REVIEW: ABBA Voyage - a concert like no other
Consider this your official sign to book your ABBA Voyage tickets xoxo
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Three years after ABBA Voyage took London by storm with its purpose built venue and groundbreaking technology, it remains a triumphant and genuinely one of a kind concert experience. The idea of seeing ABBA back on stage as their younger digital selves blew everyoneâs minds in 2022 especially mine and here in 2026 these ABBAtars are still serving!
I remember that day in September 2021 (basically last week in my head) when the livestream from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park finally confirmed the rumours, the virtual ABBA shows were officially coming to London! ABBA had first revealed they were working on digital avatars (later to be known as ABBAtars) alllll the way back in 2017, so this felt like a moment.
And as if that wasnât enough excitement for one day, they also announced their ninth and final studio album, Voyage arriving in November 2021. Their first new material in forty years! It was genuinely a thrilling time to be alive. You honestly had to be there. (And you probably wereâŚ.unless youâre like two years old then in which case, fair enough).
I thank my mum and dad and ABBA (of course) for the music! I grew up listening to ABBA, and their music still puts me in the best mood ever. Now that Iâm older and more wise (wow I think that's the first time I've ever called myself wise eeeep), I appreciate even more how those irresistible pop hooks are layered over some very adult and relatable themes like desperation, heartbreak and divorce, basically the messy emotional stuff. That contrast between pure joy and quiet sadness is what I think makes them timeless. And of course I adore the Mamma Mia! films and the musical.
I still canât believe Iâve been to Stockholm twice and didnât go to the ABBA Museum. I clearly need to plan a third visit and make it my first stop next time. Also just to say.âŚI donât think I could fully trust someone who doesnât like ABBA or Mamma Mia!
ABBA Voyage is truly unlike anything youâll ever experience, I pinky promise. Actual real life musicians perform live alongside digital versions of ABBA, creating a mind blowing hybrid show the group helped design themselves. Youâve never seen ABBA, or any concert, quite like it. The scale is wild. Over five weeks 1,000 animators transformed Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson and BjĂśrn Ulvaeus into cutting edge digital ABBAtars with visual wizardry from. ABBA Voyage genuinely has to be seen to be believed, there's no words that will do it justice about how epic and otherworldly it is.
Yesterday I got to go to the ABBA Arena on Pudding Mill Lane for the third time in my silly life because it's honestly mind blowingly (I'm not sure if blowingly is an actual word eeep) good and the whole experience just gives me a boosted lust for life and injects pure joy straight into my soul which is needed especially during the longest month ever aka January. Even stepping into the arena before the actual show is a full sensory overloadâŚ.in the absolute best way!
The ABBAtars are like celestial beings dropped in from another dimension, shimmering across a 65 metre screen. I have to admit the ultra smooth skin and perfectly flowing hair does feel a tiny bit weird at first although I'd want my ABBA-tar to make me look perf too, you adjust so quickly and if you claim you don't then Iâm side eyeing you.đ
Even with an ADHD brain though, it's impossible to look away. I just can't get over that they're not real, I always try and look through them but you can't see through them and the moment you realise youâre actually seeing ABBA and feeling that rush of pure happiness, any weirdness just disappears. It honestly does feel like the Swedish icons are right there with you in the ABBA Arena! It's wild.
The show launches with the criminally slept on The Visitors and Hole in Your Soul before diving head first into the massive crowd-pleasers of course, even the ones Gen-Z will recognise. I won't spill anymore of the setlist for you although I have curated a playlist for the official Scene HQ Spotify account HERE just in case you need to know like right now!
ABBA take the stage with an actual real life 10 piece band, put together with guidance from Klaxons legend James Righton and featuring Little Boots on keys. Matthieu Debayâs laser soaked lighting turns the room into a futuristic disco rave and when ABBA vanish temporarily, Shynolaâs animated shorts pick up the Voyage story with a lone hero chasing their myth which is really moving actually.
I mean sure, there are a few noticeable absences in the setlist especially if you're a hardcore ABBA fan but they have too many good songs! Iâm obviously planning my fourth visit by the way. I even met a woman yesterday who told me it was her 33rd show, goals. Once again, ABBA, now proud septuagenarians are redefining what live music can be, far beyond anything they couldâve imagined back when they won Eurovision in 1974 in....Brighton!
Fun fact if you didn't know but hopefully you do: In April 2024 (so basically last week) a blue plaque was installed outside the Brighton Dome in Church Street celebrating ABBAâs win of the 19th Eurovision Song Contest which was almost 52 years ago now. WILD.
I still canât get over that it all happened at the Brighton Dome which is one of my favourite venues in Brighton buttttt it's so small compared to the arenas Eurovision is held in now, wild. Their Brighton win catapulted them into global superstardom and changed the course of pop music forever.
Also, another fun fact: the Brighton Dome has a dressing room named Waterloo named after ABBA's Eurovision winner song. Iconic, right?! With the flat pack, purpose built ABBA Arena designed to travel the world, this show could live on foreverrr and I hope it does but why wait?! Weâre super lucky to have ABBA Voyage in London right now, and honestly you should book tickets ASAP even if youâre a casual ABBA fan, you must go. If you love live music, you owe it to yourself to book tickets and if you have even the slightest fascination with technology, itâs non negotiable. This is a bucket list, once in a lifetime spectacle youâll look back on and thank yourself for witnessingâŚ.or regret forever if you donât.âââââ
@abbavoyage Summer 2026 plans loading... ⳠBooking through June 2026, visit ABBAVoyage.com to get your tickets. #ABBA #ABBAVoyage ⏠Lay All Your Love On Me - ABBA
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