ABBA Voyage Concert Experience

Can something so problematic deserve a high rating?

Let's look at the problems:

- It was ticketed by Ticketmaster rather than an in-house system, so the booking fees are excessive, the IT poor and the customer service woeful. (How this outfit was not sued out of existence after the 2012 Olympics ticketing debacle, I don't know.)

- On arrival, the labelling of the two entrances bore no relation to the entrance description on my virtual ticket.

- Despite arriving twenty minutes before the 19:45 start, there were huge queues and we were not inside until 19:52, with the start delayed until 19:57. There were simply not enough staff doing the bag and body searches

- A small, paperback, non-glossy programme with little interesting content was priced at £15 and would be over-priced at £5.

- The hype about "3D" and "Abbatars" is all marketing BS. What you're getting is a giant 2D screen: there is nothing three-dimensional about the appearance of the Abba members. You're essentially watching a 92-minute movie in front of which a seven-piece band and three singers pop up occasionally.

- The show's pricing is double what would be reasonable.

- The seated area is some way back from the screen. You will see everything unobstructed, but it will not be immersive. The crowd here stood only for a few numbers towards the end. If you are able to stand, you would be mad not to go for the general admission area. The view here is good, even for shorter people, and it's not too squashed as it can be at some venues.

- The running time is far too short. The decision not to run this like a regular gig with two halves of at least an hour each, plus an interval, seemed strange, as was the decision to have just one song as the encore. I presume it's about throughput, and, once local residents and the local authority have been satisfied on noise issues, the organisers can step up to two shows a night.

So what of the technology? It appeared to be the same as what I was wowed by in January at Universal Studios in Orlando at The Bourne Stuntacular: - At its heart is an expansive, ultra-high-definition tv screen with very high dynamic range, i.e. pure blacks and very bright whites. When a real crowd of actors gathered in front of a crowd on the televised screen, it was difficult at first to see who was real and who was virtual. (Pause the video at 9:46 to see what I mean.)  Universal take the whole thing to another level by having scenery and action that moves on the stage in sync with the motion picture. As I'm a techie geek, it was the highlight of my theme park visits.

I hadn't expected the same technology to be in play in East London, but here it was, and it worked just as well. The show uses thirteen floor-to-ceiling screens: one large one spanning the rear wall of the stage with slightly curved ends, and six narrow ones, each about 3m wide, that run down the left wall and a further six down the right. These thinner panels are movable and sometimes space out with equally-sized gaps between them and sometimes join together to form one continuous screen wrapping around the stage. At other times, various cloth screens drop down from the ceiling for conventional rear or front projection on to them.

When the images of the youthful Abba members first appear out of the dark, they genuinely look real, and it takes quite some staring to see that it's only a screen. Technological curiosity sated, I was then able to suspend disbelief, go with the flow, pretend it was real, and enjoy the spectacle. To be able to do that is key to whether you'll have a good time.

The real band first appear a few songs in, rising at stage right, and the three singers among them proceed to dance around the full stage. The handover of the soundtrack from the Abbatars to the band at that point is deliberately clunky, presumably so the audience can appreciate the switch from the recorded music to the live. This made me suspicious of how much of the soundtrack in the five-or-so subsequent tracks on which the band appear is live or mimed, as the blending was invisible. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that it was all entirely or mainly pre-recorded.

But, no matter, it wasn't them we'd come to see. We were here for Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid, or at least their 1980s selves. And what a magical fun encounter it was. This is as close to being transported back in time as you will get.

The lighting design is breath-taking, with the auditorium lighting blending almost seamlessly with the virtual on-screen lighting. The sound design is second to none: there's crystal clarity even though the volume has been ratcheted to have plenty of oomph.

Despite all the issues, I had a broad grin on my face throughout the show, once it started. I danced. I sang. It was great fun. I even rebelliously took some pictures and videos. <WAITS FOR ADMONISHMENT> It would be churlish to downrate it.

Five stars.

Show: 19:57-21:29

Yes they have matinées twice a week I believe. I went to a Saturday matinee the week it opened.

Are you doing Jeremy Jordan in the evening? That would make a great day.

Oops! My post was rather badly worded but in hindsight it's rather a nice thought.

I only realised how much ‘Super Trooper’ was missed when watching ‘Mamma Mia’ on Friday. It would have made a much better encore than the existing one (which IMHO should be much earlier in the set).

You pay for the whole dance booth so you will only be with people in your group. No mixing of groups

www.ticketmaster.co.uk/abba-voyage#tickets

If you open the link and scroll down to ticket types and use the arrow to call up the details on dance booths you will see you can book single seats or any number up to the whole booth.
Not been in one but speaking to people post show who had did say they were special and everyone could stand at the front for viewing the show but as booths are 10 to 12 people it's likely you will be in mixed group.
At £153 a ticket they are just below the premium block c prices of £160, almost certainly better if you are sharing with people you know but on the while the ABBA voyage crowd have been a social bunch.

pianowithsam, this is where I sat 

SECTION    BL F

ROW   E

SEAT  7

and my view was fine.

The size of the screen and the clarity of the ABBAtars, I challenge any seat to be bad.

Hope this helps

Can someone tell me how long the show lasts please? I've seen messages saying it needed to be about 15 mins longer, but I can't see an actual running time anywhere? Many thanks

Found it - thank you!