ABBA Voyage

ABBA Voyage is a virtual concert residency by the Swedish pop group ABBA. The concert features digital avatars avatars (dubbed 'ABBAtars'), depicting the group as they appeared in 1979, and use vocals re-recorded by the group in a Swedish studio specifically for this show, accompanied by a 10 piece live instrumental band on stage. The concerts are held in ABBA Arena, a purpose-built venue in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

The digital ABBA's were created in collaboration with legendary vfx company Industrial Light & Magic following weeks and months of motion-capture and performance techniques with the four band members and an 850-strong team in what is the company's first foray into music.

The ABBA Voyage concert is produced by Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson, directed by Baillie Walsh and choreographed by Wayne McGregor.

Background


ABBA had unofficially split up in December 1982, and despite renewed interest in the band from the 1990s onwards, following the worldwide success of their greatest hits album ABBA Gold, the musical Mamma Mia! and its film adaptation, the members had repeatedly refused to re-form. Reportedly, they turned down an offer of $1 billion in 2000 to perform again. In 2008, Björn Ulvaeus told The Sunday Telegraph, "We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to re-group." He repeated the statement in an interview in 2014 while promoting the publication of ABBA: The Official Photo Book.



In September 2017, Benny Andersson told Swedish newspaper Expressen that there were plans for ABBA to tour "virtually", using digital avatars of the group. In April 2018, the four members issued a statement saying that during preparations for the tour, they had regrouped in the studio and had recorded two new songs, titled "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down".

Announcement and development
On 26 August 2021, the "ABBA Voyage" website was launched, indicating the announcement of a new project a week later. On 2 September 2021, a globally-streamed press conference from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London confirmed that the virtual concerts would take place in London from 27 May 2022. In addition, Voyage, a new ABBA album, was announced to be released on 5 November 2021. The new album features ten songs, including the previously-announced "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down". The concerts feature a 10-piece live band playing alongside the group's digital avatars, performing 22 of ABBA's biggest hits. Andersson commented that while building the setlist, the band realised that "we cannot not play [the hits] but we also wanted to give the concert some dynamics, so there are a few songs that the audience will not be too familiar with, but we like them so we put them in. It’s 21 songs and it feels good".

Concerts started in May 2022, and, so far, are extended until May 2025

So far over 2 million guests have visited ABBA Voyage. A socio-economic impact report released in 2023 revealed that during its first year of operation, contributed £322.6million in turnover to the London economy between May 2022-May 2023, and £177.7million in GVA (Gross Value Added).

ABBAtar technology
The digital band, using the songs' originally-recorded vocals, are accompanied by a live instrumental band on stage. Andersson stated that ILM "can do the work if we wanted to swap a couple of songs in a year’s time or so and work on it and it’ll be exactly the same. We don’t have to go back ourselves into the studio again. That’s what they have promised us".

Reception
The opening night of ABBA Voyage was attended by celebrities, including Kylie Minogue, Keira Knightley, Kate Moss, Sharleen Spiteri, and Carola Häggkvist, as well as members of the Swedish royal family including Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Mark Sutherland of Variety wrote that the crowd gave a standing ovation at the concert. After the 90-minute avatar performance, the four members of ABBA appeared on stage and gave a curtain call. The concert has since been met with widespread critical acclaim.

Setlist

 * Act 1
 * 1) "Skallgång" (introduction)
 * 2) "The Visitors"
 * 3) "Hole in Your Soul"
 * 4) "SOS" (with "EastEnders theme tune" piano introduction)
 * 5) "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (video interlude)
 * Act 2
 * 1) "Chiquitita"
 * 2) "Fernando"
 * 3) "Mamma Mia"
 * 4) "Does Your Mother Know"
 * 5) "Eagle" ("Rora" video interlude 1)
 * Act 3
 * 1) "Lay All Your Love on Me" (video interlude)
 * 2) "Summer Night City"
 * 3) "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
 * 4) "Voulez-Vous" ("Rora" video interlude 2)
 * Act 4
 * 1) "When All Is Said and Done"
 * 2) "Don't Shut Me Down"
 * 3) "I Still Have Faith in You"
 * 4) "Waterloo" (video interlude)
 * Act 5
 * 1) "Thank You for the Music"
 * 2) "Dancing Queen"
 * Encore
 * 1) "The Winner Takes It All"
 * 2) "I Wonder (Departure)" (instrumental outro)

Personnel
Personnel list adapted from Vogue, NME and Industrial Light & Magic, unless otherwise noted.

ABBA: Band: Crew: Body doubles: Wardrobe:
 * Agnetha Fältskog
 * Björn Ulvaeus
 * Benny Andersson
 * Anni-Frid Lyngstad
 * James Righton – band casting
 * Dom John – guitar
 * Eoin Rooney – guitar
 * Joe Stoddart – bass
 * Sarah Burrell – keyboards, synthesizer
 * Victoria Hesketh – keyboards, synthesizer
 * Victoria Smith – drums
 * Tuca Milan – percussion
 * Anna Kirby – saxophone
 * Rachel Clark – backing vocals
 * Amina Gichinga – backing vocals
 * Grace Barrett – backing vocals
 * Svana Gisla – producer
 * Ludvig Andersson – producer
 * Baillie Walsh – director
 * Johan Renck – co-executive producer
 * Wayne McGregor – movement director, choreographer
 * Steve Aplin – motion director
 * Ben Morris – visual effects supervisor
 * Shynola – "Rora" video interludes
 * Stufish Entertainment Architects – ABBA Arena
 * William Collins – Björn double
 * Sonya Cullingford – Frida double
 * Max Hessman – Benny double
 * Isabel La Cras – Agnetha double
 * Liv Austen – Agnetha understudy
 * Heather Birley – Frida understudy
 * Leo Elso – Benny understudy
 * James Pattison – Björn understudy
 * Bea Åkerlund – head costume designer
 * Manish Arora – costume designer
 * Roth House – costume designer
 * Michael Schmidt – costume designer
 * Dolce & Gabbana – costume designers
 * Erevos Aether – costume designers
 * Carolin Holzhuber – shoes designer
 * Terry de Havilland – shoes designer