ABBA premiered their highly-anticipated digital concert tour, ‘Voyage’ today (May 26). View official photos from the event below.
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The concert, which took place at ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, marked the first time in 36 years Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus were seen as a group together in public.
Speaking to NME on the red carpet during the opening night of their ‘Voyage’ residency, Lyngstad told NME “It feels fantastic” to be at the premiere. “Really looking forward to seeing the show again. I’ve seen it once on Monday evening, and it’s just that feeling, you want to see it again and again because there are so many details you can’t comprehend by just seeing it once.”
Many attendees took to social media to react to the lifelike concert event. “I was prepared to be cynical,” one fan wrote. “But the Abba Voyage show blew me away. Can’t work [out how] they did it, but it felt like a real concert. Amazing, amazing stuff. And a little curtain call at the end. So touching.”
“I don’t wish to swear, but ABBA looking f*cking STUNNING!!” another attendee said. “Iconic superstars looking every bit as effortlessly classic as they should!”
“In case you were wondering, ABBA ‘Voyage’ is the greatest show on earth,” actor Matt Lucas said. “My jaw hit the floor the moment it began and it’s still down there.” View more reactions below.
In case you were wondering, #ABBAVoyage is the greatest show on earth. My jaw hit the floor the moment it began and it’s still down there. https://t.co/33L7PX8Dok
— Matt Lucas (@RealMattLucas) May 26, 2022
I don't know what's real anymore. #ABBAVoyage
— AndrewTrendell (@AndrewTrendell) May 26, 2022
I AM ACTUALLY CRYING #ABBAvoyage pic.twitter.com/EEf5cNGAHu
— Grace🦋 (@LilEmBlunt) May 26, 2022
ABBA came, saw and made the world a better place — once again 🙏🏻🙌🏻🥺😍🥰💛💙 #ThankYouABBA #ThankYouForTheMusic #ABBAVoyage https://t.co/sZLQVRgC1h
— e s z t e r | Cory Ellison's protector (@bunnyfrid) May 26, 2022
Meanwhile, Ulvaeus told us it was “a bit surreal” to see the digital, disco era versions of themselves on stage at first, “but, you get used to it.” He added: “After all, we’ve seen ourselves in pictures and videos from the time almost every day for 40 years.”
After the show, the band came out for an official curtain call. Earlier today, when asked if the concert was a parting gift from the band, Ulvaeus told NME, “I think this is it. It’s sad to say that but then again, you can always take it back, can’t you? So the answer is, it could be yes, it could be no.”
Andersson had a similar response when asked if the concert series would be the end for the Swedish band, joking: “This is what you’ll see, this is what you’ll get. Then we’ll go home and we’ll sleep.”
The ultimate curtain call ❤️ pic.twitter.com/xuB58Z87yh
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) May 26, 2022
Last September the creators of ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ spoke to NME about the creation of the concert, the chemistry of the band and how long it’s expected to run for.
Producer Svana Gisla said: “We don’t want to give all the surprises away because we want everyone to come and enjoy it, but there will be lots of hidden surprises, hopefully a bit of stage banter and 100 minutes of pure ABBA euphoria to be part of in this arena that someone had the brilliant idea of them building in the middle of a pandemic and Brexit.
“People talk about ‘immersive experiences’ a lot, but I don’t think that phrase has ever been truly delivered. I hope that when you stand in that arena, within everything that we’ve created specifically to give you that experience, you’ll go, ‘Ah, that’s what it really means’. The audio, the visuals, everything is 360 and there will just be ABBA in the air.”
ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ is in support of the band’s album of the same name, which was released last November. Read the NME review here.