Review of 'Abba Voyage'

https://abbavoyage.com/

The announcement that Abba would be creating a venue in London to host a show where their digitally de-aged avatars would perform was generally received with some amount of trepidation: How was this possible, and, more importantly, would it be any good? On this second question I can offer some reassurance: It is extraordinarily good and extremely convincing. It is as if they are really on the stage performing with only the most extreme close-up views on the big screens that ever so slightly jars with reality.

I will try not to spoil things too much for those interested in going…

The performance is backed by a live band and backing singers on the left of the stage. The walls of the auditorium are large screens that are used to amazing effect throughout the show providing close ups of the performers or just providing a kaleidoscope of imagery. A few songs do not show Abba at all with their vocals played over a video installation with “Eagle” and “Summer Night City” accompanying a mystical journey by a young man through wild worlds and sights in search of a mysterious artefact. The start of the show was with two relatively unknown songs “The Visitors” and “Hole in Your Soul” while the rest of the set list features the biggest hits: “Waterloo”, “SOS”, “Voulez-Vous”, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”, with “Thank You For The Music” at the end of main performance and “The Winner Takes It All” in the encore. There are two of their new songs as well “Don't Shut Me Down” and “I Still Have Faith In You” which I feel were not delivered with the impact I feel they deserve. Most in the audience only engaged for the biggest hits as they rose to their feet, calmly content to take in the rest.

Getting tickets to the Abba Voyage is not so much a matter of finding availability but hardening yourself to the cost with prices ranging from £55 (good luck), or more realistically, about £80 for dance floor tickets to £180 for seated tickets or more if you want a dance booth or experience hospitality. It seems that the dance floor holds as many people as in the seats with people crammed into the space in front of the stage with little space in the hot and humid arena for their belongings. The advantage to standing on the floor for the 90 minute show is that you can get quite close to the stage where the Abba avatars perform three levels back from the front of the stage but the disadvantage is that it is VERY crowded so even dancing might be an exercise in avoiding stomping on the feet of those around you.

The auditorium is an impressive achievement of stagecraft with exceptional acoustics and amazing video and light effects that fully immerse you in the show no matter where you are. In keeping with the special nature of the show audience members are not allowed to film, photograph or in any way record any portion of the concert and during the performance we saw many people approached when they tried to do just that with the diligent staff at their side within minutes.

In our seats we were not on our feet as much as you might think and, half way back on the right side of the auditorium (block J) we had a great view of the whole arena and fully experienced the amazing show. It looks and sounds absolutely amazing. It is common knowledge that Abba used motion capture suits to capture their performance for their on-stage personas and it was nice to see the four as they are now come onto the stage after the encore to take the ovation of the crowd. During the performance the four members of the group each talked to the crowd about the songs or their memories which was also a nice touch, indeed, at one point the off-screen comments about being unable to get into one of their outlandish disco costumes broke up the concert very nicely and made it feel a lot more personal.

The food and drink prices are quite expensive but perhaps not as much as you might think. There are two programmes on offer: One a large format picture book (£18) and the other a smaller book with a lot of written background material (£12). Before the performance attendees are sent loads of information by email about what to expect as far as logistics are concerned which are worth a read to make the experience much more enjoyable and easy.

Sure, if you are not a fan of Abba then this is not a show for you but if you even slightly like their music this is an experience not to be missed - A fun, unique and enjoyable romp through the hay-day of supergroup Abba.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2023-09-28

Location: London (England)

Address: 1 Pudding Mill Ln, London E15 2RU ENGLAND

Public Transport: Pudding Hill Lane

URL: https://abbavoyage.com/thearena/

Located literally across the street from Pudding Hill Lane, the modern ABBA Arena is an amazing purpose-built arena to house the “Abba Voyage” show. There are the standard security and ticket checks at the door.

The large wooden walled foyer has a cloakroom, several toilet blocks, bar area, souvenir shops, and fast food options. The auditorium has a large dance floor surrounded by four seating areas and several “dance booths” above the entrances (for those wanting a more private standing experience).