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I would normally say a poll is just a bit of fun, but in this case its not, their decision not to tour Australia just doesn’t sit well with me. Over a 25 year absence is simply ridiculous – no other band in the World would ignore their fans for such a long time and deny them concerts in over than 25 years!
Why say yes we’ll include Australia on the Foot of the Mountain tour to change it to the Ending on a High Note tour and now say no we’re not coming at all. I think their decision is based on money, if they really wanted to please Australian fans they would put on independent shows, it can be done, or they would contact a promoter in Australia and ask about festivals. There are lots of bands from the 80′s still touring in Australia in multiple lin-up shows so I think and unless I’m told otherwise I don’t think they care about Australian fans – this tour should be called the let’s get as much money from our fans that we can because we’re retiring!
I haven’t decided when the poll will close and I’m struggling with should I keep this blog going!
It really doesn’t seem fair at all and, yes, I am very angry and upset. I, like many Australians, have been a devoted fan since day one. I was almost 18 years of age when I first heard Take of Me and fell completely in love with a-ha and their music,…nothing has changed since and I am now almost 42.
I went to 3 out of their 4 Melbourne concerts in 1986 and spent a hell of a lot of money buying their music and associated merchandise as a loyal fan does. My sister (who is also a huge fan) and I also spent an enormous amount of time (and more money) ringing the local radio station every night and lodging copious amounts of votes for a-ha’s new releases at the time just so that crappy radio stations here would be forced to play their music. I am proud to say that my sister and I, with our countless number of votes via the telephone, forced a-ha on the radio waves for several months in 1986 and 1987 when the radio stations had their ‘vote for your favourite hit’ thing happening.
To now be informed that they won’t be coming to Australia is a real slap in the face and it is incredibly disappointing.
Why are their European fans so much more important than us. We have been as loyal and devoted as them or anyone else in the world. We love their music just as much as the European fans claim to,…hell, this is just wrong,..totally and utterly wrong.
I agree it’s unfair to the fans in Australia if a-ha go back on their word and do not tour there. It seems all they care about is Europe.
I hope they will still come to the USA as I would like to finally see them before they retire.
Good luck Neal, I hope they get to the USA for you. I’m just so gutted right now,…and a-ha, if you’re reading this,..thanks for the amazing music but we in Australia did not deserve this slap in the face.
Thank you Katherine! I feel bad that a-ha are not going to tour in Australia-all you loyal fans there deserve the chance to see them again before they retire.
I do feel more and more that a-ha’s main focus is Europe. I guess having success in other parts of the world is not important to them and it could seem that fans outside of Europe are not that important to a-ha.
I don’t feel that FOTM was the big success it’s said to be, which is a shame as it deserves to be a huge international hit. I do not see how a-ha really feel they are ending on a high note. High in relation to what?
I do hope they come to the U.S. and I finally get the chance to see them!
Thanks Neal,…its nice that you care, and I think you are right about Europe being their main focus,..they forget that Australia was where they had their first ever concerts and the first country to put them at No. 1.
Or maybe they haven’t forgotten, but all this is just meaningless to them. I’m not saying we are owed anything more than anyone else,..just would have been nice that they thought enough of us to drop by for a concert or two,..said thanks and gave us an opportunity to say thanks,..and said goodbye,..that’s all.
After 25 years of being my No. 1 band, and all that that entails as a truly devoted fan, and I am far from being the only one in this country,…I just cannot fathom how they could simply waive us off as if we don’t matter.
They and their music have been a huge part of my life,..more than half of my life, in fact,…and the same can be said for many other Australians,…but we simply don’t matter to them.
It really does stink.
When I heard the news that they were splitting up, I was so devastated, it felt almost as if I had lost someone close to me in death. That’s how much they, and their music, have meant to me over the years.
And to think that we don’t matter here in Australia,..that we’re not worth the effort to stop by for one or more final concerts, is extremely disappointing.
I won’t go on about it any more. I know you get me and thanks for caring.
I really do hope you get your concerts in the US,..I am sure you will get something,..ENJOY.
Just read the news on another site and have to say I am hugely disappointed as well. I had planned to attend as many of the Australian concerts as I could. Now it seems no need to plan : (
I suppose I was more surprised when I initially heard they might come to Australia than to hear that they are now not coming. It was almost too good to be true to think they would come, especially given their low profile in Australia for so long.
That doesn’t make it any less sad for those of us who love their music, and it was set to be very much the high point of my year. I was longing to hear these songs live and the snippets on Youtube together with the Valhall DVD only serve to highlight what we have been missing all these years.
I guess it’s the price to pay for living so far from Europe and having less than mainstream Australian taste in music.
I don’t listen to the radio anymore but would be curious to know the last time an a-ha song was played by an Australian radio station, particularly one from the last decade of a-ha’s sensational releases.
Let us just hope that this tour at least produces one last live concert DVD. That is little enough to hope for.
I know it’s unlikely, but I will still keep hoping that something may change and that they will come.
I have been a since 1985 and I too couldn’t believe it when I read they were splitting up.
I am disappointed for the Australian fans also after the band said that they would tour there.
After that announcement I’m wondering if/when we’ll get some dates in the UK.
I am sick to death of the German fans getting the biggest slice of the cake.
Edwina, I think you are living my life and I, yours. I also planned to attend as many Australian concerts as possible. I also thought their concert(s) in Australia were going to be my high point of the year and I checked their official website daily for news,..hoping that Australian dates would be announced soon.
I also don’t listen to the radio any more,..kind of like a protest, I guess,…but hell, why bother, loyalty means nothing to A-ha,..at least not for their Australian fans.
And, yes, I am angry.
The very least they could do is give us an official announcement about their intention not to tour here.
A-ha, this is called being courteous and doing the right thing by your fans so that people like Edwina and I aren’t hanging onto that last wisp of hope until we receive an official announcement.
A DVD of a-ha’s “Ending on a High Note Tour” would simply not be sufficient for me,..it would be like rubbing salt into the wounds, viewing what we missed out on and what we rightfully should have experienced like everyone else in the world.
God, I am angry,..I wish to hell I wasn’t,… but I am tired of Australians being ignored or treated as second rate as in “we plan to come to Australia”,…yeah right,..if they can fit us in, which they obviously are now having trouble doing considering all their German, Belgium and Brazilian dates,…HELL, we are loyal fans too and more to the point, we haven’t seen a-ha in 25 years whereas they have, on numerous occasions. We are the very first country that made them No. 1 and the very first country they toured in 1986,..doesn’t that mean anything??????
I just want to scream.
I too was truly shocked to read the news (if it is true) that A-ha won’t be coming to Australia. It was hard enough to accept that they will be disbanding and that there will be no more new songs to look forward to.
We really are the forgotten ones over here in the Banana Republic. But we never forgot A-ha! And now I am sure that a new younger batch of music listeners would welcome them here too- ‘Take on me’ has become iconic.
Even a show or two in a smaller venue would be wonderful. So many other, not so well known bands, tour, so I am mystified.
Hopefully there will be an official announcement about Australia soon.
Alise,…’mystified’ is a very appropriate word to use when looking for logic behind a-ha’s alleged decision not to tour in Australia.
I wonder just when we will receive an official announcement. Maybe there won’t be one. Maybe they’ll just let is slide,…no dates booked means no concerts in Australia, therefore no official announcement necessary.
If they do this then they (and their management) are pretty bloody gutless.
A-ha MUST come to Australia in 2010.
We gave A-ha their first No.1 in 1985. We have only ever had one tour – 25 years ago – and deserve a final tour from the guys.
If you don’t tour you will break our hearts!
I think they should tour so Wendy can have her wildest dreams come true. She just wants to see them live, hear their beautiful music, and perve a little on her man Mort. Tour Australia dammit!!!
I come to realize that they wont be coming to Melbourne, so last week i purchased a MEL-NYC flight to see them play May 8th.
There was no chance in hell that i was going to miss out on this tour…
Hmm.
I didn’t actually know it was confirmed that they weren’t coming down here but had suspected as much given the dates that have been announced and the lack of Aussie ones therein. Mind you, there’s been nothing announced for Asia as yet, so I’d kind of hoped that a couple of dates might be tagged on after Japan or something. I don’t think they’ll be able to miss out on Japan that’s for sure.
In any event, I’d already decided to go and see them in the UK (I’m from there originally) so will be going back to my roots and my last show will be at the same venue the first one was – Wembley. If I’d known that they were playing Wembley so close to the final Oslo show I’d actually have booked tickets for Oslo as well, but oh well.
I was massively surprised and blown away when I read they were coming to tour here … I am not surprised they aren’t going to make it though, I know there are some loyal fans here, but not in the numbers that there are in other countries.
If they change their minds and do come here, I’ll attend as many as I can probably all of them … it would be an amazing and unique experience … the reception would be incredible I am sure, and I know people from overseas who would travel here to see them play … somewhere like the hifi bar would rock I reckon!
a-ha … your communication with your fans sucks. It has for as long as I can remember. I thought things had changed with the new website and all, but it turns out it’s same sh*t, different front end.
Peace all.
AnnA
they should definitely come to australia
im still really young, and wasnt even born in the 80s, but i lovee A-ha! if i absolutely love them and i feel so devistated that they arent coming down, then i cant even imagine how you guys might feel! especially, growing up with the band and their songs!
i mean, its the last chance EVER to see them live. and if they are not coming down just because of money.. well..
I am one dissapointed Kiwi !!!
Traveling even to LA for for the concert is a huge expense. One I am going to make but it would b great to have known that they cared enough to come out even if it was as part of a festival etc.
We dont need the whole roadshow, just a few songs to remind us all why we have supported a-ha for so long.
I would go to Australia but any further is asking a bit too much from fans.
Come on Morten Mags and Pal, help us out!
If money is an issue u can crash in our spare room while u are here.
I would love A-ha to come to Australia. It would be very disappointing if they did not come. After all it was in Australia they played their first ever concert (Perth!). Other artist from the 80′s era have toured or will be coming to Australian shores (Duran Duran,Tears for Fears, Spanadu Ballet,Whitney Houston & George Michael) so why can’t they come here…. They are going to countries were they haven’t had lots of chart success in recent years (USA & Canada). Not everyone has a spare $5000 to fly to the USA or Europe. Please tour Australia…(Melbourne)
I am still hopeful about Australia as there hasn’t been an official announcement yet…….and I am wondering about the possibility of something happening in April – there are no concerts anywhere during this month, if I am correct. What do you think? I am crossing my fingers.
In 1986 A-ha toured Australia, then Japan, followed by the US. That could still happen again. I am really hopeful.