After weeks of frenzied speculation, the ABBA Arena in East London reopened last night with a star-studded party to celebrate the third anniversary of the ground-breaking show.
There may be state-of-the-art digital ‘ABBAtars’ of the four members of the Swedish supergroup – Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvæus and Agnetha Fältskog – up on stage during the show, but two of them were also actually there in the audience to join in the festivities.
Before the newly-extended show, with an extra ten minutes of material, started, the spotlights swung to one of the VIP booths. In recent years, the two men have been the public voice of the band while the ladies have often preferred to step back from the limelight, but this time Benny handed the microphone to an adorably reticent Frida.
Frida said: “They want me to say something. The only thing I can say is that I love you very much. Thank you for your support over the years. It’s hard to imagine that it’s 50 years now.”
As many in the crowd called out that they loved her back, the visibly emotional Swedish icon shouted out: “I’m turning 80 this year! I love you. Thank you.”
Both stars waved and smiled at the cheering crowd before the lights dimmed and the magical strains of Scandinavian folk music announced the show was starting, over an animated video of Swedish forests.
The other excitement of the night for all of us lucky to be there was waiting to see which three new songs would be added to the playlist.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH BENNY AND FRIDA AT ABBA VOYAGE LIVE
There has been widespread sadness over the decision to remove a well-loved but lesser-known track, When all Is Said And Done, from the line-up but it has given way for three absolutely massive hits.
I was there last night and all three were greeted with huge cheers, with two of them getting all of us on our feet dancing and singing along.
The 90-minute show has been extended to 100 minutes with the addition of Super Trouper, The Name Of The Game and Money, Money, Money. All three have brand-new staging. While some tracks during the show simply have the band ABBAtars projected onto screens, the new numbers all have the motion-captured ABBAtars performing on the stage, backed with extraordinary and frankly jaw-dropping stadium light shows.
Every Dancing Queen in the crowd went home very happy after a triumphant celebration topped by the three brilliant new additions.
ABBA VOYAGE IS PLAYING AT THE ABBA ARENA AT QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK