Star Ratings for Voyage Concert

As amazing as it is, it is the first of its kind, so as technology refines the show and humanises the ABBAtars even more, and when the setlist is tweaked or (hopefully) expanded, I could definitely give 5 stars in future, instead of the 4 and a half. If the 2 animations stay, that's fine, but it needs balancing with an extra couple of ABBAtar performances. Add 2 or 3 of the following and it is pretty close to perfection; TACOM, TNOTG, ST, Angeleyes, MMM or IIWFTN.

There's not a lot that I could add , the above comments have said it all.
It's a world innovation, and was / is amazing on first seeing, ( interesting to hear what people say after multiple visits) ,
Therefore I give it 4.5 , I'd like the animation part removed if being honest, no need as concert not that long, I didn't want to miss a thing... so really didn't need that to go to the toilet....
Tweaks yes.. I'd love to see the band have free range, to keep it fresh for them...

Would I go again, of course, preferably after a set change.....

4.5 for me only because I am very picky with song choice.

But a phenomenal concert nevertheless.

I've just had an email from a company called 'Culture Insights' asking me to give my preference on 2 potential 30 second TV adverts for the Voyage concert, so it looks like there's going to be a fresh promotional push soon. The 1st was very similar to the 30 second promo that's been around for a couple of years, but a slightly different soundtrack (the same songs though) and the 2nd was a lot more close-ups of the Abbatars, as per the new posters of the 4 ABBA members.

If I were to tweak the set list I would remove the two cartoons.One might be tolerable though.
As Lady Bracknell might have said "To use one cartoon is quirky to use two is downright weird"

You also have 3 songs in a row that are relatively unknown and get a muted response from the audience.

I would after When All is Said and Done inject the left out big hits say Money Money Money or Super Trouper followed by Take a Chance On Me. Then have Don't Shut Me Down and I Still Have Faith in You.

Waterloo needs a proper ABBAtars performance.

The opening 2 sonngs are less well known too of course but work well. The Visitors fits in with a sense of "what have we got here?" and Hole in Your Soul is the boppy sort of tune that casual fans love.

The strings of big hits such as SOS, Mamma Mia and crowd favourite Chiquitita are brilliamt as is the Tron sequence from Lay All Your Love On Me, Summer Night City and Gimme Gimne Gimme.

The finale with Dancing Queen and The Winner Takes it All is also a high point. I didn't think The Winner Takes it All would be a good closing song - and ABBA hasn't a good track record with choirs but it works well.

In short, brilliant but cut the cartoons and inject a couple of biggies between WAISAD and DSMD.

I think that one cartoon might work well for an overture before the ABBAtars take to the stage. While, thematically, a cartoon could work for a song like Eagle, I didn't feel that the live execution of the track was particularly fantastic. Voulez-Vous needs a zesty performance - the song really got the crowd going the night I was there.

Expanding the setlist would be a great move. If they wanted to inject, say, Hit By A Train into the set, then doing it along with three of their biggest and most iconic hits would greatly boost the overall energy of the show. Creating an ABBAtar video for the new song would help improve the recognition factor. And if (as some people seem to be excitedly theorising) the ABBAtars performed it at Eurovision, the second anniversary would be the ideal moment to unleash the updated show.

On the other hand, the London residency might be approaching its end? No tickets available beyond 5 January. So will they keep all the new bells and whistles as a lure for the new location(s)? As much as I loved the show, I'm not sure I'd have the wherewithal to haul ass to Vegas for a couple of new numbers...

Totally agree: this show is so popular that keeping it running makes great business sense. It's highly possible that I could have misread something, but I thought that the lifespan of the Pudding Lane location was at the mercy of the local council; that the land was earmarked for housing? January 2025 is still a year ahead of the 2026 end-date loosely mentioned when the project was unveiled, so maybe they're trying to ensure that all currently available dates are close to being sold out before they release new dates. I wonder if sales have started to slow a bit, now that so many people have seen the show?

If the ABBAtars somehow make an appearance at Eurovision, it should give sales a huge boost.

I agree. Actually, I like the piece of "Skallgång", but not as ABBA music. I don't know, if it was chosen as an opener aeqivalent to the Gammal Fädpodspsalm, but it doesn't have the same effect.

I seem to recall some titles being mentioned, but can’t remember what they were. The dismissal of Money Money Money was done without much explanation by Benny, other that it wouldn’t work (no reason given as to why not). Also it was left ambiguous as to whether the 24 songs included the ones already in the show that don’t have ABBATar performances (as we know, only 16 of the current 20 do).

As much as I loved the whole " Voyage " experience if another opportunity arose and I was lucky enough to see the show again I would welcome a couple of set list changes. " If It Wasn't For The Nights " would be a contender along with " The Name Of The Game ". Both " The Visitors " and " Hole In Your Soul " should remain as they are. I would place " The Winner Takes It All " in running order preceding " Dancing Queen " ( as much as I love both ). I think that would work better. The mighty " Tiger " is worthy of an inclusion. After the sequence of " SOS ", " Knowing Me Knowing You ", " Chiquitita " and " Fernando " to coax the audience into dancing both " Take A Chance On Me " and " Super Trouper " would fit in well following " Mamma Mia " replacing " Does Your Mother Know "and sacrificing " When All Is Said And Done " as much as it pains me in doing so. The disco segue to remain exactly as it is. One of the concert's highlights. Maybe substituting the animation for " Voulez-Vous ". Also, I would love " Eagle " to stay in the show ( one of my ABBA faves ) preferably in the guise of an ABBAtar performance rather than a cartoon. To muster a festive celebration around Christmas " Happy New Year " substituting " Thank You For The Music ". This is my dream set list,

The Visitors
Hole In Your Soul
Tiger
SOS
Knowing Me Knowing You
Chiquitita
Fernando
Mamma Mia
Take A Chance On Me
Super Trouper
The Name Of The Game
Eagle
Lay All Your Love On Me
Summer Night City
Voulez-Vous
Gimme Gimme Gimme ( A Man After Midnight )
I Still Have Faith In You
Don't Shut Me Down
Happy New Year ( Christmas performances )/ Thank You For The Music ( otherwise )
Waterloo
If It Wasn't For The Nights
The Winner Takes It All
Dancing Queen

I understand my dream concert wish set list will never happen because it is way too long but a few alterations for future " Voyage " shows are possible.

Benny has always maintained that when they toured, they should always have something new to perform, hence GGG in 1979 and ISHFIY/DSMD in 2022. By the time the Voyage concert goes to a different venue, the songs from the Voyage album will have been out for the world to hear for at least 4 or 5 years, so I definitely think there's a plan to release Hit By A Train and add it to the concert. We know it's uptempo from what Victoria Hesketh has said, so if it was so terrible that ABBA had decided to NEVER release it, why would Benny have played it to her? And if the 2 unreleased songs had been discarded due to the 2 A's possibly not liking them, why would Benny say that they are "sort of good stuff....but need some more work from me"? That means the vocals are recorded, at least.

I don’t think he actually said “more work from me” did he? I thought he just said they were “quite good but needed more work”. I think in a previous discussion on here we may have speculated that he meant just him but that wasn’t actually said.

The full quote from Benny was " It's sort of good stuff, but not really finished. It takes more work, for me at least, in the studio".

Thanks for that Alan. I posted my views twice as there was a mistake in the first one. A very slight mistake.