It begins with The Guests, an icy, digital monitor during which authoritarian brokers hammer on the door of a fearful dissident – not the Abba you anticipated to return calling on this trailblazing, retro-futurist extravaganza of a present. The music’s lead singer, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, is, as everyone knows, probably not on stage tonight both. She and her bandmates are 3D renderings created by way of the granular CGI of Industrial Mild & Magic (ILM), which lower its tooth on Star Wars and the Marvel movies.
Lyngstad’s verisimilitude is, nonetheless, off the hook. The swish of the hair, the dentistry, the believability of her 1979 dance strikes all contribute to a want to droop your disbelief and forged off on this surreal Voyage, which delivers the whole lot Abba followers anticipate – the hits and the outfits – however nonetheless manages to shock.
In the midst of the set is Eagle, which performs out as an anime video quest that recollects Studio Ghibli and the 2012 online game Journey. It’s unclear what the animation is doing right here past padding out the voyage theme whereas the “performers” allegedly “change outfits” – one of many many little pacing tics that makes this gig really feel real-ish. However it's absolutely to do with Abba’s want to be understood as modern audio-visual movers and shakers, which they obtain, after which some.
Shortly afterwards comes Lay All Your Love on Me, during which the 4 seventysomethings, too typically misunderstood as a frothy Swedish gentle leisure outfit, make a severe bid to out-robot Kraftwerk in 3D with their luminous Tron fits and dedication to electronics. Beneath Benny Andersson’s churchy organ work is a synth line that will make the very early Depeche Mode proud.
An enormous chunk of Abba Voyage is, in fact, dedicated to the Chiquititas, Fernandos, Mamma Mias and Waterloos of playlist overkill. It’s a theatre efficiency, with a 7.45 begin and matinees, slightly than a gig. Numerous huge numbers accompany this manufacturing, which actually does recapture a lot of the essence of one of many greatest bands on the earth of their prime, give or take a barely glassy expression right here and there. One thousand animators labored on digitising footage of the 4, who have been filmed performing their songs by 120 movement seize cameras, then projected on this 65m pixel display. This purpose-built, collapsible 3,000-capacity venue was designed to be shipped elsewhere with a comparatively smaller carbon footprint. The encompass sound is terrific (291 audio system), the 10-piece band are energetic, fleshing out the 70s and 80s-era vocals. The numerous descending ropes of sunshine will not be one million miles away from 4 Tet’s mesmerising, immersive rave exhibits.
The most important quantity, although, is the underside line. This enterprise must rake again £140m to interrupt even. It has been a deliriously costly endeavor, during which company sponsors, branding and adverts are conspicuous by their absence. Till now, probably the most futuristic ersatz gig I've seen was Billie Eilish’s augmented actuality livestream of 2020, during which an enormous luxurious automobile “raced” across the stage, footing among the invoice, little question. There may be one sponsor right here: the transport firm that may, ultimately, take this nostalgic, future-forward circus elsewhere.
It's only pure to muse which megastars may try to repeat Abba’s Twenty first-century travelling present. However the group’s deep pockets – the Mamma Mia! hundreds of thousands? – and detail-savvy inventive management have ensured that this quest is one which few will undertake, at the very least with such surefootednesss.
As a result of probably the most enduring pleasure of the entire endeavour is strictly how uncheesy Voyage is; how it's not a Madame Tussauds with go-faster stripes. A type of Scandinavian classiness is constructed into the whole lot from the constructing’s exterior pine development on as much as the tunes themselves, during which stoicism and good sense barely cover the unbridled distress of a collection of leave-takings.
When All Is Mentioned and Performed and The Winner Takes It All ship their bleak payload, whilst they're sung by ghosts within the machine. And that misused Alan Partridge theme tune, Realizing Me, Realizing You, claws again a lot of its shard-like poignancy. The attention-popping therapy suggests a fracturing corridor of mirrors, during which the members of Abba break up up, embrace and crumble once more.
Abba Voyage continues on the Abba Area, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20, till 28 Might 2023
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