ABBA Voyage Concert Experience

[TallPaul]

50 years ago to the very day! I wasn't even in short trousers, BurlyBeaR was in his late teens and, unbelievably, Paul Nicholas was already 29. 

[Being Alive]

I hadn't clocked mamma Mia opened 25 years to the day after abba won Eurovision - that'd be a good pub quiz question!

[interval99]

Very lucky in the UK to have voyage and mamma mia and the mamma mia party to celebrate ABBA day . Waterloo electric piano at Waterloo Station as well.
Should be a even more electric atmosphere at the shows today and see what the special souvenir gift is.
As ever on the ball with marketing the Voyage show has released a new range of Waterloo celebrations souvenirs. The abba museum has a separate range range as well. Thank goodness all the fans back in the day have credit cards now and we don't need to ask parents or do the dreaded Sunday morning paper round to get the money.

[bigredapple]

Do we reckon the band will be at the show tonight? I know they visited a couple times when it first opened

[alece10]

Doubt they will be there but I'm sure they will do something special at the Arena to celebrate.
There is a big concert tonight at Brighton including the Brighton Gay Men's Choir. They were on BBC breakfast yesterday singing and talking about the concert.

I remember the night they won vividly sitting at home as a 15 year old watching it on TV with my parents and sister.
Did you now the the UK gave them "nul points ".

[ptwest]

Well, the gift turned out to be a pin badge and a free drink, we had Jenny Powell doing a DJ set in the lobby, but nothing different or special about the show in terms of marking todays date. . Good job it was as dazzling as ever, and a great atmosphere in the arena. I was at the afternoon performance then Mamma Mia this evening.

[nick]

Apr 6, 2024 13:15:47 GMT alece10 said:

There is a big concert tonight at Brighton including the Brighton Gay Men's Choir. They were on BBC breakfast yesterday singing and talking about the concert.
.

I was there. Slightly underwhelming. We decided that ABBA songs don’t go with male voices.

Nice to hear the various Eurovision guests though. Some very good voices.

[alece10]

Apr 7, 2024 7:11:18 GMT nick said:

Apr 6, 2024 13:15:47 GMT alece10 said:

There is a big concert tonight at Brighton including the Brighton Gay Men's Choir. They were on BBC breakfast yesterday singing and talking about the concert.
.

I was there. Slightly underwhelming. We decided that ABBA songs don’t go with male voices.

Nice to hear the various Eurovision guests though. Some very good voices.

I think you are right judging from the snippet I heard in TV.
But you had the lovely Mans Zelmerlow which makes up for it.

[jek]

Good background piece on Pudding Mill Lane station and the future of the ABBA arena on the Diamond Geezer blog today.

diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2024/04/pudding-mill-lane-10.html

Take home is that the arena currently has planning permission until 2026 but the promoters would like it to stay longer. That directly conflicts with longstanding plans for housing etc. in the area.

[interval99]

Yes it really is two years already since this opened. Around 2 and half million concert visitors and onwards booking into 2025.
Waiting for benny and bjorn to do their q&a before the normal show at 7.45. Strict no cameras and stickers on front and back on phones as you go in. (not even cabaret did that).
Yes brought the 2nd year anniversary tshirt but at the moment holding of from several more new designs since I was last here.

[anthony40]

May 27, 2024 17:13:11 GMT interval99 said:

Yes it really is two years already since this opened. Around 2 and half million concert visitors and onwards booking into 2025.
Waiting for benny and bjorn to do their q&a before the normal show at 7.45. Strict no cameras and stickers on front and back on phones as you go in. (not even cabaret did that).
Yes brought the 2nd year anniversary tshirt but at the moment holding of from several more new designs since I was last here.

Have a great time!

[danb]

Every time someone posts here it makes me think theres been a setlist ‘refresh’.

[interval99]

Seems no need to refresh yet with such strong ticket sales and as any change will presumably need a program rewrite, the band to rehearsal and the whole lighting to be amended to fit new songs I expect it would need to close for a short period.
It is apparently the 756 performance of voyage tonight hundreds more shows than real abba ever did.
Question and answer worked OK, no great new insights but both guys seemed to enjoy it.
Every other question was from on site celebrity matt Lucas, Joanne lumley, sharleen from texas, Rick Ashley, Rosaline pike and some others

[anthony40]

May 27, 2024 18:29:58 GMT interval99 said:

Seems no need to refresh yet with such strong ticket sales and as any change will presumably need a program rewrite, the band to rehearsal and the whole lighting to be amended to fit new songs I expect it would need to close for a short period.
It is apparently the 756 performance of voyage tonight hundreds more shows than real abba ever did.
Question and answer worked OK, no great new insights but both guys seemed to enjoy it.
Every other question was from on site celebrity matt Lucas, Joanne lumley, sharleen from texas, Rick Ashley, Rosaline pike and some others

It's a wonder Biggins wasn't there.

He's (generally) there for everything!

[danb]

There’s no NEED, just the fact that it was said there would be when it launched. They just have so many fantastic album tracks that would make it even better.

[partytentdown]

Hope this is ok to mention but I have posted some tickets on the Noticeboard for next Saturday - Great seats for a good price (bought in a pre-sale so currently half the price of the cheapest tickets currently on sale).

Thanks (you for the music)

[alicechallice]

Is it just a given that there aren't special deals for this? It sells well enough that everybody pays full price?

[alece10]

Jun 22, 2024 18:42:19 GMT alicechallice said:

Is it just a given that there aren't special deals for this? It sells well enough that everybody pays full price?

I'm afraid so.

[mrmarmelstein]

Jun 22, 2024 18:42:19 GMT alicechallice said:

Is it just a given that there aren't special deals for this? It sells well enough that everybody pays full price?

They seem to use dynamic pricing on Ticketmaster. There’s also an option to view official resale tickets on Ticketmaster, and maybe I was just lucky, but managed to get great seats 3 days before a Sunday matinee a few weeks back for around £90 each, it looked like Ticketmaster were selling the last remaining similar seats for around £130.

[Arcana]

I'm seeing this tomorrow.

Any ideas of how early I'd have to be, in order to be towards the front of the dance floor?
I imagine people were queuing for hours in the beginning, but surely that's not the case any more?

[ptwest]

Jul 6, 2024 16:38:19 GMT Arcana said:

I'm seeing this tomorrow.

Any ideas of how early I'd have to be, in order to be towards the front of the dance floor?
I imagine people were queuing for hours in the beginning, but surely that's not the case any more?

I can’t answer this but just to say my personal preference is towards the middle / back of the dance floor as centrally as possible. The screen effects look great from there and you get to see more of the show happening around you. Wherever you end up you’ll have a great time.

[danb]

You don’t want to be right at the front as the effect needs a bit of depth and distance to be effective (but you would be right near the band so that might pull you in differently). Theres lots to soak up.

[anthony40]

My recommendation would be to sing and dance with reckless abandon, like nobody's watching!

[david]

Jul 6, 2024 19:03:51 GMT anthony40 said:

My recommendation would be to sing and dance with reckless abandon, like nobody's watching!

Well said anthony40. I certainly did and so did other people on the dance floor on my visit. Enjoy and soak up the atmosphere and party away. 

[Arcana]

Jul 6, 2024 19:03:51 GMT anthony40 said:

My recommendation would be to sing and dance with reckless abandon, like nobody's watching!

Good point. It's not like your usual theatre show where it's heavily frowned upon 😀