The cold war, an energy shock, stagflation and food shortages: the only thing missing from the current revival of the early 1970s is Abba winning the Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo”. Lo and behold, the Swedish band takes to the stage on Friday evening in London for its first live performance in decades.
Well, not quite. The Abba Voyage show features not the pop quartet itself but four avatars created by the special effects company Industrial Light & Magic, performing with a live 10-piece band in front of 3,000 spectators. It is a digital metaverse extravaganza that could easily flop, but the tunes will definitely be catchy; this is Abba, after all.
Nearly half a century later, it remains a thrill to watch the group on the recording of the 1974 event. “The largest of the Scandinavian countries?.?.?.?a country full of mountains, lakes and forests,” the television commentator explains patronisingly as they appear on stage: Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny and Bj?rn, the last wearing silver boots and strumming a starburst guitar.