On Wednesday 1 December, a-ha will be signing copies of the biographyThe Swing of Things: 1985-2010at Tanum book store on Karl Johan in Oslo. The signing will begin at 16.00, and will be the last and only opportunity to get the new book signed by the band. (Facebook Event)
In addition, also on 1 December, there will be a talk at the House of Literature between the author, Jan Omdahl and a well known journalist. The talk will be held in Norwegian. (Facebook Event)
We are very excited about the upcoming fan party in Oslo. We are also pleased to announce that we have three tickets to the final a-ha concert on December 4 to give away as prizes at the fan party!
Many thanks to Marie Bradshaw and Wesley Myers, who donated these tickets to use as fan party prizes. For sure these tickets will make a dream come true for three lucky fans! We will have a special raffle at the party to determine who will win the tickets.
Here is some more information about the party, and ways you can interact with other fans before you travel to Oslo!
~ Meet the fans who have volunteered to help us organize the party!{Read More}
~ We are creating a slideshow of photos to show at the beginning and end of the fan party, and we welcome your photos! Show us the friendships you have found through a-ha and help us celebrate our community!{Read More}
~ Don’t forget to give us your song playlist suggestions!{Read More}
~ If you would like to get in touch with other fans before traveling to Oslo, there is an unofficial Facebook page calleda-ha fans going to Oslo. This group has discussion threads for people coming from different countries, plus a lot of local information for visitors.
~ We understand that Hotel Anker in Oslo will be having a‘pre-party’ in their bar with a-ha music from 1700 to 1930 on November 30th, December 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The address is Storgata 55. See theHotel Anker Facebook Pagefor more information.
~ Fans from around the world will be converging on Oslo during a-ha’s final weekend. If you are attending the fan party on December 3, why not wear a flag pin or some other item to show your nationality? This way fans from your country can find you at the party!
~ a-ha fan clubs in many countries have organized parties over the years. It’s always great to hear about these events and the different ways that fans celebrate the music we all love so much. For a short trip down memory lane, here is a selection of party reports from the a-ha.com archive:{Read More}
We can now confirm that the‘Ending on a High Note’ tour schedule is complete. No additional concerts will be added, and the shows listed on theTour Pageare the last chances to see a-ha in concert before they retire after the December 4 concert in Oslo.
Last night, the band played their last concert in Russia, at the St. Petersburg Ice Palace. On Monday, a-ha start the UK leg of the tour, and will play in ten cities in England, Scotland and Wales. As announced viaTwitter, the support for all UK gigs is none other than Jimmy Gnecco– who also supported the band at some of the early fall European concerts.
During the summer, Warner Germany announced a contest for a fan to win tickets to a-ha’s concert in Berlin as well as a meet and greet with the band. To enter the contest, fans were asked to comment on MySpace about what a-ha means to them.
Here are some pictures of the contest winner and her friend at the meet and greet with a-ha at the O2 World in Berlin:
Tickets for the official a-ha fan party on December 3 are on sale now via Billettservice!
~ Choose between Norsk / English on the upper right side of the page.
~ Tickets are general admission. Search for Best Available to be taken to the‘Levering’ and order summary page.
~ Under‘Hvordan vil du motta dine billetter?’ fans inside Norway would choose delivery option‘Norske kunder– TicketFast’. Fans outside Norway would choose delivery option‘Kunder i andre land– Ticketfast’. Then click on‘Fortsett’.
~ Log in to Billettservice to complete your transaction.
~Please note that tickets will not be printed and mailed out– be sure to select‘TicketFast’ to avoid shipping charges.
~ You will receive an electronic ticket to the e-mail address that you use to register with Billettservice.
~ Print your electronic ticket and bring it with you to Oslo. We will also have a guest list at the door.
~ two drink tickets
~ one party keepsake to commemorate the event
~ four hours of a-ha music and videos
~ more than 20 prize giveaways
All of the party details can be foundhere. Once you’ve bought your tickets, head on over tothis pageto post your song requests for the party DJ! There is also aFacebook Eventfor the party. Be sure to RSVP and get to know other fans who are attending.
Show your community spirit by wearing the special Oslo fan party t-shirt to the concert and party on December 3rd! The logo for the party shirt was designed by a-ha fan Richard Knight.
T-shirts must be ordered by November 12 to be printed and delivered to Oslo in time for the party, so order now!
For more information and to order your shirt, please visitthe a-ha.com store.
Norwegian photographer Janne Møller-Hansen will have an exhibition of classic a-ha photos at Galleri MAP in Oslo from November 19 to December 12. The pictures are from the beginning of the band’s career. The same exhibition was held at Lillesand art gallery in June/July 2009.
Having traveled extensively with the band during their early years, Janne contributed some of her a-ha photos toThe Swing of Things: 1985-2010. She is also the photographer who made the official a-ha book in 1988.
More recently, she photographed a-ha in New York this past May and in London last year.
Related Links:
Fans from around the world will be traveling to Oslo for a-ha’s final concerts in December, so it is the perfect time to celebrate a-ha’s career and their music! There have been many fan club parties over the years, and if you have been to one of those events you know how special they are. If you haven’t, this is your chance to experience that immediate feeling of belonging, and enjoy a-ha’s music and videos with other fans who understand how much it all means to you.
Thanks to the help and input of 20 fan volunteers from the UK, Ireland, Germany, Norway, Poland and America, we’ve got a great event planned! Read on for all the details!
Following the a-ha concert on December 3, head on over toFolketeateretfor the fan party. Just a short walk away from the Spectrum, Folketeateret will open its doors at 11:00pm, and we’ll have the place all to ourselves until 3:00am. Relax in the lounge area, dance to the a-ha playlist, watch a video presentation created especially for this event, participate in a raffle drawing for free prize giveaways, and make connections with other fans you may have only known online. The staff at Folketeateret are very excited to be hosting this party and are ready to help us make this a very special event.
You read that right: only a-ha’s music will be played at the party. This will not be an 80s dance mix with a few a-ha songs thrown in, it will be four hours of your favorite songs and mixes, played loud enough to dance to, but not too loud to talk with friends. Our DJ for the evening is none other than David“Sowtz” Sowter, aka DJ Sowtz, a 34 year-old fan from Scotland who has been a DJ for 16 years. David’s favorite a-ha song is‘The Swing of Things’ (“The live rocky version,” he tells us), and his hero is Paul Waaktaar-Savoy. DJ Sowtz will take song requests leading up to the party, via the special Facebook Event we’ve created (see below).
Avid video collector Wesley Myers from the United States is known in the fan community as something of a video expert; he has a website at a-havideos.com and over time has collected hundreds of hours of interviews, commercials, TV performances and other video clips. Wesley has created video presentations for every American fan party, including rare footage and interesting, obscure facts about each of the clips.
Following the Irving Plaza concert fan party in 2005, Paul and Lauren received a copy of the video presentations Wesley had created for several US fan meetings. They were both very impressed with the quality of work and selection of material. Lauren thought Wesley had done a“fantastic job.” She continues, “I thought it was great. An unbelievable amount of work and material. It’s been such a kick to look through and remember.”
Here is a short clip to give you an idea what to expect from the video presentation at the Oslo fan party. For more information about Wesley’s video hobby, readthis interviewfrom 2006.
Fans from over 40 countries will be in Oslo during the band’s final concert weekend. If you’re planning to attend the party, head over toFacebookand RSVP. Use this Event page to connect with each other before the concerts, to share travel tips, discuss the party playlist, plan to meet up in Oslo and more.
All party guests will receive, included with their ticket purchase, a fan party keepsake to commemorate this special event. There will also be a special‘fan pack’ of a t-shirt and drawstring backpack available to purchase next week via thea-ha.com store. Only 500 fan packs will be made, so be sure to order yours early!
Our team of fan volunteers is helping us to plan a fun interactive game for party guests who want to participate. There will also be several prize giveaways! Prizes include a-ha merchandise and promo posters, and a gift card for Clarion/Choice Hotels.
Make the most of this last opportunity to spend time with people who understand your passion for a-ha’s music, and celebrate a-ha’s amazing career! We are finalizing party details now and expect to start the ticket sale early next week. Stay tuned for more details, and buy your tickets early as space is limited!
Update!We are working on a fan party mailing list pre-sale– stay tuned for more details!
Party date and time: December 3, 2010 from 11:00pm– 3:00am
Location: Folketeateret, Storgaten 21-23, 0184 Oslo Norway
Ticket includes: Two drink tickets and one fan party keepsake
Buy tickets: *Ticket sale starts during the week of 8 November*
Fan party t-shirt: *T-shirt sale starts during the week of 8 November*
Facebook event:Click here
