288 posts
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Post by singingbird on Sept 5, 2021 10:41:25 GMT
I wonder how long the band spent in the motion capture suits. I imagine it was a short time, to capture any gestures that seem particularly 'them', especially in the 'between song' moments that will make it feel more real. For the rest of it, they'd surely get younger performers to recreate the dance routines - ABBA weren't great dancers, but there was energy, and they wouldn't move the same way now. This is what I'm concerned about. If I understand it correctly, Abba spent 5 weeks in motion capture suits performing this new concert set list, and they're then being 'de-aged' to how they were in 1979. Surely that means you'll have slightly off-looking figures of 'young' Abba moving with all the creakiness of seventy year olds?!? It's not just how someone looks that you need to de-age, it's their physical and mental lived experience, all of which will be there in their performance. Personally I would have just suggested to them that they can act and be their age - it's okay, we all get old - sat them on a stage with two stools, a piano and an acoustic guitar, along with a small backing band, and had them perform a set in a hall in Stockholm which would be shown live in cinemas around the world. I guess, however, that they consider the colourful 1970s Abba dynamic, visuals and energy to be too much a part of the brand to strip away. |
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Post by interval99 on Sept 5, 2021 10:47:02 GMT
Interesting name choices for the dance booths and that they didn't go for the obvious band members or album names.
Box a haven't see a name for and possibly this is open for corporate sponsorship hire but the other seven
Stikkan after their original manager and given the still clouded issues over the management aspects it's nice to see him back in the abba world.
Gudrun - stikkan wife
Michael b tretow - the amazing studio engineer who really helped make the abba sound
Gorel Hanser previously stigs PA but the abba spokesperson and guardian for many years
Graham Tainton their choreography teacher
Ola brunkett the missed session and live drummer who we never did hear sing
Rutger gunnansson guitarist on many abba tracks
They may swap names about but I presume these have been selected or approved by abba and give insight into who they know helped them.
Spell checker has been a pain changing every other word. Hopefully I spotted all and reverted back e.g Hanser became handset!
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1,519 posts
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Post by mkb on Sept 5, 2021 10:49:29 GMT
And I live less than half an hour from the venue so if I did want to go and stand I'd be pretty annoyed at having to buy a hotel. You don't need to buy a hotel, it's optional.  Not if you want a standing ticket. And, infirm people aside, who on earth would want to go to a gig and sit at the back rather than dance down the front? I've never understood that mindset. |
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Post by timothyd on Sept 5, 2021 10:51:38 GMT
You don't need to buy a hotel, it's optional. Not if you want a standing ticket. And, infirm people aside, who on earth would want to go to a gig and sit at the back rather than dance down the front? I've never understood that mindset. You can just hoover your mouse over general admission. Then you're able to select tickets. They give you the option to buy them with or without hotel. If there aren't any available they're probably gone and you can try another date. I bought seating tickets because I'm not able to stand on my feet for longer then a few minutes. |
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1,484 posts
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 5, 2021 10:52:50 GMT
You don't need to buy a hotel, it's optional. Not if you want a standing ticket. And, infirm people aside, who on earth would want to go to a gig and sit at the back rather than dance down the front? I've never understood that mindset. |
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1,484 posts
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 5, 2021 10:54:55 GMT
You don't need to buy a hotel, it's optional. Not if you want a standing ticket. And, infirm people aside, who on earth would want to go to a gig and sit at the back rather than dance down the front? I've never understood that mindset. Not everyone enjoys standing in a crowd of people for 100 minutes. |
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Post by max on Sept 5, 2021 10:55:04 GMT
I wonder how long the band spent in the motion capture suits. I imagine it was a short time, to capture any gestures that seem particularly 'them', especially in the 'between song' moments that will make it feel more real. For the rest of it, they'd surely get younger performers to recreate the dance routines - ABBA weren't great dancers, but there was energy, and they wouldn't move the same way now. This is what I'm concerned about. If I understand it correctly, Abba spent 5 weeks in motion capture suits performing this new concert set list, and they're then being 'de-aged' to how they were in 1979. Surely that means you'll have slightly off-looking figures of 'young' Abba moving with all the creakiness of seventy year olds?!? It's not just how someone looks that you need to de-age, it's their physical and mental lived experience, all of which will be there in their performance. Personally I would have just suggested to them that they can act and be their age - it's okay, we all get old - sat them on a stage with two stools, a piano and an acoustic guitar, along with a small backing band, and had them perform a set in a hall in Stockholm which would be shown live in cinemas around the world. I guess, however, that they consider the colourful 1970s Abba dynamic, visuals and energy to be too much a part of the brand to strip away. It may be forgotten, but 'ABBA The Movie' was a bit of a flop (critically at least), and the first moment when the gloss fell away a bit. It was a documentary of their tour. The clamour around the tour was immense, but I don't know if they were ever considered a phenomenal stage act - outside of the music (the most valuable bit, of course). Instead their pop videos were iconic and what everyone waited for, particularly decoding what the state of their personal relationships was. Maybe the idea is that they can be an iconic 'stage act' now, in a way they weren't then? But doing the same stuff I'm not sure. |
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Post by max on Sept 5, 2021 11:01:24 GMT
I wonder how long the band spent in the motion capture suits. I imagine it was a short time, to capture any gestures that seem particularly 'them', especially in the 'between song' moments that will make it feel more real. For the rest of it, they'd surely get younger performers to recreate the dance routines - ABBA weren't great dancers, but there was energy, and they wouldn't move the same way now. I now see I was quite wrong about this. Motion capture with the band for 5 weeks. It does allow them to say, 'you're really seeing us'. Including rehearsal time? For all those songs, that's not really that long. I guess, sticking with the integrity of 'it's really us' a lot of it will be quite static, pointing, posing in time to the music. So no extra dance routines beyond what they really did in the past. Not sure the performances will be that spectacular, but where it'll score is between song interactions (and within). The Roy Orbison (and others) shared upthread look unconvincing, because there's an orchestra going for it, and no turn from 'Roy' to acknowledge or get into the music with them. It doesn't matter how great the technology, it's the small things like that (even faked mistakes) that will make it look real. Storylining really. |
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1,519 posts
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Post by mkb on Sept 5, 2021 11:04:50 GMT
Thanks for the heads-up. It is true that standing tickets without hotel are now on sale (at £75.95 each plus £2.50 per booking). I have now bought two.
But they were not there anytime during at least the first 30 minutes of the sale. (I got lucky with queue position 11 so was almost straight in at sale opening.).
This is going to really upset those who wanted standing but took seats instead.
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1,519 posts
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Post by mkb on Sept 5, 2021 11:08:08 GMT
Not if you want a standing ticket. And, infirm people aside, who on earth would want to go to a gig and sit at the back rather than dance down the front? I've never understood that mindset. Not everyone enjoys standing in a crowd of people for 100 minutes. They'll be disappointed at many gigs then, because the people in the row of seats in front of them will almost certainly be standing throughput and blocking the view. The nice thing about standing areas is that you can alternate between the congested front half and taking breaks in the uncongested rear. |
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925 posts
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Post by karloscar on Sept 5, 2021 11:15:58 GMT
I wonder how long the band spent in the motion capture suits. I imagine it was a short time, to capture any gestures that seem particularly 'them', especially in the 'between song' moments that will make it feel more real. For the rest of it, they'd surely get younger performers to recreate the dance routines - ABBA weren't great dancers, but there was energy, and they wouldn't move the same way now. I now see I was quite wrong about this. Motion capture with the band for 5 weeks. It does allow them to say, 'you're really seeing us'. Including rehearsal time? For all those songs, that's not really that long. I guess, sticking with the integrity of 'it's really us' a lot of it will be quite static, pointing, posing in time to the music. So no extra dance routines beyond what they really did in the past. Not sure the performances will be that spectacular, but where it'll score is between song interactions (and within). The Roy Orbison (and others) shared upthread look unconvincing, because there's an orchestra going for it, and no turn from 'Roy' to acknowledge or get into the music with them. It doesn't matter how great the technology, it's the small things like that (even faked mistakes) that will make it look real. Storylining really. They've hired Wayne McGregor from the Royal Ballet to choreograph the show. Either he's getting a load of money for nothing, or they've put in a lot of effort into staging the show. |
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Post by max on Sept 5, 2021 11:23:13 GMT
Why don't they perform on Tuesdays and Wednesdays? Keeping it real with intravenous Sanatogen and a lie down for the Abbatars?
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Post by interval99 on Sept 5, 2021 11:26:52 GMT
First night presale tickets all gone.
If the rumours are true and all four ABBA members are planning to attend in person to watch their Abbatars then this was the night to go for.
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Post by ruthieh on Sept 5, 2021 11:36:21 GMT
Thought I’d registered for presale but don’t have a code.
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1,484 posts
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 5, 2021 12:03:27 GMT
This is why I’m going - looks amazing! For those wondering why people would pay to see “holograms” (or whatever it is)… I’m going because I’m expecting this to be a stunning visual experience on a massive scale!
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1,484 posts
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 5, 2021 12:17:51 GMT
First night presale tickets all gone. If the rumours are true and all four ABBA members are planning to attend in person to watch their Abbatars then this was the night to go for. I’m always a day or two out with ABBA: 6 April 1974 - win Eurovision (I was born 2 days earlier) 6 April 1999 - Mamma Mia! opens (I went the day after) 27 May 2022 - Voyage opens (I’m going 2 days later) Never quite managed to get the right day |
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Post by interval99 on Sept 5, 2021 12:53:30 GMT
Thought I’d registered for presale but don’t have a code. Ticketmaster have a presale from tomorrow you can register for before full booking goes ahead on the 7th |
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Post by talkingheads on Sept 5, 2021 14:10:35 GMT
General Admission tickets are now onsale, I got two at £64 each for a Saturday in July. Expensive but far less than the hotel packages and much better than a seat at the side!
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Post by partytentdown on Sept 5, 2021 14:28:09 GMT
Got two general admission tickets in June for £75 ish each (not sure why poster above got them cheaper but congrats!). Expensive but I'm a fan so it's a treat. Took less than 5mins all in all, the first couple of hours of these things are always a crazy rush with technical issues but it always calms down a bit later, and considering this is a long run there will surely be enough tickets to go round.
Slightly cheeky offering 'souvenir paper tickets' for another £3 each, on top of the service fees etc. Once upon a time the actual ticket would be the souvenir!
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Post by talkingheads on Sept 5, 2021 15:28:32 GMT
Got two general admission tickets in June for £75 ish each (not sure why poster above got them cheaper but congrats!). Expensive but I'm a fan so it's a treat. Took less than 5mins all in all, the first couple of hours of these things are always a crazy rush with technical issues but it always calms down a bit later, and considering this is a long run there will surely be enough tickets to go round. Slightly cheeky offering 'souvenir paper tickets' for another £3 each, on top of the service fees etc. Once upon a time the actual ticket would be the souvenir! The £64 was the price it said before I assume the fees were added, it probably was closer to £75. |
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8,208 posts
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Post by alece10 on Sept 5, 2021 16:57:41 GMT
Did everyone buy the CD as well?
I didnt and now I'm a bit worried they might find me out but it did let me do the booking without buying it.
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Post by timothyd on Sept 5, 2021 17:03:24 GMT
Don't worry. As far as I know album presale ticket codes weren't personal or attached to a mailaddress. I bought the album but my Ticketmaster account has a different mail address and name then the one I bought the album with.
If you managed to buy tickets and they are in your Ticketmaster account they are yours and nobody will take them back. :-)
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1,519 posts
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Post by mkb on Sept 5, 2021 18:26:12 GMT
Got two general admission tickets in June for £75 ish each (not sure why poster above got them cheaper but congrats!). Expensive but I'm a fan so it's a treat. Took less than 5mins all in all, the first couple of hours of these things are always a crazy rush with technical issues but it always calms down a bit later, and considering this is a long run there will surely be enough tickets to go round. Slightly cheeky offering 'souvenir paper tickets' for another £3 each, on top of the service fees etc. Once upon a time the actual ticket would be the souvenir! The £64 was the price it said before I assume the fees were added, it probably was closer to £75. My GA tickets were broken down as £69.00 face value + £6.95 service charge = £75.95. There is then a £2.50 per booking fee. Thus, if you're booking one GA ticket, Ticketmaster take 12% of the pre-VAT cost, and everyone else shares the remaining 88%. Who knew that the running of an existing computerised booking system, with pretty much no usable customer service, could consume so much of the overall production budget? (Of course, it doesn't: it's just a money grab.) In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Ticketmaster take more than 12% with some VAT avoidance going on with elements of their charges. |
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on Sept 6, 2021 9:55:47 GMT
Presale now. No opportunity to choose specific seat or block and I'm unimpressed with what I'm being offered for £97 so leaving it for now.
Show is running 8 times a week, matinees 15.00, evenings 19.45. 100 minutes with no interval. The matinees are all on Saturday and Saturday apart from a couple of weekday ones early in the run. Weekend prices significantly higher than weekdays.
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Post by timothyd on Sept 6, 2021 11:38:08 GMT
It is possible to choose your seat from the seat map again. |
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