Pop sensations ABBA, made up of members Benny Anderson, Björn Ulvaenos, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyndstag, will be reuniting for the first time since 1982. The Swedish band will kick off their reunion with the ABBA Voyage tour where their shows will take place at their own custom-built stadium located at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
However, there’s a twist. The band will not perform live but instead digitally as holograms of themselves called ABBAtars.
Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again
Last month it was announced a new album was on the way. Voyage, is released on November 5th and fans have already had a preview of what’s to come with two new singles “Don’t Shut Me Down” and “I Still Have Faith in You”.
The Swedish four-piece, who first formed in 1972, released eight albums over their 10 years of being together, producing hits such as Super Trouper, Dancing Queen, Money Money, Money and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight). The band was rocketed to fandom after winning the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Brighton, in 1974 with the critically acclaimed song Waterloo.
Dates have been announced for the tour which will take place from May through to September 2022 in Stratford London. A 3,000-capacity venue named the ABBA Arena will be specially built in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which will feature pre-recorded motion-captured performances between the band members and a 10-piece band orchestra
A Family Affair
When I first heard about ABBA going on tour and a new album was being released, it made me feel nostalgic as my love for ABBA started when I was little. I grew up spending a lot of time with my grandparents who had a record player in the corner of their living room which constantly had ABBA playing as my grandad loved them, especially the albums Gold and Voulez-Vous. All their songs are very uplifting and danceable disco songs. So, to hear that they are making a comeback is very exciting to me as it takes me back to being a child
No-One Else Has Done It
I spoke to ABBA super-fan Emily on her thoughts of the band reuniting, “I love ABBA. I think the whole idea of them reuniting and going on tour is great but being on stage digitally instead of in-person is a weird idea and useless to me, but I would still go and see them perform,
“Maybe because no one else has done it before and I’m used to seeing the act right in front of me I think it would be better if they would be there in person. ABBA are fashion icons in a sense with the way they dress and how they express themselves their music is versatile – everyone knows who they are especially due to the Mamma Mia films”.
Tickets are on sale now from the official ABBA website and Ticketmaster
https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Photo credit: NME
