Norway’s legendary rock band a-ha was back home i Oslo last weekend and greeted by both good reviews and some protests outdoors. Demonstrators think the band should cancel an upcoming concert in Israel.
Newspaper Dagsavisen reported that both Israeli and Norwegian supporters of the Palestinians wrote letters and staged a demonstration outside the Oslo Spektrum Arena, to urge the band to drop its concert in Tel Aviv on June 21. Two Israeli musicians, David Oppenheimer and Danielle Ravitzki, are among those asking a-ha to join an academic and cultural boycott of Israel, on the grounds that Palestinians in Israel live under what they call an “apartheid regime.”
The concerts in Oslo, meanwhile, went on as planned and received good reviews. They were part of the band’s new acoustic tour that began in Stuttgart two weeks ago, and newspaper Aftenposten wrote that the first of two concerts in Oslo reflected “a-ha at its best.” Dagsavisen also called the concerts “an experience outside the ordinary,” with the “unplugged” versions of a-ha’s music offering a new twist that “brought forth the best of the group.” The Oslo concert also featured Norwegian singer Susanne Sundfør joining the band on two songs.
newsinenglish.no staff
