On Stage: ABBA Voyage

Watching the crowd in the auditorium before ABBA Voyage began there seemed to be three audience groups.

The true ABBA fans were easy to recognise thanks to their colourful attire!

Then there were the more conservative dressers who seemingly were as interested in the technology as they were in music. After all what other live concert is performed by CGI versions of the performers (although there is also a 10-piece live band)?

The technology means ABBA don’t appear in person but have instead recorded their voices and body movements which have been transformed into 3D avatars ensuring the four band members look and perform as they did during the 1970s.

And then there were those who just wanted to say they have experienced the show, which millions of others also have since its premiere in May 2020 in a $100 million purpose-built venue in London’s Pudding Mill Lane.

Not being a huge ABBA fan I fell into the second category. Given the continual speculation that the show may come to Australia and the mostly glowing reviews (including from friends living in London), I decided to spend the £106.45($208.68) for a single ticket.

I could have spent less to buy a standing room ticket on the dance floor or a lot more for a better located seat. Four seating options are available – auditorium seating, accessible seating, dance floor and dance booths.

In the end I had no complaints about my seat choice and while I found parts of the concert amazing there were times I was looking at my watch.

However, this clearly wasn’t the feeling of the ABBA fans around me whose enthusiasm never seemed to waiver during the 90-minute production.

Acceptance of the technology was likely one of the reasons for my waning interest.

In the beginning I had to remind myself that I was watching avatars (nicknamed ABBAtars) and not the real Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad on stage. They were so life-like as they sang, played instruments, danced and chatted to each other and the audience and threw to the live band. But gradually I forgot they weren’t real.

The huge cheers at the end of each song also suggested their fans forgot they weren’t watching real people. The exception being when the excellent band performed. Then there were ‘real humans’ to applaud!

The four avatars were created and designed by Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company responsible for the CGI in hundreds of movies including the Star Wars and Marvel films.

Around 1000 animators from the company digitised footage of the four, who were filmed performing their songs by hundreds of motion capture cameras while wearing motion-capture suits. While the choreography is also based on the Swedes’ real movements it was filmed using younger body doubles.

Spectacular lighting, some extremely colourful and imaginative visuals including interstellar backdrops and CGT Tron costumes and an excellent sound system add to the experience.

With so many hits, deciding which songs to include in the show must have been a challenge for the band. In the end the 22 numbers included a mix of older and newer offerings.

Choosing to open with the lesser-known songs The Visitors and Hole in the Soul resulted in a subdued start to the show. But once SOS, Knowing Me, Knowing You,  Fernando and Mamma Mia featured on the playlist the near full 3000 capacity stadium was rocking.

The use of an anime video to accompany Eagle and Voulez-Vous saw energy levels drop a little but then songs including Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) and Thank You For the Music and a finale of Waterloo, Dancing Queen and The Winner Takes it All ensured the crowd left the stadium happy and highly energised and amazed by the technology.

ABBA Voyage plays at The ABBA Arena which is located at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. Getting to the stadium on public transport is extremely easy as the Pudding Mill Lane Docklands Light Railway station is next door to the arena.

Show times and prices are dictated by the time of year and demand. Visit the ABBA Voyage website for more information and tickets.

*Photo credit: Johan Persson