Abba arrival in London

Back to the future?

Courtesy of Anastacia Dvi, Unsplash

The truth is I wouldn’t have chosen to see Abba Voyage last weekend. I hadn’t given it much thought when the new London venue and hi-tech initiative was announced last year, except to conclude that the Abba brand was going for one last squeeze of everyone’s pockets. How could a bunch of avatars, now dubbed abbatars — so cute, be anything but a thinly veiled version of the real thing. I was very happy to wait or miss out completely.

But then I thought back to a fantastic day in Hyde Park last summer, when Adele was topping the bill, the whole day’s spectacle capped of with her amazing performance.

I’d only gone because friends had invited me and Mrs H after they’d timed the ticket release perfectly on an overheating web site, capturing a haul in the first few and what proved to be, only seconds available.

Liking her music really doesn’t qualify as a good enough reason for having a ticket. The thought of queuing, hordes of people and the chance of rain was enough to make me undeserving. I’d forgotten, again, about the overwhelming power and magic of live performance. Fortunately my friends hadn’t, for which I’m very grateful.

Adele was also very real, at the top of her game, an amazing voice which charmed the…