When A-ha is in town, you want the sun to be shining. It was. With a career spreading back to 1985 and their debut album Hunting High & Low, to – as mentioned by keyboardist Magne ‘Mags’ Furuholmen when I interviewed him for Buzz – a new album due later in 2022. Thirty-seven years and counting, yet here in Cardiff Castle listening to the Norwegian band’s ageless frontman Morten Harket sing such classics as Cry Wolf, Train Of Thought and The Living Daylights, you’d practically think you were listening to those original, 80s-vintage recordings.

The night was interspersed with new A-ha offerings, and truth be told the songs Forest For The Trees and You Have What It Takes – performed back-to-back and all – didn’t get the crowd going as much as the band may have hoped. Yet when Hunting High And Low was rolled out towards the end of the set, it was the beautiful, full-scale crowd participation that will stick with me for a very long time.

And while Harket’s vocal prowess remains a dead ringer for those original recordings, as noted, when the encore comprises three of the biggest, and most vocally challenging, A-ha hits – The Sun Always Shines On T.V., I’ve Been Losing You and, of course, Take On Me – perhaps it would have been wise to drop one or two of those in earlier, interspersing newer or less recognised songs. Just a suggestion…

All in all, an incredible return to my youth, and that of thousands of others here no doubt: a unique location, fantastic weather, even better music, an atmosphere to die for, and no technical issues to report. I just wish A-ha had played two of my favourite songs, Manhattan Skyline and Scoundrel Days – but you can’t have everything, and I’m already eager to see them again in the hope they do…

Cardiff Castle, Tue 5 July

words CARL MARSH photos KEVIN PICK