Can we talk about how amazing the Spoiler show opener is? The rise from the floor, the slow build of 'The Visitors', the descending lights giving you the full spectacle, Frida and Agnetha's dance moves, Queen Frida's outfit... it's perfect and the crowd slowly gets more and more into it as it builds.
Don’t Shut Me Down remains everything. It’s going to be up there with Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and Winner… I feel it in my waters.
That ascend into the second chorus, with the key change and all the harmonies in play, still hits the spot. It's absolutely flawless.
A-ma-zing. Even my skeptical bf was saying “wow” throughout. That visual transition from Lay All Your Love on Me into Summer Night City is what dreams are made of.
I just finished my ABBA Voyage. Absolutely fucking incredible. I went alone and had the time of my life. I’ve never had an experience like that, the sound and lights… incredible! I HATED that I was the ONLY one getting my life to ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’. Everyone seemed to snore through ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ which I found beautiful. I had two of each of the three cocktails before entering and I am so happy I did. I personally felt I had a great seat right up the back in the middle and saw everything as it glowered and shone. I even managed to get a ‘First Voyager’ pin from this sexy man on my way out. It was the last one he had too! I am SO glad I did this. They have to bring this to Australia, where ABBA-Mania was INSANE.
We got these! One immediately went on to my laptop bag and the other we'll keep in case it's somehow worth something one day. I wonder (departure) if there is more 'footage' to be incorporated that wasn't yet ready for the debut, and is continuing to be worked on to be added later? It seemed odd Bjorn went away after the first couple lines of Does Your Mother Know, and they also just kinda blipped out for Mamma Mia (but, man, that went down amazingly!) The Eagle animation was nice, the ABBA god-head things that came out in the 'sequel' for Voulez-Vous were epic. My bf turned to me and said: "Are they claiming to be Gods?" and I vehemently nodded. Would join that cult.
I LOVED the animation and storyline, especially as their stone heads emerged. The only song I’d swap out in the entire set is Eagle. Was that a big song with the blokes or something?
BLASPHEMY. Eagle is my favourite ABBA song. It’s quite a popular fan favourite and all 4 members are quite fond of it too.
“[Baille Walsh] hints that setlist changes are not just possible, but planned, and the ABBA canon of nearly 100 songs means it could run and run.” https://www.wallpaper.com/technology/abba-voyage-director-baillie-walsh-interview/amp
The official programme talks about this, it’s an extremely high resolution screen, with incredible brightness levels. If you have an HDR TV and you have played any of the demos you will notice how 3D the image appears. Perfect blacks go along way to achieve this. My understanding is that it’s as simple as that, you are watching a screen of a rendered concert including the stage where the real lighting matches up perfectly. There is no projection of the Abbatars. However, there is some projection onto the opaque screen and the round screens over the audience, but it’s evident when that takes place. Of course to get all that seamless and matched up with the giant screens at L and R, where the digital camera is whizzing around the digital Abbatars, AND matched to the lighting, and the live music, is the magic which sells the illusion. All this without even considering the quality of the render! I saw it again on Monday, from the £150 seats. Perfect view of everything, front row center. Although having seen it from the floor I’d recommend that option as you feel more immersed, particularly during LAYLOM which is fucking amazing as they are GIANT. I noticed some slight production changes - during the “introduce the band and singers” - they no longer project at the sides. I felt this worked better as the footage was not live, despite it looking like it was. I plan to go again, it’s that good. I was teary all over again. Magic. If you're interested in a little more explanation - there's a good article here - https://www.musicradar.com/features/abba-voyage-how-does-it-work
This surprises me considering that it as Don’t Shut Me Down was the one that resonated with the GP. If I recall, in almost all of the territories in which in charted- it had sold more than ‘… Faith’. Of course both of the tracks are equally beautiful in their own way and are going to be bonafide ABBA classic for decades to come!
Oh it’s stunning! I remember hearing the harmonies for the first and feeling very emotional. It was so good to have them back. Still is!
