A-ha Concert Manchester (A-ha in general)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	A-ha in general
Date:	04/11/09 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing i'm now a fan

Disadvantages: It passed way too quick, the drive home

Just over a week to go for the wedding and what did we need to do? Travel 7 hours to Manchester to the A-ha Foot of the Mountain concert! My partner James is a huge fan and in the middle of the year when the concerts were advertised we decided that it would give us a mini break from wedding stuff.

Was it a good idea? The drive there......No. The concert........ yes yes yes!!! And here's why:

We arrived in Manchester unfortunately in rush hour and spent over an hour in traffic so arrived at the hotel at 6pm. The concert was at 7.30pm and we didn't even know where we were meant to go.

The concert was at the MEN Arena in Manchester. Luckily it was a 5 minute walk from our hotel so we had plenty of time to get there. (if we didn't walk in the wrong direction for 10 minutes!) Ok finally James asked someone and they pointed us in the right direction. We got there at 7pm so had enough tie to get in and find our seats.

It's been many years since I have been to a concert and when we got to the door we were checked to make sure we had no liquids with us just like at the airport and you had to bin everything if you did. They also check your bags which luckily I didn't take a bag with me.

So in we go and walk to gate 105 which we were told by the lady at the door. The arena didn't look too big at first which surprised me seen as it's in a big city. On the way to the gate there was a stall selling A-ha items. James got right in queue to buy all his goodies.

Eventually we got to the gate which wasn't too far along. We walked in and wow this place was huge. We were met by one the attendants who told us to go down the stairs and we were met by another attendant for the arena who took is straight to our seats. Talk about great service! Never before have I been shown to my seats at a concert!

We were 5 seats from the front of the stage on the floor seats so we couldn't ask for better than that. We got there just before 7.30pm and at that point not many seats were taken so I wasn't sure how busy it would be.

At 7.45pm the supporting act Donkey Boy started. They are a band from Norway and were actually really good even though their music wasn't my taste at all. They talked to the audience a lot and really got the crowd ready for A-ha coming on.

Ok so what we had been waiting for.... A-ha walked onto the stage at about 9pm. The opening song was an oldie - The Sun Always Shines on TV. As soon as they walked on stage the whole arena was standing and cheering nearly deafening me with the noise but I loved the atmosphere. By now the whole arena was full, hardly any empty seats left. I couldn't tell you how many people were there but the arena holds a maximum of 23,000! Who knew there were so many A-ha fans?

The night consisted of songs from the new album as well as their classics. There was a few songs I didn't know to which James replied that I am probably too young to remember but I enjoyed it all the same.

The stage was fantastic, it was really lit up and had tv like screens above the stage which had weird and wonderful pictures on it with every song. One which I remember vividly was the lizard... Why it was there I don't know but it looked amazing. In one song there was the band on each of these screens in black and white which looked perfect and the crowd went absolutely wild when these were displayed.

My favourite part of the whole night was when Magne came out and picked up a Wii remote and started drawing with it on the huge screens. Not that he could work it properly but it was fun all the same. I've always thought Magne was the best out of the band, he seems so laid back and quite normal. Always up for a laugh and joke. I'm smitten.

So after an hour and a half the concert was finished? Already?? They had already been out for 2 encores and were really brilliant. But how did that time go past so quickly!

Overall the night was the best night I've had in such a long time. I would definitely recommend going to this concert, even if you don't know all the songs the experience of an A-ha concert is completely worth it.

My favourite songs from the night;

Sun Always Shines on TV - The show starter that I couldn't help but sing along to and really made he night as good as it was.

Analogue - This is one of their newer songs but one of my favourites. It doesn't sound like their normal style of music and a bit more up to date. Maybe why I like it?

Velvet - I told James I didn't know this song before the show started but once it started I knew it and loved it. It was one of the slower songs from the night and it made me fall in love with A-ha.

Take On Me - Their all time classic song. And the ending song for the night. I obviously knew this song and they put so much effort into it even though they had been on stage for so long. Definitely the best song to leave the night on a high.

If you are an A-ha fan they did mention that they will be doing a farewell tour next year so if you have missed out this year, you'll still get the chance to see them live one last time.

Summary: I'll be going back next year