ABBA’s Hologram ‘Voyage’ Proves Concerts Without Artists Are Here, And They’re F’ing Awesome
ANDY GENSLER10:53 AM, WEDNESDAY, 12/06/2023NEWS
Chiquitita, Tell Me The Truth: ABBA holograms “perform” the band’s 1979 hit “Chiquitita” as part of the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, which has attracted some 1.6 million over 550 shows since its opening in May 2022, according to the show’s producer. (Photo by Johan Persson / Courtesy ‘Abba Voyage’)
In mid-November, I saw ABBA perform in London. Technically, however, that’s not true. In fact, ABBA were nowhere near the custom-built ABBA Arena in East London where hologram versions (i.e. “Abbatars”) of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad “performed” their stunning “ABBA Voyage” show. Still, for the entirety of the dazzling 90-minute spectacle, all disbelief was easily suspended so that I, along with 3,000 others, including copious middle-aged tipsy Britons donning their best 1970s disco frippery and living their most smashing lives, could together enjoy the communal revelry in real-time.
And how can one not dance, croon or day drink (it was a weekend matinee in East London) to ABBA classics like “Dancing Queen,” “SOS,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” or “Fernando”? Their timeless catalog and Swedish visages are etched deeply into the consciousness of a multi-generational global swath of humanity. The long-running “Mamma Mia!” films and theater productions are proof of eternal fandom concept, which ultimately drives the show’s success a year and a half into its run.
“We’re coming up on 550 shows and almost every show is completely sold out. 1.6 million people have seen it,” says Ludwig Andersson, the show’s producer, who with his team spent seven years putting together “ABBA Voyage.” “We didn’t know until we had our first preview with an audience, three weeks before opening night, if it was going to work. All of us there felt from that first moment it was going to work.”
Three 65-million-pixel screens provide a 3D depth of field that makes “ABBA Voyage” convincingly real. The show reportedly cost $175 million to produce and was created with ABBA performing for over five weeks in motion capture suits with some 160 cameras trained on them. Visual effects artists at Industrial Light & Magic, George Lucas’ company, worked on the show for two years.
“It turns out they used ten times the amount of processing hours for ABBA than they did for the last ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Andersson says.
The custom-made hexagonal ABBA Arena, designed by Stufish Ent. Architects (Beyonce, U2, Stones), feels like a spaceship and features surround sound and hundreds of rotating mirrors that reflect light and laser beams. Front of stage is a packed dance floor.
Andersson says the reason they built the single-purpose 3,000 cap venue was because they “had to control that space down to every detail,” in order for it to be successful. “There’s too much lighting and sound and equipment involved for it to ever be able to tour in any capacity. We have to control every sight line, every angle.”
While the thought of a “live” concert without artists may be anathema to live music fans, the industry’s been heading that way for years. The starless Blue Man Group or Cirque Du Soliel’s “Beatles Love” shows have been around for decades. The Tupac, Roy Orbison and Ronnie James Dio holograms began rolling out in the 2010s. Travis Scott and Lil Nas X’s metaverse shows in Fortnite and Roblox were just a few years ago. And today’s major tours by the likes of Taylor Swift, Drake and Beyonce and U2’s Sphere show all employ multi-million pixel screens, powerful servers and professional programmers and seem only degrees away from “ABBA Voyage.”
That said, ABBA’s show isn’t entirely “Memorex.” There’s 10 musicians playing live on a side stage who add booming analog audio to the digital technologies. “Having a live band was key,” Andersson says. “Even if you don’t intellectually understand the show, you feel it is happening now. There’s a kinetic energy from a kick drum you feel.”
The stage banter cadence replicates the live experience and quickly gets meta. Benny starts with a pertinent existential question: “To be or not to be?” He, or his hologram, references “Dr. Who Time Travel” and notes the group hasn’t performed in London since 1979. There’s a relatability with authentic personal stories, acknowledgment of their campiness, poor dress choices, a 1974 Eurovision victory and well-timed pauses for applause.
The show grosses $2 million a week, according to Bloomberg, which means “ABBA Voyage” is well on its way to turning a profit and poised for global franchising. “We’re in talks with a lot of different places without revealing too much. We always hoped we could try to do this somewhere else,” says Andersson (Benny’s son.)
“We’ve done it once, and the last time we did it, no one knew if it was going to be good or not, so it’s much easier this time.”
