Introducing ABBA Voyage – extraordinary new Concert

Introducing ABBA Voyage – extraordinary new Concert. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

Experience ABBA on stage in a concert like no other, a concert 40 years in the making ABBA Voyage has been presented to the public yesterday in London. This is a real live experience, a concert of ABBA, featuring a setlist of hit songs, but… performed by avatars of Agnetha Fältskog, Anni‑Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson, accompanied by a 10-piece live band, at the custom-built ABBA Arena in London.

Concert composed by 20 songs, 10 live musicians. ABBA Avatars are not holograms—but digital avatars created by using light technology. The concert created by using performance capture of the real ABBA singers, and combined with archival footage. The songs recorded by the ABBA and performed by avatars projected on an invisible screen and accompanied by a live band.

Agnetha Fältskog avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Agnetha Fältskog avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Agnetha Fältskog avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Agnetha Fältskog avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Anni‑Frid Lyngstad avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Anni‑Frid Lyngstad avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Björn Ulvaeus avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Björn Ulvaeus avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Benny Andersson avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Benny Andersson avatar for ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE

ABBA Avatars dressed by the designers of today: Costume designer Åkerlund, Manish Arora, Erevos Aether, Michael Schmidt and many others. There are 20 costume created for ABBA Voyage performance. Sketches were approved by ABBA, physical garments were created, and then scanned. ABBA performed the concert in green suits, and so it is their movement what public see during the concert.

ABBA’s breath-taking arena delivers the perfect setting for ABBA Voyage. Located at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, the arena is custom-built for ABBA’s never before-seen concert.

ABBA Voyage is the long-awaited concert from one of the biggest pop acts of all time featuring a setlist of ABBA’s biggest, most popular hits.

Experience a concert like no other

Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid have created the kind of concert they always wanted, performing for their fans at their very best: as digital versions of themselves backed by today’s finest musicians. The concert lasts for approximately 90 minutes.

Blurring the lines between the physical and digital, the magic of ABBA brought to life using the latest in motion capture technology.

Avatars of Agnetha, Anni‑Frid, Björn and Andersson - ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
Avatars of Agnetha, Anni‑Frid, Björn and Andersson – ABBA Voyage RUNWAY MAGAZINE
ABBA Voyage avatars Runway Magazine
ABBA Voyage avatars Runway Magazine
ABBA Voyage avatars Runway Magazine
ABBA Voyage avatars Runway Magazine
ABBA Voyage creating avatars by real ABBA Runway Magazine)
ABBA Voyage creating avatars by real ABBA Runway Magazine)

It’s the greatest ABBA performance the world has never seen. Until now.

For the premiere Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid came to see the fascinated public. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni‑Frid Lyngstad for this occasion were dressed by Fendi (Creative Director Kim Jones).

LIGHTING – Connecting the physical to the digital

For the last 2 years ABBA was orchestrating the spectacular lighting for the concert. With 30,000 individually controllable light points and 500 moving lights, the lighting links the real and virtual world.

10 million computing hours were needed to create ABBA Voyage. 870,000 watts of audio amplification, 30,000 individually controllable light points, 3,000 capacity in the ABBA Arena. 1,000 people at Industrial Light & Magic worked on creating the ABBA Avatars, 500 moving lights, 291 speakers, 160 cameras were used to film ABBA with an 85 person crew.

ABBA Voyage Concert Premiere 2022 by Runway Magazine
ABBA Voyage Concert Premiere 2022 by Runway Magazine

A great collective adventure that is being written with a fantastic team composed by top European and American studios:

  • Tetro Agency (France),
  • Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (USA), creaters of special effect for Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurasic Parc, Iron Man and 450 other motion pictures,
  • GREEN WALL DESIGNS x Fredrik Stormby and his team,
  • LaserAnimation Sollinger GmbH x Michael Sollinger and his team,
  • tarm Showlaser GmbH / Laser & SFX x Ralf Lottig and his team,
  • WHITEvoid x Christopher Bauder ans his team.

“We are very happy to be part of this magnificient creative adventure that will offer happiness to many spectators! May it lgiht up your eyes!” – said Matthieu Debay, Lighting Producer, TETRO.

TETRO is honored to be part of this extraordinary adventure with the Director Baillie Walsh, Tetro, was the manager of the artistic lighting direction of this unique show.

Photo Courtesy: ABBA Voyage, Tetro Agency, ANIARA, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni‑Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson



Posted from City of Westminster, Covent Garden, United Kingdom.