----A Journey Like No Other----
I know it’s been forever and a day since I last did an installment of Take on This, and I apologize. My life went into overdrive over the last year-ish—some really great things took an incredible amount of my time; some not-so-great-things threw a monkey wrench into daily life. To the not-so-great things, I say: I dealt with you, conquered you, and came out a stronger person on the other end. Also, I learned that I didn’t have time for drama in my life and acted accordingly. It was liberating.
But, enough about that, because…
…a-ha is FINALLY COMING TO THE UNITED STATES!
I’ll just be over here for a moment while that sinks in.
//whistles while she waits//
Let’s get in the time machine, shall we? Our story begins in 2014, with two ladies meeting each other over a mutual love of Morten Harket and his music. Becoming fast friends, they soon found themselves planning a trip to Norway to see him in concert—a dream come true. Those two gals were none other than Debbie and Clara. One incredible chance-of-a-lifetime meeting later, they had expressed their desire—right to the man himself—to see him on American shores. Upon returning home, they decided to take it one step further: why not try and get Morten *and* a-ha over here? Now, they knew a-ha had gracefully left us in 2010, but there was always hope in the back of their minds, just as we all had hope. So, they set up a Facebook page (this very one!) and started a petition (the one we have almost 1,500 names on now!), and decided to see where it took them.
People began to take notice. Visitors from the page signed the petition and shared with friends. People enjoyed the photos of a-ha and Morten they posted on Facebook. One of those people was me, LA. What started as me probably making a sassy comment about Morten’s choice of pants in that one photo we all know and love turned into something much more.
In March 2015, I got a message from Clara telling me that she and Debbie had talked and they both had a “gut feeling” that I was a pretty cool gal. (They’re right, BTW //tooting my own horn//). They asked me to join the fold and maybe write some blog pieces for fun, and I immediately took the reins on our social media front. We set up Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and updated the Facebook page, and started the Take on This! blog, all with one purpose: get attention to our petition (and entertain you all in the process!)
And guess what? People noticed even more. The number of signatures began to rise. More guests liked our Facebook page, and began following us on the other platforms. So, we set up a website, and lo and behold, people visited there, too! By the end of March 2015, Cast in Steel had been announced, and we wanted nothing more than to have them come to our shores and play for all their adorning fans here that couldn’t make it to Europe for shows. Tour dates were announced…and they didn’t include us. So guess what? We threw ourselves into “work our asses off” mode. Late nights, early mornings, neglecting of family duties—all on our own time, no pay from anyone, mind you—to get our (and your) voices heard. Facing adversity from certain sources only made us a stronger team, and more determined bring attention to our campaign. Because when it’s all said and done, all a-ha fans deserve the opportunity to see the guys in concert, no matter what certain people think.
And on we pressed. We contacted the Original MTV VJ’s on Twitter: Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Nina Blackwood. All were eager to help our grass-roots effort get some attention, as they remembered those Norwegian angels and how much influence they had on pop culture. Mark and Nina both gave us ON AIR shout outs on Sirius XM, and all four tweeted about us on their own accounts. Nina in particular has been an incredible help, as she is always willing to post our links, talk about us and Debbie on-air and give a-ha a little love during her airtime.
And guess what? The petition numbers kept rising.
By this time it was June 2015, and we weren’t even close to being done. We were sitting on the precipice of 500 signatures, no small feat. But we wanted more. We wanted a-ha and their management to know that the fans here in the USA wanted them back. Time was ticking by, and we knew the USA was running out of time to secure tour dates. So we worked our tails off even more, sometimes resorting to asking random people if they liked a-ha, all in order to reach that magic number. (I may or may not have been guilty of asking the service technician at my car dealership to sign during an oil change. He signed—and I regret nothing.)
June 16, 2015. “500 Day.”
The number glared at us, we screeched and cried happy tears, then…
…immediately started planning on how we were going to get to 1,000.
We did giveaways for certain number milestones, we circulated flyers around our hometowns, we contacted radio stations nationwide, deejays and anyone we could think of in the entertainment business who might listen. To quote a previous entry of Take on This: Perfect strangers? No problem, A-ha is great icebreaker. Family vacation? Pssshhh. Hawaii loves A-ha too, right? Local restaurants? State Fairs? Kid’s music lessons? Check, check and double check.
And guess what? THE NUMBERS KEPT RISING. We imposed a deadline on ourselves to get to that next magic number—August 31st. Before we knew it, August was upon us. And August 9th brought 1,000 names. In just over five months, we had gone from 300-ish signatures to over a thousand. Within a day, hundreds of dollars our own money went towards postage for sending hard copies of the petition to Norway. We knew it needed to be there RIGHT NOW if the USA were to have any chance of getting tour dates. We ensured it was in the right hands, no matter how hard or expensive it was. How’s that for working our butts off day and night?
And still we pressed on. 1,000 wasn’t enough. Time was of the essence, because we knew the window to achieve gigs for the USA was quickly closing. So again, we kicked into overdrive. Working through the autumn, we blasted the information about our petition far and wide, hoping against hope that it would garner even more attention.
The day our hearts collectively broke. I remember I woke up like any other day, wrangled my son out of bed on a below-zero morning to get to school on time, and checked my phone while making oatmeal. The message I never wanted to see greeted me.
They weren’t coming. All tour dates had been announced.
I’ll admit, I cried. Hard. I tried to keep my composure and got my dude into school like a trooper. When I returned to my car, I called Debbie and sobbed—and swore. Profusely. (Poor Debbie, did she get an earful from that parking lot…) Everything we had worked for. Everything we had HOPED for. For nothing.
We took a week or so to wallow in our misery, and also decide what to do next. Yes, they weren’t coming—THIS TIME. You see, that hope, that drive, that made us strive to succeed the first time, was still there. Maybe even burning hotter than before.
Debbie and Clara at least had Norwegian concerts to look forward to, and I vicariously lived through them during their whirlwind tour of that beautiful Scandinavian country to see a-ha for the very first time in May 2016. And all the while, even though the end of the tour had arrived by then and there was no concrete evidence that a-ha would come back again, we kept on. Armed with flyers, cards and a few more hard copies of our petition, they put feet to the ground in Norway and got back to business in-between shows.
Because we’re nothing if not persistent.
The petition made it into the hands of an executive from Norsk Hydro who knew the band, and promised to share it with them. She was thrilled to hear that there was such a fan base in the USA and was eager to tell the guys. When the gals were fortunate enough to talk to each of the lads, they always made sure to tell them how much they were wanted here, and that all our hard work was for the fans that have never had the chance to see them on our shores. We crossed our collective fingers. Debbie and Clara returned to the United States with a renewed love of Norway and a smattering of cautious optimism that our efforts would somehow still not be in vain.
We kept on updating our little corner of a-ha land, all the while working for the Norwegian band KELNER doing promo in the USA. We were busy, that’s for sure. But all the while, we always had that glimmer of hope that a-ha would return yet again. We kept the petition open and continued to get support, with the numbers continuing to rise.
2017 brought new hope—and renewed vigor in us—in the form of the acoustic tour announcement. Once again, we flew into action, blasted our petition with louder voices than we had ever had before. Nina Blackwood, once again, supported us by talking about our campaign on-air and posting our links on her Facebook page. She even gave a shout-out to Debbie before she left for the acoustic shows last month.
This time, we would not be left out. The sting of disappointment was still raw from last time, the wound still aching. And then again, when all the acoustic gigs were announced—the USA was not part of the deal.
But, we persisted. Because we could just feel it. Maybe it was the way the guys seemed to have so much fun during the Cast in Steel tour, or the announcement of the acoustic album and DVD for autumn. We knew there had to be something more.
The MTV Unplugged concerts at Giske were a success. There had been a huge contingent of American fans there, and it had to have been noticed. Debbie and Clara screamed it from the rooftops again, to anyone who would listen, that we desperately wanted to be included in another tour—if it ever came to fruition. They came home, and we waited. Again.
One article, posted on a very reputable site, said the words we were all waiting to hear for so very, very long.
A-ha was finally coming back to the USA.
A world tour announcement, including America.
I cried again. But this time, it was most definitely happy tears.
All our work, all our sacrifices—had finally paid off. Sacrifices, you ask? Yes. Our families sometimes got the shaft when we were hard at work making the collective voice of the USA fans be heard. We spent a lot, and I mean A LOT, of our time campaigning for everyone to get their fair change. No one paid us. We did what we did because, for every a-ha fan that has seen them in concert, there are ten who haven’t. Those of us who live in the USA have had a mere sliver of the opportunities others have been given to see them over the past thirty-plus years. We worked so very hard—and we did it for the fans.
So, here’s to the upcoming Summer 2018 World Tour.
We finally did it guys, we're so thankful that everyone appreciated our hard work, and here's to seeing a-ha on our shores!
Team AHaMortenUSA thanks each and every one of you for your support and encouragement over these last three years. And don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere just because there are finally tour announcements! We’re here to stay!
Keep up with us on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahaUSA2015/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHaMortenUS2015
Tumblr: https://ahamortenusa2015.tumblr.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scoundrel_days/
Website: https://www.ahamortenharketusa.com/
Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/134/144/390/a-ha-morten-harket-usa-2015/
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