ABBA Voyage

 

ABBA Voyage – London

17 July 2023

 

Does this count? Was this really a concert? 

 

ABBA performing as digital versions of themselves (self-styled ABBA-tars) was always going to be a unique experience. While it was not perfect, it was almost like going back in a time machine and seeing ABBA in their heyday. They could easily have put on the CD of ABBA Gold and everyone would have been happy, but they didn’t do that. It flowed like a concert, it had audience interaction like a concert. It felt like a concert.

 

The best part of any concert is if you have an emotional connection with the performer. But can you really have an emotional connection with a performer if that performer is an avatar? It turns out that you can.

 

When the ABBA-tars were human sized they worked well. When they were blown up and projected on the large screen (as happens with every modern concert) it was a bit like watching a YouTube video. There were a couple of animated parts (I mean the whole thing was animated… but this was like a cut scene from a CGI film) that felt like filler and using footage of Waterloo from Eurovision in 1974, while a cute nod to their past, dragged me out of the performance. However, two of my concert companions particularly liked that part of the show, so clearly this view is not universal.

 

There was a live band on stage playing the music, while ABBA provided the vocals via tape. For one song the band took over and did a song by themselves while ABBA “walked off stage” and that’s when the concept actually came into sharp focus. With the ABBA vocals removed, it was exactly like seeing a good covers band. As talented as the band was, it was nothing special.

 

But with ABBA performing it was mesmerising – revealing the melancholy heart to these songs. Few bands perform such sunny melodies with such (bleak) heartbreaking lyrics. You have to go a long way to find finer songwriters and the vocal harmonies are unsurpassed.

 

For the more popular songs (SOS, Dancing Queen, etc…) I definitely had a physical and emotional response to the songs. That was completely unexpected. That’s more than can be said for some “real bands”.

 

So yes, it definitely counts.  This was a real concert.

 

Highly recommended.