By train, it takes 1 hour 10 minutes from Heathrow airport station to Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. It takes 49 minutes from Heathrow to Covent Garden by train.
That seems an awfully long time!
Its been a long time since I spent any time in London so I'm very rusty with directions. I hope it all comes flooding back to me. I'll be getting the train to Euston and winging it from there. Björn's video directing us to Voyage was not helpful to me nor any of the directions from fans. I reckon I'll just end up following anyone wearing an ABBA T-shirt!
It's dreadful having a terrible sense of direction. I have to go somewhere multiple times for it to be drummed into my brain.
By train, it takes 1 hour 10 minutes from Heathrow airport station to Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. It takes 49 minutes from Heathrow to Covent Garden by train.
That seems an awfully long time!
Its been a long time since I spent any time in London so I'm very rusty with directions. I hope it all comes flooding back to me. I'll be getting the train to Euston and winging it from there. Björn's video directing us to Voyage was not helpful to me nor any of the directions from fans. I reckon I'll just end up following anyone wearing an ABBA T-shirt!
It's dreadful having a terrible sense of direction. I have to go somewhere multiple times for it to be drummed into my brain.
It’s about 30 minutes from Euston Square station to Pudding Mill Lane station
I have to hand it to them, joseph, the concept is really good. Sure, the execution is dodgy but can you imagine how the George Luca team could really bring this to life? If these people can create a Frida who wears the clothes from the album cover and her SGO haircut, then the FridaTar can get a computer-generated spiky hairdo too.
There's a fan-made video out there. It's years old. It borrows footage from Eurythmics' Beethoven video to brilliant effect and the only pictures of ABBA are from the album cover. There's a couple of brief stock-footage clips of dimly lit scientific equipment here and there. It shouldn't work, but IMO it puts some of the official lyric videos to shame.
joseph ,I am useless too at directions. Anyway, I have found this which is very useful. Tube from Euston to Bank station. Get the DLR. Change at Poplar and continue to Pudding Mill Lane. ABBA Arena is opposite station. This is the route I will take. I start at King's Cross/St Pancras the station after Euston.
HOMETIME , I am familair with that The Visitors video. It's great. There's a few for songs from that album. I Let the music Speak and Soldiers are good too
I think RJS, who did those videos, used to rarely occasionally post to this forum. Fantastic imagination, and done, I assume, without anything like the resources available to ABBA.
Jon - couldn't you have got the DLR to Pudding Mill Line? My understanding is that it is opposite the venue.
I am not that familar with Stratford (I was at the Olympics but that was 10 years ago)
I live near London. I might pop in for a mouch around the area before I go.
That is an option but would take a bit longer as I board train at ebbsfleet (Kent) and then its only a 10 mins journey to Stratford Int station, now I know where its located it should be ok going forward.
Thanks for those tips, Sindy and Johnny, very useful! I think I'm needless panicking at the thought of getting lost or something. Ridiculous, really. I just need to calm down and accept it'll probably be a stressful journey but it'll be worth it. I actually could've gone to Voyage by now if I hadn't faffed about so much. I must be one of the very few on here who hasn't already been! I'm ITCHING to see it, especially since I've not read one bad review of it. I had a friend who said he'd go with me but was insistent he wouldn't do a matinee (wtf?!) so I binned him off- imagine making stipulations to me when I'm the bigger fan of the two of us who has waited a lifetime to see this. There are other friends who have offered to accompany me and a dear sister but family constraints, etc. In all probability I'll go on my own which may well turn out to be an amazing adventure in which I'll also make new pals! You never know. It would be fantastic to meet other fans (besides the casual ones I know in my everyday life).
joseph, you don't need to worry at all. I think London is very easy to navigate through, despite the British habit of changing the street's name at every little bend Stratford is not an attractive place, but the ABBA Arena is not difficult to find. Go ahead, it's worth some effort!
Maybe it doesn't belong here but I listened to The Visitors album today and I realised that the title song has a completely new emotional impact on me now, since I saw the Voyage show. I couldn't help but imagine the avatars of Agnetha and Frida in their phoenix costumes performing it. It is such a great opening number and beautifully choreographed! I suddenly felt strong urge to see the show again, just for that one song. It even made me tentatively search for airplane tickets to London and I found one for less than €1 - sooo tempting
Michal, it's not so much the navigating my way around London that's the issue (after all, I've been many, many times) it's the crowds of people and feeling overwhelmed. As I've gotten older I'm less confident than I once was and social situations easily overwhelm me. No idea how I'll cope in the arena but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
But thanks for the encouragement! I'm sure I'll have a fantastic time when I eventually go.
You will surely have a fantastic time! I misunderstood, I thought you were talking about being afraid of getting lost or something. I don't like crowded places either but there were no crowds in London, except for the tube. Prague is much worse And it's not much of a problem even in the ABBA Arena. Even the dancefloor gives you enough space and there's no pushing. And if you choose a seat, you don't need to worry at all
I just saw about the Set List. Excluding the intro and outro, 20 songs - which we knew about. But four are videos. Plus I read somewhere Does Your Mother Know starts off with "Bjorn" but the band then takes over.
Actually 5 videos, the 2 so-called 'rora' animations Eagle and Voulez Vous and 3 more videos LAYLOM, Waterloo and Knowing Me Knowing You. So a quarter of the songs not Abbatar performances.
Given the choice, I wonder if most ABBA fans would now prefer this Voyage show of techno-realised ABBA rather than filmed videos of the real ABBA in their heyday, even if they had done videos for The Visitors, Angeleyes, etc back in the day? (I appreciate that Angeleyes isn't in the Voyage show, but you get my drift).The vibe of being at the show with others must be a big plus.
Do we run the risk of blinding ourselves to the woods by staring too hard at the trees? The videos for KMKY and LAYLOM are the only ones I've seen (courtesy of online leaks) and I thought they were sensational. Although I've yet to see the show, I have a feeling that the videos ramp up the immersive feel of the show. It looks like the giant images almost surround the audience. And even if they are "videos," the lip-synchs were still performed by ABBA. Given that they are sharply shot performances of the songs, I suppose it might be possible to replace these videos with performances in due course - with a couple of different songs recreated as videos for variety? Just me speculating after too much coffee. I just hope they'll have engineered enough new performances - including VV and Eagle - to replace those forest creature videos.
I absolutely understand the appetite for a show consisting entirely of "live" performances. But if such a show were to be a true reflection of ABBA's onstage performances of the past, it could become a more difficult show to sell. ABBA weren't exactly known for the laser-precise choreography and pyrotechnics that characterise so many modern concerts. Audiences now expect so much more from live shows than we got back in the olden times of yore. And if Voyage was a series of heavily choreographed performances, I think it'd feel much less like an ABBA experience. I recently watched the DVD of the 1979 concerts: I have to say that I'd hate that show to have been xeroxed with fancy new clothes.
Something tells me that the boffins continue to tinker with the show. Maybe they'll find a way of meshing the video effects with onstage performances for all of the songs. That might leave the original videos available for release on DVD....?
From someone who has seen the show and is going again, KMKY AND LAYLOM are done so incredibly well so for anyone going to a future show do not be put off by this. As for VV it would be better with the abbatars unless that's something that will be changed/altered in the coming months. There was an earlier post about the way abbatar technology is used in the show so hence why the videos were needed.
As far as I understand,the Video sequences are needed to give the technical Equipment which produces the ABBAtars breaks against overheating - it is not the Lack of ABBAtar Material because as Ludvig stated, there is more ABBAtar Material available.
I also found the KMKY Video and LAYLOM stunning and it adds to the realism of the Show because zhe Videos bridge the time in which the ABBAtare change clothes.
The Manga Videos did not much for me, rdpecially because I thought that the songs didn't fit the storytelling or vice versa. However they provide a well placed climax to relax a bit because otherwise you dance your ass off in this show.
Interestingly, the Waterloo videocollage did strike a chord with the audience - they really went berserk during this sequence...
The LAYLOM Video is a piece of Art in it's own right and with the light Design a more imersive experience than just a static Projection on a screen, especially the change to the next Song with the ABBAtars on stage is mind boggling.
I was especially thrilled that the kinetic lighting and light objects actually were designed by two of my best loved light artists from Berlin. I saw their spectacular "Deep Web" kinetic performance.
Therefore ABBA Voyage is the biggest kinetic Art object of the World in it's own right!
If anyone comes to visit Berlin, I highly recommend to visit their actual project "Dark Matter"
I agree the "videos" included in the show are sensational and work very well. And the transition from LAYLOM and Summer Night City is a jaw-dropping moment. Waterloo would be better performed by the Avatars but it is probably meant as a nostalgia piece and doesn't spoil the show at all. The only moments I would change are the animations. They probably wanted to include a piece of art in the show and maybe give the audience time to relax a bit but it's a wasted time that could be used so much better.
As I have seen the show on the opening night I am so looking forward in where this show can go. The Avatars can be used in so many different ways in the months and years to come. I am holding out on seeing the show again until different songs are added. But looking forward to it all.
Good ticket sales. It looks like the majority of that 650,000 were in the aftermath of the announcement way back last year. Since the end of May, more steady week by week sales. The show seems to be sold out for two months ahead at any given date.
It's a pity this hasn't led to an increase in sales for the Voyage album. But I guess it's expected as there are only two songs in the show and its the Big Hits peoole want.
Glad you enjoyed it. Was the album on sale the show edition vinyl? I’m still angry at myself for that - it wasn’t on sale when I went in May and had sold out from the online store. I therefore paid over the odds for it from eBay, only for it to go on sale at the venue. Oh well.
Was the album on sale the show edition vinyl? I’m still angry at myself for that - it wasn’t on sale when I went in May and had sold out from the online store. I therefore paid over the odds for it from eBay, only for it to go on sale at the venue. Oh well.
Alan, try not to let the anger you're experiencing overwhelm you. At least you were able to acquire the show edition, which is no mean feat. I'd recommend you think romantic thoughts and imagine you're the bumblebee Frida sings about - either pollinating or being pollinated. That should ease your concerns.