Without a song or a dance, what are we?

ABBA Voyage – ABBA Arena, London; October 15th, 2022

Is it a “real ” concert, when the performers are avatars and younger versions of their former selves. is this a bit much or just the continuation of many bands using clips or holograms of members they have lost? These might have been questions I could have asked about seeing Abba Voyage in London. In all honesty though, the only question that mattered was: Did it work? And the answer is a resounding YES!

When I saw there was an Abba show in London, I thought it was the perfect thing to do on a Saturday night without any other plans and booked a ticket right away. At that point I didn’t have much of an idea about it and that didn’t change much until the day of the show arrive. Other than hearing the avatars were younger than current Abba, I didn’t even try to find out more.

On show day, I arrived at the arena about an hour before show start and found a nice spot on the dance floor. I notice quite a few people had dressed up for the occasion in glitter clothes, high boots and some in what I’d describe as Abba cosplay. I immediately loved it.

Photography was not allowed once the show started – they really wanted to keep this a secret. While I waited show time, the arena filled with people. I wondered if this was going to work, if avatars were going to draw me in like a real concert and what they would look like. I had chosen a spot to the side by the railing on purpose, assuming there would be a lot going on and I would want to see an overview of the stage. I was right.

The lights went down and with the music, the four avatars rose from the floor, first only visible as shadows. The stage lights turned o them and I could not believe how good they looked – not only young and fresh, but surprisingly real. If I didn’t know better I might have believed this was the real thing, at leats from the distance I was at. Wow.

Within a few songs I was drawn in, danced and sang and forgot that the people on stage ere only projections. This was pretty damn awesome. It took me a few songs to realized that there was a live band too, off to the side most of the time, playing the tunes right there. Later on, they got their moment in the spotlight as well. 🙂

It was really, really fun, singing along, realizing I didn’t know the songs as well as I thought I might, then not caring and singing anyway. Wherever I looked, people did the same and I saw everyone from excited teenagers to middle aged men, having the time of their lives. 😀

The show was very well done, had all the hits one would expect, including several costume changed and introductions by the band members as well. The sound was loud and clear, accompanied by a beautiful light show, all fitting with the songs, from sunsets to laser beams to rainbow colored lights.

Time passed quickly, people got out of their seats to sway with the music and from everywhere I hear the words of the songs being sung. For a moment, I felt like a member of a happy community and allowed myself to get lost in the feeling. In addition to Abba and the live band, we also got to see some cool animations, telling a story.

Bangers like ‘SOS’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Gimme!Gimme!Gimme!’ and ‘Waterloo’ got the strongest audience reaction, but I was happiest to hear ‘When all is said and done’ – thanks to Svavar Knútur, who regularly plays a very loving and lovely cover of the song.

The grand finale was ‘Dancing Queen’, when nobody remained in their seats and after that, we even got an encore of ‘The Winner takes it all’. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it and also liked that in the end, we got to see Abba of today, taking a final bow together.

It was an amazing show and maybe this is where the future of musical performance lies, where in years to come we might be able to see artists from the past still performing for us. I am not sure what to think of this possibility or if I like it. This voyage, however, was great fun and with everything that follows, time will tell.

Setlist

Skallgång
The Visitors
Hole in your Soul
SOS
Knowing me, knowing you
Chiquitita
Fernando
Mamma Mia
Does your Mother know
Eagle
Lay all your Love on me
Summer Night City
Gimme!Gimme!Gimme! (A Man after midnight)
Voulez-vous
When all is said and done
Don’t shut me down
I still have faith in you
Waterloo
Thank you for the Music
Dancing Queen

The Winner takes it all

Comments are closed.