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Saw my penultimate a-ha show last night, on home turf this time, and with a friend from university I'd dragged along. The audience energy was a bit lower than the New York show to start--Toronto crowds are always a tough sell, and the opening act, an older country singer, didn't have nearly the energy that Sondre Lerche did in NYC--but by the end of the show they were almost as crazy energetic as the New York crowd.

The band played exactly the same set, and did the same awesome job, though Morten was a bit ragged at first. He blew the opening of Forever Not Yours, and I wondered if he was going to make the sustained high note in Summer Moved On. He was obviously struggling with the high notes all through the song, and was pacing the stage during the musical break leading up to that note, but then he totally nailed it and the crowd went nuts, and he was awesome from that point on.

I brought my camera, and managed to get a few not bad shots of the band, so here you go...

Magne on keyboards, and Morten taking a brief swing at the drums

Magne in front of the Living Daylights video

Morten

Morten and Paul during an acoustic moment

Morten and Paul take their final bows

The whole band takes the final ovation from the crowd

I've got tickets to one last show, at Wembley Stadium at the end of November. (They've just announced they're playing a gig at the Royal Albert Hall that will consist of all of Hunting High and Low. I'm sorely tempted, but I shall hold firm at three shows.) I felt surprisingly emotional at the end of both these shows, knowing they'll never play either of these cities again, but I also felt incredibly lucky to have finally seen them.