Almost exactly three decades ago, three high-flyers from Norway visited Frankfurt for the first time. In 1986, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar played the songs from their successful debut album live at the Alte Oper. Quickly the three, who grew up with hits like "Take on me", "Hunting High and Low" or "The sun always shines on TV", had freed themselves from all clichés of 80s and teenie bands and established themselves as a band to be taken seriously. Already on their first tour it was clear: a-ha are not a show band. Their concerts are not about spectacular light shows or big choreography. For them, the music is in the foreground - and that hasn't changed thirty-two years later.
Although a-ha have announced their break-up several times and played farewell tours, they never really disappeared completely from the scene. And so now they have reunited for a very special tour. For the "MTV Unplugged" series, a-ha had performed two very intimate acoustic concerts last year on the island of Giske off the coast of Norway, <link https: www.amazon.de gp product _blank>That for a CD- and <link https: www.amazon.com gp product _blank>DVD/Blu-ray release. For these concerts, the trio has completely re-arranged their greatest hits and most beautiful songs. To give their fans the opportunity to experience the well-known songs not only in these recordings, a-ha decided to go on a big unplugged tour, which led them to Frankfurt yesterday (Wednesday).
Of particular interest was the question of whether the unplugged project, which was actually conceived for a small setting, could be transferred to a large venue like the Festhalle. Can this very special charm of the new, reduced arrangements unfold properly in front of 10,000 fans? The answer was a very clear "yes" already after the first songs. Even if the band itself was rather taciturn and only Magne Furuholmen gave a few charming greetings in German, the fans were absolutely thrilled by the unplugged versions of big hits and some songs that are rarely performed live. Morten Harket, who didn't address the audience until the first encore, gave the audience goosebumps with his still crystal clear voice - some fans could even spot a little tear here and there.
The band - a string trio, a drummer, a bassist, a pianist and a "multi-instrumentalist" - was as first class as the three Norwegians themselves. During most of the songs the audience just listened spellbound to the mostly very soft sounds. Only occasionally a really raging atmosphere arose. For example, when Magne Furuholmen announced the hit "Manhattan Skyline" for Frankfurt specifically as "Mainhattan Skyline" or when the Bond song "The Living Daylights", one of the trio's biggest hits, resounded through the Festhalle. The fact that the tempo, performance and show concept were reduced to the bare minimum and that the whole thing, as Furuholmen rightly pointed out, was an event that was completed by both the artists and the audience sitting down, did not detract from the good mood.
On the contrary: a-ha managed to create something like intimacy even in the big festival hall, which was a very special experience especially for fans of the first hour. A very nice concert, which gives hope that maybe there will be a comeback tour of the three in a few years
