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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 23, 2024 18:29:50 GMT
Good question, jas! I would have thought the next tranche would be released by now. Maybe they'll do it around one of the anniversaries - 50th anniversary of Waterloo, or 2nd anniversary of the Voyage show? The Voyage page on Insta has posted this little video and mini interview with Frida from when she was at the show. She is looking absolutely sensational and energetic. Adorable! www.instagram.com/reel/C3sxeEZNHZH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link |
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jas
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Post by jas on Feb 24, 2024 3:10:06 GMT
Good question, jas ! I would have thought the next tranche would be released by now. Maybe they'll do it around one of the anniversaries - 50th anniversary of Waterloo, or 2nd anniversary of the Voyage show? The Voyage page on Insta has posted this little video and mini interview with Frida from when she was at the show. She is looking absolutely sensational and energetic. Adorable! www.instagram.com/reel/C3sxeEZNHZH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkI saw that, doesnt she just looking amazing? Well it looks like the answer came sooner then i thought, looks like tickets are now on sale to January 5th... Mmm decisions decisions  |
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Post by Alan on Feb 24, 2024 10:29:08 GMT
Just watched the footage of Frida at Voyage. That was lovely, almost brought a tear to my eye. Out of all four of them, Frida seems to be the one with the most affection for their legacy. There’s no sense of her doing it out of obligation, everything she does for ABBA is with love and affection (I’m not saying the other three don’t, but with Frida there seems so much warmth).
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Post by bjorenny on Feb 24, 2024 10:53:34 GMT
I agree, Alan. If Benny or Björn watch it again, especially with Ludwig, it may be just for enjoyment, but feels like it's more likely business-motivated. That is fine, but with Frida (and hopefully Agnetha again eventually) it does feel like it is solely for pleasure, and in return gives us fans a massive treat with even the smallest interaction.
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Post by skiing55 on Feb 24, 2024 14:23:24 GMT
Tickets on sale now until the 5th of January 2025
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 24, 2024 19:17:57 GMT
That seems a curiously short period?
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jas
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Post by jas on Feb 25, 2024 21:45:11 GMT
That seems a curiously short period? Yes i thought that too. I`m trying to determine if we come back to UK for Christmas, or wait to see if there's any news of it starting in Australia. I love holidaying in the UK, but our dollar is quite bad against the pound and we only get 50p to the $ so it works out to be an expensive holiday. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 27, 2024 9:35:13 GMT
I hear you! My trip from Dublin did a bit of damage to my wallet - I can only imagine what a trip like yours could do.
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Post by jj on Mar 13, 2024 6:12:36 GMT
Relative to other countries, annual tourist visits to Australia are quite low.
In the year ending September 2023, there were 6.1 million trips to Australia.
The main reasons for tourist visits to Australia are as follows:
1. Visiting friends and relatives with 2.3 million trips. (NB: *trips, NOT individual people, therefore some of these trips include the same person that might visit Australia more than once per year.)
Mostly British and New Zealanders visit their relatives in Australia, as most people who emigrated to Australia are from Britain and New Zealand. British people visiting their relatives in Australia would mostly be people over 50, I would guess. British people don't need to travel to Australia to see Voyage.
2. Holiday travel with 2.3 million trips.
These 2.3 million tourists are people who visit Australia solely for the purpose of pure tourism. These 2.3 million tourists include all nationalities, such as Chinese and other Asian countries' citizens
3. Business travel with 681,000 trips.
4. Education with 406,000 trips.
These are mostly foreign students from Asian countries who come to Australia to study at Universities and colleges. Some of these students return to their home country and come back to Australia more than once each year, so these 406,000 entries do not necessarily represent individual numbers, but also include multiple entries into Australia by the same individuals. E.g., if 20,000 students return to their countries twice in a year, that represents 40,000 trips, or 10% of that crude number of 406,000 "trips".
So how does Australia compare to other countries regarding annual tourist numbers?
Here's the top 10 countries with the most foreign tourists in 2022:
1. France 79.4 million tourists
2. Spain 71.7 million tourists
3. USA 50.9 million tourists 4. Turkey 50.5 million tourists 5. Italy 49.8 million tourists 6. Mexico 38.3 million tourists 7. UK 30.7 million tourists 8. Germany 28.5 million tourists 9. Greece 27.8 million tourists 10. Austria 26.2 million tourists
way down the rankings:
xx. Australia 6.1 million tourists
I would expect that most Chinese tourists to Australia would be the new, moneyed middle class over 60 years of age, considering that younger Chinese people don't have as much disposable income to enable them to travel overseas. I wager that older Chinese people wouldn't know about ABBA, or care about seeing an ABBA show whilst in Australia, preferring instead to be bused around to visit the Sydney Opera House and then out to a petting farm to cuddle a Koala and pat a kangaroo. And then they'd get straight back on a plane to China after their carefully managed, Chinese government-official supervised, one week all-expenses covered cheap tour.
I don't know how far down Australia is in the rankings for international tourism with its 6.1 million annual foreign tourist "trips", but it's safe to say that many Asian countries, like Thailand, Japan, India, China and Indonesia (and for Indonesia, think "mostly Bali") rank much higher than Australia in annual foreign tourist visits.
Australia is one of the longest distances to travel to for most foreign countries' citizens, requiring an expensive air ticket to get there and an expensive stay unless staying with relatives, as most UK tourists to Australia seem to do.
Compared to most countries, Australia has less attractions, and most of these attractions are not easy to access, given the massive size of the country.
Conclusion:
It seems extremely unlikely that Australia's 6.1 million annual overseas tourists (many of these being over the age of 60, plus many of these same being UK citizens visiting relatives who emigrated to Australia) and its middling population size of 26 million could sustain the Voyage show for very long - let alone as a profitable concern - unless Voyage's production and running costs were drastically reduced.
Sources for the above stats:
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Post by tagaytay on Mar 13, 2024 6:53:51 GMT
thanks for the lesson JJ. its nice to read this forum and come out smarter after! Of the top 10 the countries I have not visited are Spain Turkey Greece and Mexico. and I have no immediate plans of visiting unless my work takes me there. London I only started visiting 2022 because of Voyage. I have not visited Australia but maybe I will if they bring Voyage there.
In the Asia Oceania area, Japan had 25M tourists last year, Singapore had 13.6M. so maybe those countries would be a safer financial bet.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 13, 2024 8:11:51 GMT
Wow, jj! Thanks for that. Have to agree with tagaytay that Japan looks like a far more sensible bet. I'm sure there may be other factors and other data folded into the decision-making process, but you have to wonder whether relocating/bilocating at all makes business sense. Could a North American run be cost effective either? |
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Post by jj on Mar 13, 2024 11:57:23 GMT
Regarding the USA and the Voyage shows, I'm not too optimistic Las Vegas, New York or Los Angeles would be such great venues.
Let's start with Las Vegas, which is a city mostly visited by American tourists, I think, because it's almost become part and parcel of what America, and even being American, means to them. It's a fun city (one of only five or six of the most famous American cities) where you spend a couple of nights gambling a little and having drinks, eating out and maybe take in a live show while you're there. It's a small, quirky desert city made famous by celebrities in the 1950s and 60s, like Elvis and the Brat Pack and other crooners who perform there night after night, signing year-long contracts, some of which have now stretched into decades. These singers are part of the woodwork, part of what Las Vegas represents in the popular mind. There's this iconic thing about Las Vegas and its somewhat lurid and tacky neon lit culture that continues to lure Americans and indeed foreign tourists. It's a bucket-list kind of destination. A "You gotta go there at least once before you die" place. You don't go there for museums or art galleries (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles cater to that) or beautiful landscapes (e.g., Yosemite National Park). It's a glitzy nightspot so rooted in how people see this side of American culture that many foreign tourists go there too. (Lufthansa even have direct flights from Munich nowadays!) It's a cultural artifact in itself, one of the many facets of America's image both at home and abroad. A must-see.
I'm sure catching a show by a famous American singer (and I'm stretching that definition to include Canadian artists) figures prominently in a lot of foreign tourists' idea of "must dos" when in Vegas. To see a famous Swedish group, though? A group that appears as electronic avatars, not actually live? Maybe not my first choice if I were American and on my first trip there. I know if I went to Las Vegas, I'd want to make my stay there live up to the mythical idea I've created in my own mind, a totally 100% American experience and keep the whole stay there as wonderfully tacky as Las Vegas is famous for being. I'd want my experience to stay in keeping with what Las Vegas means as a truly American cultural icon. Why would I want to see digital representations of the Swedish band ABBA in Las Vegas, when instead I could sip cocktails while a truly iconic piece of Americana the likes of Wayne Newton, sings live right in front of me, in the flesh, crooning "Danke schoen" for me and my friends, or for me and my girlfriend (who's tarted herself up for the occasion in a hilariously over-the-top glitzy dress and pink boa just to add to the total immersive experience)? Give me ABBA in London or some other European city instead. They don't fit well at all into the Las Vegas mythos. Celine Dion may not fit into it completely, but moreso than ABBA does.
And for domestic (American) tourists, in Las Vegas or any other US city, there's this other thing to consider: ABBA's visual imprint is branded into European and Australian brains over a decades-long constant media presence, especially those people who actually lived then, seeing ABBA evolving from 1974 to 1981 via constant updates on television and in magazines. Europeans have been saturated with ABBA, explicitly as well as subliminally, over the past 50 years. ABBA as a fixture in our culture has existed for a very long time. Not so for Americans. Americans weren't constantly bombarded with ABBA as we were. In fact, they were hardly visible most of their career. The average British person of a certain age is likely to know what song is being referred to just seeing a still from the video of "Take a Chance on Me" or "The Winner Takes it All". Most Americans of the same age probably would not know. Some American fans have said they hardly ever saw ABBA during their career, and not known they had a new album for many months after they were released. It seems to me that ABBA, even when they had a rare song enter the top Billboard Top 10, were, by comparison to Europe and Australia, mostly invisible in America during their career. Imagery and pictures from ABBA's two world tours are embedded in the popular mind of maybe a few generations of Europeans and Australians. Not so for Americans.
This lack of familiarity with the real, physical ABBA among the general public in the USA means that Americans will not have the same sense of wonder seeing the avatars that Europeans and Australians would experience "seeing" ABBA's likenesses appear before them via the magic of technology. Most Americans who went to the Voyage shows might be seeing ABBA, or in this case, digital images of them, for the first time. This hardly makes for an exciting show. Imagine having the option to see a very similar avatar show of a group you were not at all familiar with, visually speaking. Would you be interested in seeing such a show?
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Post by johnny on Mar 13, 2024 14:22:25 GMT
Thanks for that jj.
London was clearly the right choice.
The way I look at it is the population of an area, and the succcess of GOLD.
North/West Europe*
296 million pop
15 million GOLD approx
UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands.
USA
332 million pop
11 million GOLD approx
Japan
127 million pop
0.7 million GOLD
Australia
26m pop
1.2 million GOLD
I don't think Australia or anywhere in Asia is viable.
The USA *could* be viable. I take the point ABBA weren't that big in the 70s but far more popular since 90s with GOLD and the Mamma Mia films.
Any relocation won't happen until all the £140 million production costs AND running costs have been recovered and a healthy profit made. It looks like London for the forseeable future.
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Post by johnny on Mar 13, 2024 14:55:22 GMT
^ I should add, tourists will only be a minority albeit a sizeable minority. If it does switch to the US I imagine most going would be Americans.
I recall reading at the start some 28% of Voyage concert goers were from outside the UK. I would imagine split between people from other parts of Europe and the US. Of course some Australians but because of the distance not so many.
A venue over reliant on foreign tourists is doomed.
Looking at ABBA's 2 biggest European markets.
UK
68 million population
6.3 million sales GOLD
Germany
83 million population
3.0 million sales GOLD approx.
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Post by ttbboo66 on Mar 13, 2024 17:02:31 GMT
The USA *could* be viable. I take the point ABBA weren't that big in the 70s but far more popular since 90s with GOLD and the Mamma Mia films. No, it couldn't. First of all, the US is such a vast, vast country. Where are you going to put it, so that it remains as accessible as it was London? Even if "Gold" has sold 11 million copies - bear in mind that your inflated estimate - it's not that impressive when you consider the countless other artists with albums with similar sales - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_in_the_United_States] - a lot of which are more recent and studio rather than compilation albums. ABBA are just one small fish in a very large ocean. And even with the success of Mamma Mia, a lot of Americans will tell you that Amanda Seyfried was the original singer of "Lay All Your Love On Me", etc. They just aren't that embedded into US culture like they are in Europe. |
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Post by johnny on Mar 14, 2024 11:44:56 GMT
Like I said it *could* be viable.
For sure, the US is geographically vast - and that's primarily why London was chosen - huge UK fanbase and near other European countries.
An American venue *could* be viable if costs weren't high and a bit of reality about how long the show could run.
My estimates for GOLD are not inflated.
In 2002, certified for 6 million. Only half tracked by Soundscan.
Soundscan/Luminate puts GOLD at just over 6.5m sales now. Add the 3 million they didn't count then that's 9.5m. We are just tallking pure sales. Add streaming equivalent and we get around 11 million. It has not had updated sales certification in 22 years.That doesn't mean it sold zero. Since then we had 2 Mamma films and GOLD sells every year.
GOLD is not a recent album of course but it has sold steadily over the years - especially in the US. The show is more of a Greatest Hits show, though of course some lesser known songs so studio albums aren't relevant
Boom!
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jas
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Post by jas on Mar 22, 2024 4:10:55 GMT
Relative to other countries, annual tourist visits to Australia are quite low.
In the year ending September 2023, there were 6.1 million trips to Australia.
The main reasons for tourist visits to Australia are as follows:
1. Visiting friends and relatives with 2.3 million trips. (NB: *trips, NOT individual people, therefore some of these trips include the same person that might visit Australia more than once per year.)
Mostly British and New Zealanders visit their relatives in Australia, as most people who emigrated to Australia are from Britain and New Zealand. British people visiting their relatives in Australia would mostly be people over 50, I would guess. British people don't need to travel to Australia to see Voyage.
2. Holiday travel with 2.3 million trips.
These 2.3 million tourists are people who visit Australia solely for the purpose of pure tourism. These 2.3 million tourists include all nationalities, such as Chinese and other Asian countries' citizens
3. Business travel with 681,000 trips.
4. Education with 406,000 trips.
These are mostly foreign students from Asian countries who come to Australia to study at Universities and colleges. Some of these students return to their home country and come back to Australia more than once each year, so these 406,000 entries do not necessarily represent individual numbers, but also include multiple entries into Australia by the same individuals. E.g., if 20,000 students return to their countries twice in a year, that represents 40,000 trips, or 10% of that crude number of 406,000 "trips".
So how does Australia compare to other countries regarding annual tourist numbers?
Here's the top 10 countries with the most foreign tourists in 2022:
1. France 79.4 million tourists
2. Spain 71.7 million tourists
3. USA 50.9 million tourists 4. Turkey 50.5 million tourists 5. Italy 49.8 million tourists 6. Mexico 38.3 million tourists 7. UK 30.7 million tourists 8. Germany 28.5 million tourists 9. Greece 27.8 million tourists 10. Austria 26.2 million tourists
way down the rankings:
xx. Australia 6.1 million tourists
I would expect that most Chinese tourists to Australia would be the new, moneyed middle class over 60 years of age, considering that younger Chinese people don't have as much disposable income to enable them to travel overseas. I wager that older Chinese people wouldn't know about ABBA, or care about seeing an ABBA show whilst in Australia, preferring instead to be bused around to visit the Sydney Opera House and then out to a petting farm to cuddle a Koala and pat a kangaroo. And then they'd get straight back on a plane to China after their carefully managed, Chinese government-official supervised, one week all-expenses covered cheap tour.
I don't know how far down Australia is in the rankings for international tourism with its 6.1 million annual foreign tourist "trips", but it's safe to say that many Asian countries, like Thailand, Japan, India, China and Indonesia (and for Indonesia, think "mostly Bali") rank much higher than Australia in annual foreign tourist visits.
Australia is one of the longest distances to travel to for most foreign countries' citizens, requiring an expensive air ticket to get there and an expensive stay unless staying with relatives, as most UK tourists to Australia seem to do.
Compared to most countries, Australia has less attractions, and most of these attractions are not easy to access, given the massive size of the country.
Conclusion:
It seems extremely unlikely that Australia's 6.1 million annual overseas tourists (many of these being over the age of 60, plus many of these same being UK citizens visiting relatives who emigrated to Australia) and its middling population size of 26 million could sustain the Voyage show for very long - let alone as a profitable concern - unless Voyage's production and running costs were drastically reduced.
Sources for the above stats:
Ugh, i hate that i agree with this. Hahahaha... As an Australian it breaks my heart this makes total sense. I guess from an investment perspective you are absolutely right. I know Australia was a huge factor to their success so deep down I`d love to think they would reward us for sentimental reasons, so i can still dream hey? |
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Post by johnny on Mar 25, 2024 21:42:01 GMT
Some stats £141 million to produce 21,000 tickets a week (basically sell out) 2,000,000 tickets sold so far 25% of visitors from outside UK Of the 2,000,000 tickets I wonder how many are people who have seen it multiple times? A future venue would need to be in a country with a huge fan base and could have a sizeable amount of foreigb tourists. Perhaps it's only London that fits this. www.iq-mag.net/2024/03/abba-voyage-producer-hints-at-new-venues-worldwide/ |
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 26, 2024 16:35:40 GMT
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Post by Alan on Mar 26, 2024 16:51:48 GMT
Getting a lanyard would be a reason not to go! Can’t stand the things. A modern scourge. How much plastic do they waste? I only have to wear one once a week but that’s enough. And even some school kids have to wear them? I saw some the other day anyway. But yes, I’d like to think someone will ask them a decent question, whatever nonsense they answer it with.  |
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Post by johnny on Apr 2, 2024 19:02:56 GMT
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jas
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Post by jas on May 3, 2024 0:26:44 GMT
A talk back radio station has officially declared that they have insider knowledge and Melbourne was successful, whilst I'll believe it when I hear it from Abba themselves I just wanted to put in writing so whenever something is announced I'll look like a giant buffoon or a legend. HAHAH Stay tuned |
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Post by truedogz on May 4, 2024 19:48:42 GMT
ABBA and Bjorn in particular have a record of making excellent business decisions. They might be about to make a seriously bad one with the news story below about them close to sealing a deal on the Voyage show coming to Melbourne, Australia.
I base my comment on several things the first being my doubts on the financial viability in Australia but also on the current situation in Victoria.
Melbourne is very much the centre for the arts in Australia particularly the performing arts with a long history of successful musicals running bringing in tourists from around the nation. However, the Victorian government is in serious financial trouble with massive debt and at the moment people are under a lot of financial stress. The government has a record of poor budgeting, spending money to subsidise events, and last year cancelled hosting the Commonwealth Games (at a loss of close to a billion dollars) putting the future of that event into serious jeopardy so it doesn't hessitate to throw something under a bus if things go pear shaped. All the news is that Victorians are about to get a 'horror' budget which will furthen tighten the spending of residents.
I write this as a current resident. It is an honest opinion and is not political. I would love to see Voyage but this is ringing alarm bells. I don't want to see ABBA burnt. From the article it appears ABBA want a 25% subsidy. Just Google Commonwealth Games Victoria to see what happened recently.
Here is the latest news story from the Melbourne Age newspaper:
The Age
ExclusiveNationalVictoriaPop music
ABBA close to landing Flemington as venue for spectacular virtual concert
Stephen Brook
ByStephen Brook
May 5, 2024 — 5.00am
Swedish pop group ABBA’s spectacular 3D virtual concert ABBA Voyage is close to signing a deal to build a permanent arena at Flemington Racecourse, making Melbourne the second city in the world to stage the 90-minute concert.
Michael Bolingbroke, chief executive officer and executive producer of ABBA Voyage, visited Melbourne from its London headquarters late last month and met with music promoters and officials from Visit Victoria and the Victorian government.
Three sources with knowledge of negotiations but not authorised to speak publicly said a deal was close to being signed.
“It was a very positive meeting. I would suspect there will be an announcement within weeks,” one source said.
“Both sides want it and there are ongoing discussions to see if that can happen. But it has to make economic sense,” said another executive.
The negotiations involving ABBA Voyage, music promoter Paul Dainty, global live entertainment company TEG’s chief executive Geoff Jones, Visit Victoria and the state government have stepped up a notch since a previous meeting in December.
The cost of the venture is put at between $60 million to $100 million to build the arena and stage the hi-tech event, which uses LED screens to display the visuals, created with the help of Industrial Light & Magic, the company behind the Star Wars special effects.
Flemington Racecourse, which has hosted many concerts and music festivals and is accessible by train, is the preferred venue. It is currently hosting Canadian acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil in a big top tent.
Promoters are seeking a substantial government contribution of up to 25 per cent, which is beyond the scope of major events company Visit Victoria to provide.
Steve Dimopoulos, the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, is keen to secure the concert but such an injection of funds needs the approval of Treasurer Tim Pallas and Premier Jacinta Allan.
“This would be a very big, very longstanding event,” one executive said.
The Sunday Age sent a list of questions to the minister’s office, which responded with a statement: “As Australia’s major events capital, we’re always looking at new opportunities and events for our calendar,” a spokeswoman said.
Paul Guerra, chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, predicts the ABBA concert would be an even bigger hit in Melbourne than in London, where it has been making $US2 million ($AU3 million) a week, according to Bloomberg.
“Melbourne gave ABBA its first No.1 hit, and so it is only right that Melbourne continues its celebrated connection through the ABBA Voyage experience,” Guerra said.
“It’s only Melbourne that has the style and capability to provide the right experience for ABBA fans from all over Australia and Asia Pacific.”
One scenario would see the permanent concert venue part-owned by the Victorian government and have a life beyond ABBA Voyage, which would need to run for years to recoup the investment.
Producers insist that fitting out a venue an existing theatre or arena is impossible due to the unique technology required to recreate 3D holographic likenesses of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad in their 1970s heyday belting out hits including Mamma Mia and Voulez-Vous accompanied by a live band and backing singers.
Since the show premiered in London in May 2022 it has broken records and the company has looked at expanding globally including to Las Vegas, Sydney and Singapore.
The pop group’s immense popularity in Australia made Sydney a favoured location but the NSW government withdrew from the process, citing the costs. Last year Melbourne successfully revived the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!
Last month ABBA fans celebrated 50 years since the group’s breakthrough moment at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton UK when they won with their single Waterloo.
Industry experts contacted by The Sunday Age said Victoria was maintaining its major events supremacy, even though Tuesday’s state budget is expected to cut deeply into the arts and culture sector.
“Melbourne is still a long way ahead, Victoria is starting a long way ahead and that is not only driven by money,” said lawyer Janet Whiting, who chairs Visit Victoria as well as the National Gallery of Victoria. “You need to think about better and different ways of doing things.”
One executive who declined to be named so he could speak frankly said NSW planned to build a covered arena with about 13,000 seats to compete with Rod Laver Arena: “Victoria should assume NSW is about to get very serious about live music and attracting the best gigs.”
Vas Katos, the chief executive of Anthem, a global entertainment consultancy firm based in Melbourne, said other states were successfully copying Melbourne’s major events strategy including developing government-backed organisations such as Destination NSW and Tourism & Events Queensland to compete with Visit Victoria.
“For the past few decades, our major events calendar has been Victoria’s answer to a spectacular harbour or Great Barrier Reef. Melbourne is now famous around the world for our culinary culture, arts scene, and major sporting events,” Katos said.
“Without the government partnerships, the commercials just don’t stack up for most producers and promoters to bring some of these global events to this country.”
“It is much more competitive these days. Victoria were the clear leaders of culture and hospitality, but the rest of Australia is absolutely catching up.”
Industry leaders cited South Australia’s aggressive campaign to stage the AFL Gather Round, Western Australia’s investment in the Coldplay concert, and Queensland’s expected major events investment ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Others feel that Melbourne’s position is secure.
“We are so far ahead in the comedy stakes in Australia that whilst we are always looking to grow the festival in Melbourne we are not looking over our shoulder as much as other events,” said Bill Shannon, chairman of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
“You are never completely quarantined from a tough environment and a state that is hurting financially, but you take it on and look after yourself.”
Whiting said Victoria was still in a good position.
“It has been doing this for so long. Global rights holders want to do business with us. People like going out in Melbourne.”
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Post by truedogz on May 4, 2024 20:17:45 GMT
I will also add another flaw with this proposal. The article states that Flemington Racecouse is accesible by train. This actually is untrue as there is no regular rail service to Flemington.
Special trains operate on days when there are races or one off events.
Does this mean that the Victorian Government will operate trains on every day there is a Voyage concert?
The whole thing sounds dodgy. A train service that doesn't exist and a 25% subsidy by the government with the biggest debt in the nation. Another news story indicates that they are about to announce significant cuts to the tourism budget.
ABBA don't do it!
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jas
Junior Member
Posts: 12
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Post by jas on May 4, 2024 23:59:49 GMT
I will also add another flaw with this proposal. The article states that Flemington Racecouse is accesible by train. This actually is untrue as there is no regular rail service to Flemington. Special trains operate on days when there are races or one off events. Does this mean that the Victorian Government will operate trains on every day there is a Voyage concert? The whole thing sounds dodgy. A train service that doesn't exist and a 25% subsidy by the government with the biggest debt in the nation. Another news story indicates that they are about to announce significant cuts to the tourism budget. ABBA don't do it! Mmm. Don’t you think the possibility of having it in Melbourne full time that they would add permanent trains. If the govt are that keen to get it, I would have thought the offer of running trains to the event would be an easy one. I live just down the road so this is really exciting news. I do agree with what you’ve said about the state debt though. |
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Post by justabba on May 5, 2024 5:35:29 GMT
I'm very surprised Melbourne would be a venue ahead of Las Vegas. I do have some first hand knowledge of Melbourne, having performed there with Carl Rosa Opera in 2001, but I cannot see how the figures add up. Can they really attract a 24 000 audience week on Week?
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jas
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Post by jas on May 5, 2024 8:21:52 GMT
I'm very surprised Melbourne would be a venue ahead of Las Vegas. I do have some first hand knowledge of Melbourne, having performed there with Carl Rosa Opera in 2001, but I cannot see how the figures add up. Can they really attract a 24 000 audience week on Week? The only reason I can think of Melbourne over Vegas is the company that produce Voyage have just announced they bought Kiss’s image and entire music catalogue and Kiss has declared they are essentially doing the same thing as Voyage in Vegas. Maybe it’s too much. But hey I’m Melbourne and the venue would be just down the road so I ain’t complaining. Hehe. |
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Post by HOMETIME on May 5, 2024 10:18:09 GMT
Knowing nothing about the technology, I wonder if having a second act makes things a little easier going forward? For instance, if there has to be a purpose-built venue somewhere, will the technology allow (reasonably easy) rotation of acts? Say, ABBA for two months, Kiss for two months... and so on, as other artists decide to join the new movement? I have no idea how big Kiss might be in America: maybe they can fill an arena for years on end like ABBA can in London. But in further flung places like Melbourne - and even smaller cities in other countries around the globe - a range of avatar-ed artists could make it viable.
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Post by truedogz on May 7, 2024 6:28:50 GMT
I will also add another flaw with this proposal. The article states that Flemington Racecouse is accesible by train. This actually is untrue as there is no regular rail service to Flemington. Special trains operate on days when there are races or one off events. Does this mean that the Victorian Government will operate trains on every day there is a Voyage concert? The whole thing sounds dodgy. A train service that doesn't exist and a 25% subsidy by the government with the biggest debt in the nation. Another news story indicates that they are about to announce significant cuts to the tourism budget. ABBA don't do it! Mmm. Don’t you think the possibility of having it in Melbourne full time that they would add permanent trains. If the govt are that keen to get it, I would have thought the offer of running trains to the event would be an easy one. I live just down the road so this is really exciting news. I do agree with what you’ve said about the state debt though. I haven't replied to any posts the past couple of days as I have been in a remote area without internet so my apologies for the lack of further information. Jas the Voyage auditorium in London holds 3,000 people. That can be covered with 2 or 3 trains. In practice it would be less as some would travel by tram, bus or car. This is no way I can see them activating the line for one or at most two trains in and out every day (if the concerts are 7 days a week), It would not be very attractive for the public as they would have to plan their whole evening around perhaps one train service. I can't see it happenning. I have a bit more news reported on the radio this morning. There is a second venue being considered for the Voyage auditorium and that is in Albert Park. There is no rail service there but it is extremely well serviced by trams and buses, and is a recognised recreation and tourism area. This is the area where the Grand Prix is held. This locality to me makes far more sense than Flemington Racecourse - it is much more attractive area with restaurants and quick access to the CBD. If ABBA Voyage does go ahead in Melbourne Albert Park is a far far more attractive proposition for the public than Flemington. Flemington is a backwater, former industrial area. Albert Park and South Melbourne is vibrant. The Victorian Government this afternoon handed down its 'horror' budget. Within two years the state debt is estimated to be 188 billion dollars. The budget for tourism has been slashed from 469 million dollars last year to 184 million dollars this year, cut by almost two thirds. People are going to lose their jobs and the sector is going to experience a downturn. It won't be very popular with the public if jobs are being lost while ABBA gets a 25% subsidy to have the Voyage concerts in Melbourne. As I have indicated the current government have a long history of poor financial management. Sydney clearly had a long hard look at hosting Voyage and in the end said no, that it was too costly. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Voyage in Melbourne. But given the circumstances I see high risk with the potential for disaster. |
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Post by johnny on May 7, 2024 20:13:23 GMT
I can't see the concert going to Australia. It doesn't have the fan base of the UK, or mainland Europe on its doorstep. And why on earth should there be a subsidy and from a State government that is a financial disaster?
The show won't be relocating anytime soon - and not Down Under.
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