As ABBA Voyage prepares to celebrate its first anniversary new production images of the concert have been released.
ABBA Voyage is preparing to celebrate one year since the groundbreaking and hugely popular event in the ABBA Arena, London.
Take a look at these new production photos of the concert released to celebrate the first anniversary of this extraordinary celebration of the music of ABBA. On 27thMay, ABBA fans from around the world will come together to mark the occassion.
One year ago, all four members of ABBA were in attendance for the opening night of ABBA Voyage, their revolutionary concert which sees them perform their greatest hits as digital avatars, in their very own purpose built at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were joined by the producers Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson, along with director Baillie Walsh, and an invited audience of VIPs, including the King and Queen of Sweden and the Mayor of London, friends and family, media and fans.
Celebrating the creation of the concert, Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA said, “If you build the right machine, and you build it well, then it exceeds the sum of its parts. The soul of the songs comes alive. And that soul isn’t just down to what you see on stage. It’s the stories and memories that come with it. Both yours and ours.”
Anni-Frid Lyngstad went on to talk about her astonishment of seeing her digital self on stage, “It’s hard to fully grasp that it isn’t me,” says Frida, “and yet it is me. I can certainly see myself in the digital figure, the gestures, the facial expressions, the eyes that express all sorts of feelings. It’s absurd but it’s real!”. Agnetha Fältskog added, “For a whole month, we got into our ‘space suits’ and helmets to perform our songs. A fantastic team behind hundreds of monitors, following it all, from tip to toe, to capture our movements and facial expressions. Sometimes all four of us wondered what we had got ourselves into, but we had many wonderful laughs, looking at one another.”
To summarise the whole project Benny Andersson said, “Did we expect the response to be so intense? No. We didn’t know at all. And, do you know what? It’s always been that way. From day one. You start with a song and beyond that you have no control. Will people like it as much as we do? Will people ignore it? People will tell you that they know – people in the business. But no one ever knows. And it was the same with this”
Since opening on the 27th May 2022, ABBA Voyage has welcomed over one million fans, travelling from far and wide across the globe to witness ABBA taking to the stage as digital avatars at the purpose built arena located at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The event has had a revolving door of VIPs coming through the doors, including the likes of: Tom Hanks, Dua Lipa, Graham Norton, Mae Muller, Jack Whitehall, Olivia Rodrigo, Sir Barry Gibb and even British royalty, Queen Camilla.
ABBA Voyage is now booking to May 2024.
