a-Ha: February 2020

More Memory Lanes Leads to SA!!

Breakout Events is excited to announce the South African tour dates for legendary band a-ha. This will be the first time since 1994 that the band is visiting South Africa.

A-ha have always set themselves challenges. In 2018, their MTV Unplugged tour proved that their songs could be given new settings and remain as alive and as impactful as ever. Now, pushing even further, they are announcing that their a-ha play Hunting High And Low live tour will be different from anything they have previously undertaken.

Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy will be performing new and old, familiar and less-familiar songs, as well as the ten songs off their 1985 debut album Hunting High And Low in the running order of the original release.

Back in October 2010, a-ha had played the whole of Hunting High And Low just twice, first at Oslo’s Konserthus and then at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Now, from France to Poland and from Germany to South Africa, audiences will have the unique chance to experience a-ha revisiting their first album while staying faithful to its spirit.

The tour is timed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release of the original version of Take On Me, issued in the UK on 19 October 1984 to reputed sales of just 300 copies. The re-recorded Take On Me was released in Britain during April 1985 to little fanfare, and in America that May where it hit big after its striking promotional video was seen on TV. It was reissued in the UK that September and, finally, the British hit came. The Hunting High And Low album was on sale in America in June 1985, and in the UK in October 1985.

Even when Take On Me took off, no one knew the band would be become established as one of the world’s best and most-loved. There were no guarantees. But the pushing, the rethinking and the self-confidence ensured that a-ha would not have “one and only shot”.

Yet when A-ha had what they needed for their debut album, they knew these were ten perfect songs capturing who they were and, to a large degree, still are. Ten songs marrying yearning melodies and drama; marrying immediacy and intimacy.

When they play Hunting High And Low live now, it is about more than revisiting ten favourite songs. It is also about tapping into the sense of adventure which first brought a-ha to London: a recognition that they have never stood still.

Take On Me and Hunting High And Low remain as vital as when they were recorded and released. The live shows in South Africa will show why.

a-Ha in South Africa

Cape Town
14 February 2020: Green Point A Track,

In association with Kfm 94.5
Ticket Info:
Kids 3yrs old and under: Free
General Access: R595 (excl booking fee)
Golden Circle: R895 (excl booking fee)
Ticket link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=1492246337

Johannesburg

15 February 2020: Marks Park, Emmarentia,

In association with Jacaranda Fm
Ticket Info:
Kids 3yrs old and under: Free
General Access: R595 (excl booking fee)
Golden Circle: R895 (excl booking fee)
Ticket link: https://breakout.howler.co.za/events/a-ha-live-in-johannesburg-51f7