1 Classic is using to determine who is a OHW. Because, as I see it, a group that has two Top 20 singles ("Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV") as well as the privilege of performing one of the James Bond themes ("The Living Daylights." Okay, so they wrote fo
r one of the Timothy Dalton 007 films - it's not their fault nobody liked the D-man!) is NOT a OHW. "Oh," you say, "VH1C probably is only counting songs that made it into the Top 10 on the Billboard charts." Wrong! Midnight Oil is in the list and their supposed OHW ("Beds Are Burning") only made it to #17! So just what DOES make someone a One Hit Wonder, VH1 Classics?! 'Cause I need to see some continuity here. Hmpf. Needless to say, I was all worked up before heading to the Club Nokia to see the band. And can I just point out (again) that both L.A. shows were sold out? Granted, it wasn't the world's largest venue - it seated about 2,500 - but still! Both shows! SOLD OUT! Because there are some good folk out there who appreciate severely under-appreciated and fabulous music. (Hey - it's pretty much just America that lost interest in a-ha. They're still super huge in Europe. And pretty much everywhere else [especially South America]. I know what you're thinking but no - they're not David Hasselhoff. They're popular and critically acclaimed elsewhere. Sheesh.)(photos: a photo of the blasphemous segment on VH1C; Robert reading while I watch 4 hours of OHWs)
And it's not just me; Robert, who didn't really know any songs going into the show (except for the ones I made him listen to while driving down I5...) also agreed that it was a great show and that he was surprised at how much he now likes a-ha. I have converted him! Even though he thinks it's annoying Morten is so darn dreamy. (I think the part of the concert Robert liked best was seeing that Morten is [sadly] thinning a bit up top. It's true. Don't get me wrong - he's still hunky (he seems to get better with age, too, oddly enough) but he is losing a bit o' hair at the back. I was a wee bit bummed.) We didn't even have very good seats but with the way the venue was set-up, we still wound up with a pretty good view of the stage. I was a little disappointed with the crowd's level of participation (I was totally the dork waving and clapping and do whatever I was asked. And not just for the next eight-count, either, other loser-y audience people!) and with the fact that the band didn't do a ton to denote that it was their last-ever show in the U.S. but otherwise it was a fantastic show. They didn't even have an opening act - it's like the concert was made just for me! *sigh* I am having a-ha withdrawal. :o( Be sad for me.
If you are interested (and, really, after my rousing endorsement, how could you not be?!), HERE is the link to a bunch of other links for articles, reviews, etc., for all of a-ha's North American dates.
And here are a couple of fan videos from the show:
(Ol' Morty can still hit the high notes - whew! I'd seen some clips of the tour on YouTube and he sounded good but you never know... Back in the day, I went to an 'N Sync concert and JC Chasez could most definitely not hit his high notes. The show was one fontrum moment after another. So glad this was not the case with Morten!)
(The little montage they showed before the first encore.)
And since you can never have enough a-ha, HERE is the link to their Flickr page May 16th concert set of photos.
Robert and I heading into Club Nokia. Don't we (and by "we" I mean Robert, myself and my 4 extra chins) look excited?!
Me wearing my super cool a-ha shirt on the journey home. Robert wore his Nada Surf shirt so we looked like a matching pair... of dorks.
Bye bye, a-ha. I will miss you. But I'm glad I got to see you.
