Another Aha concert in Salvador in 1991 had rain, blackouts and delays. Remember

If you went to the Arena Fonte Nova on Friday night (15th) to enjoy aha, that nostalgia probably has nothing to do with the Norwegian trio’s other performance in Bahia 31 years ago.

The expected performance at the group’s peak, which according to local expectations “would definitely put Salvador on the international concert stage”, was seen by many as a fiasco, with rain, police brutality and even power outages both the public grid and the public itself who didn’t almost filled the parking lot of the old convention center.

The unsuccessful passage of Morten Harket, Pal Waaktar, Mags through Salvador on June 5, 1991 was reported by reporter Eduardo Bastos in the June 7, 1991 edition of Correio da Bahia under the title ‘With the coldness of a video clip’. On the hotline, the somewhat grumpy sentence: “Lack of energy and rain got in the way of AHA without much emotion”.

rain and emptiness
The expectation of a thunderstorm at show time, on this almost wintry night, probably drove away a section of the audience, which consisted mainly of teenagers. However, other factors also influenced the lower than expected adherence. “Threatened rain, a midweek concert in the middle of the school year, and a ticket price that was fair but unaffordable for those battling one of the worst crises in Brazil’s economy,” the reporter quoted.

Nonetheless, Bastos commented, “The spectator who walked into the convention center and prepared to rub shoulders with a legion of hysterical and excited fans could not hide his surprise when faced with the minimal teenage crowd gathered between the control tower.” of sound and light, and the stage”.

The glare in the crowd was of course visible. “There was enough space behind the tower to quietly play a football game with the right to supporters and alleged police work. Incidentally, the police were of great value in preventing the area from becoming so depopulated”.

A reporter currently covering Cultura in CORREIO I would even say a successor to Bastos in the wild treatment of most subjects Roberto Midlej was there as a spectator, but considering his young age at the time, he cannot remember exactly that

“I didn’t like the band until I went to the show, but Salvador, 1991, if it’s still a province today, imagine that 30 years ago. The city stopped, didn’t it?”She remembers the then 15yearold colleague.

“I remember a friend and I wanted to be there early and then we didn’t eat lunch at home, we didn’t have any snacks. We went in, there was already a crowd and we wanted a seat closer to the stage. Then it filled that part and we decided not to go out so as not to lose our place. guys, huh? And then there was hunger, thirst, it seemed like the show would never start, and by the time it started I was already tired,” he recalls.

Another who doesn’t have very fond memories of the show is Professor Jackson Santana, who was also 15 at the time. “I used to live nearby, in Boca do Rio, and I ran, but already in my face and courage with the expectation of rain. And she came, but there was no water in my beer, no, because I couldn’t drink at the time,” he jokes, whom he only remembers singing Take on Me at the top of his lungs. “I think it was the song that touched the crowd the most. The gang has gone insane.”

No energy
The rain came before “Take on Me,” at the start of the show, which started late simply because there was a power outage across the region.

“São Pedro, the most fearsome threat to Aha’s anticipated show, came to the collaboration at the last minute. It was the sudden power outage that shrouded the grounds and surrounding area in an inexplicable darkness that dulled the show’s luster.”nails the reporter.

“That factor, combined with a surprisingly small audience for those who were forecasting a capacity of 30,000, was what kept the performance from Norwegians Morten Harket, Pal Waaktar, Mags and supporting musicians from not getting what their teenage admirers were expecting from her expected,” judges the reporter, who suggests audiences shouldn’t exceed 10,000. There are later records that speak of 18,000 spectators.

With the main show scheduled for 9pm, the electrics rehearsed a breakdown as early as 6:30pm and delivered on that promise even before 7pm. The energy only almost came back when the band took the stage. “The lights came on again around 9pm, but only to set off a series of comings and goings that only added to doubts about the show’s performance. It was about 10 p.m. when power came back and showed signs it would be real this time,” Bastos quoted in an excerpt.

The production apologized anyway, but the Scandinavians didn’t start playing until around 11pm. “At 10:40 p.m., the lights were turned off, this time so that only the blacks on stage were on, and the show began. However, when Aha took the stage to cheers from the pubescent crowd and began the first sequences of Loosing You, the disappointment was total. The sound lacked power and the lighting was not used optimally.”

The two screens advertised as an additional attraction for the show did not work. The explanation lay in the fact that the technical team decided to save energy to avoid another failure.

“It was only towards the middle of the show that he felt settled and increased the dose of sound and light considerably,” Bastos quotes the approximately 1:35 hour presentation including the extended encore. “Cry Wolf”, “Touchy”, “Early Morning”, “Hunting High and Low” and “Crying in the Rain” were some of the other classics performed.

“The spectacle presented itself to the eyes and ears of the audience with the coldness of a video clip, so slimeless and absolutely devoid of improvisation did it unfold. (…) The audience reacted in the best possible way. He danced without overdoing it, sang without much emphasis or conviction, and surprisingly spared himself the hysteria everyone had expected.”