When Abba rise through the stage of the new arena built in their name in Stratford, east London, beamed up with spotlights like gods, the stadium erupts. Despite an announcement asking the audience not to photograph or film the show to maintain the “mystery” of the Abba experience, iPhones are raised instantly to record the moment. Here are Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid as younger, virtual versions of themselves, more than 40 years after their last live show in London. Three thousand people are dying to see them. Just 90 minutes previously, a crowd had congregated outside the Pudding Mill Lane DLR station to witness the real, 2022 versions of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid walk the red carpet for the opening night of Abba Voyage, the band’s new show created with motion capture technology, screaming with delight at a mere glimpse of the back of their heads.
Abba Voyage is not so much a musical experience as a religious one. The stadium, nestled among blocks of flats and not far from the Olympic tower, looks something like a spaceship; this is spirituality for the future. After four balls of light transform into Abba from below the stage, their presence, no matter how unreal, is almost overwhelming.
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