ABBA Voyage - ABBA Arena London

Everything about this production is on a huge scale. It necessitated a lot of hi-tech work, digital imaging and motion capture technology in advance and the show goes on in a purpose-built 3,000 capacity arena near Stratford in East London. They don’t allow any photos or videos at the “gig” to preserve the element of surprise, so we won’t do any plot spoilers either, other than to say that this is a fully-immersive experience with animation, big screens, a live band and, of course, some very lifelike avatars performing on-stage.

I had gone off the music of ABBA a bit over the years, probably due to an overload of crap karaoke, dodgy themed hen nights, shite tribute bands, and that awful film with Meryl Streep, the pish James Bond and the lassie with the big eyes from Ted 2. Here however, it all came alive again and it was nice to see tipsy people of a certain age enjoying themselves. Naturally it was a greatest hits set-list including a tribute to a certain Peri-Peri chicken restaurant – yes, we can hear the drums for Nandos! There were a few surprises though and there was also some decent riffage in tunes like ‘Waterloo’ and ‘S.O.S’ so I did feel like dancing from the neck up on a few occasions but some of the mature ladies were giving it laldy throughout.

The avatars were quite believable, even in big screen close up. They say that the eyes are the key to the soul and that might be the only slight give away, but the emotions were real by the end of the show and the winner does still take it all. Frankly, if you are willing to suspend belief and reality enough to accept DC and Marvel movies, Sci-Fi in general and get into cos-play tribute bands, then you can definitely easily get on-side with a top-quality avatar / AI musical experience.

I can assure you that this experience did not suck. It was not cheap though – but still less expensive than the going rate for recent big gigs at the OVO Methadome in Glasgow. Some other Rockfiend colleagues concur and one of our guys actually went to see ABBA Voyage the day after a Foo Fighters gig at nearby London Stadium and gave both events a resounding thumbs-up. Is this the future of rock & roll? Naw – it isnae. But it is a legitimate part of the future and although it will never replace actual gigs, it can supplement your musical enjoyment and it is a fabulous way to enjoy the songs of icons you cannot actually see perform, or perform well, anymore.

‘Elvis Evolution’ opens in London in May 2025. Hopefully it won’t be like the Glasgow Willy Wonka experience. I am pretty sure that KISS do have the fan base, finances and clout to do one and it wouldn’t be a shock if Queen did something Freddy-themed in the future too. It could be all aboard the avatar train in a few years.

But what do you think?