ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ Show Opens in London: Set List

ABBA’s Voyage show premiered in London Friday night (May 27) with the four members present as their pioneering avatars were seen on stage.

The digital characters took Industrial Light and Magic over a billion hours of processing time to complete, and were created after Agnetha Fältskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad spent five hours a day for a month in front of 160 motion-capture units.

The complete set list can be seen below.

Media reports were generally positive, with reviewers noting that, after a short period of adjustment, it was easy to feel as if the entire performance was live, rather than the “ABBA-tars” performing alongside a real-life band. Some said the custom lighting display helped provide a sense of depth, although others felt the characters delivered a less convincing effect on the large screens. “To be or not to be – that is no longer the question,” Andersson’s avatar said at one point. “This is the real me – I just look very good for my age.”

Several of the band’s biggest hits were missing from the set list, leading to the suggestion that the show will change over time. The BBC reported that the 3000-capacity custom-built ABBA Arena could be packed onto trucks for potential residencies elsewhere in the world.

“We’ll see how it goes in London,” Andersson said. “Are people really interested in coming to see this? If they are, yes, it’ll continue. If they’re not coming, then we just close.” Producer Svana Gisla added: “We want to pull on the emotions. So if you come out of here and feel like you’ve seen a visual spectacle, we will have failed. If you come out of here and you’ve laughed and you’ve cried and you can’t wait to go back, that’s what we want.”

The show closed with ABBA themselves taking a bow, although they didn’t say anything to the crowd.

The Real ABBA Take a Bow

ABBA ‘Voyage’ Set List

1. “The Visitors”
2. “Hole In Your Soul”
3. “SOS”
4. “Knowing Me, Knowing You”
5. “Chiquitita”
6. “Fernando”
7. “Mamma Mia”
8. “Does Your Mother Know?”
9. “Eagle”
10. “Lay All Your Love On Me”
11. “Summer Night City”
12. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”
13. “Voulez-Vous”
14. “When All Is Said And Done”
15. “Don’t Shut Me Down”
16. “I Still Have Faith In You”
17. “Waterloo”
18. “Dancing Queen”
19. “Thank You For The Music”
20. “The Winner Takes It All”

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Author: showrunner