a-ha are gone........

A recent trip to see Goldfrapp was so unengaging and frankly, boring, that I don’t even have the strength to write about it here. Last night I needed ‘a-ha’ to banish my memories of their insipid ‘Lifelines’ tour and renew my passion for the live concert.

I wasn’t that hopeful as I entered the Sheffield Arena, I knew this gig was set as a ‘half-house’ with 50 to 75% of the seating curtained off (a very curious affair that I have only ever seen in that arena).


Once inside the arena I headed for the merchandise stall. £15 for a program isn’t that unusual today. The phrase ‘value for money’ is not in the lexicon of bands, tour managers or program vendors, 99% of the time it is about ripping fans off with unscrupulous zeal. Happily, a-ha are marking their farewell tour with a tour book. And it really is a book!

Once the band took the stage I simply forgot any concerns or niggles about the arena and simply marvelled at the show unfolding in front of me. One of the most impressive live spectacles I have seen in many years. If you missed this tour then tough. They are finished. Over. a-ha will be no more by the end of the year.

Until they get short on cash or bored and then the reunion tour will winging its way to a city near you in 2015. But don’t get me started on band splitting up and reforming……..