ABBA chose to hold their ABBA Voyage concert series in London as they wanted to stick by the UK in the wake of Brexit, the show’s producer has revealed.
Svana Gisla said that the band, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus, made an “emotional choice more than a commercial choice” to stage it in the capital.
As reported by the Mirror, Gisla spoke during a DCMS select committee in Parliament, and said: “There were a lot of companies leaving, there was a lot of uncertainty about the UK at the time and it was ABBA themselves that decided, ‘No, we want to come in. They might be leaving, but we want to come in’, because ABBA has been incredibly much-loved in the UK.”
She added that the group held a special place in their heart for the UK having lived in the country for “a period of their lives” and knew that London was the only choice for the ground-breaking arena series.
“They love London very much and it very quickly just became the only option,” she explained.
The producer also revealed that it is the band’s “ambition” to eventually take the show around the world to places such as Las Vegas which she branded an “obvious place” as well as Germany which is a “very big market for ABBA”.
She continued: “Our ambition is very much to do another ABBA Voyage, let’s say in North America, or Australasia or we could do another one in Europe. We can now duplicate the arena and the show, but it is a heavy commercial venture at the moment.”
The show takes place at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Seating 3,000, the concert takes the form of a hologram show, with audiences watching avatars of the band strut their stuff around the stage.
The vocals, which were recorded in advance by the band, accompany the ABBA-tars, who were created with George Lucas’ studio Industrial Light & Magic.
Since premiering in May, the show has earned rave reviews with tickets on sale for all of next year, up to the end of November.
