Review: ABBA Voyage at the ABBA Arena, London
Four years on from its world premiere, the Swedish pop quartet’s digital avatar show is still very much a winner.
When it opened in 2022 as Britain emerged from the Covid lockdowns, ABBA Voyage was a welcome tonic after one of the darkest periods in living memory.
Thanks to the dazzling technical accomplishments of American visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic, Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were ‘reunited’ on a London stage for the first time since 1979 – or at least digital representations of their twentysomething selves were, in a form dubbed ‘ABBAtars’.
The masterstroke, though, was to not only build a comparatively intimate 3,000-seat ABBA Arena near the 2012 Olympic Park in east London, but to include an expertly-marshalled live band in the 100-minute performance of some of their greatest hits from the 1970s and ’80s.
But four years – and four million visitors – later, how does the show, directed by Baillie Walsh and choreographed by Sir Wayne McGregor, measure up? The answer is, remarkably well.
Artificial intelligence might have moved on at lightning speed since the ABBAtars were first created – de-aging the Swedish foursome by five decades – nonetheless they remain impressively life-like, and by the time of SOS, three songs in, it’s easy to forget that you’re not seeing the group in the flesh.
The sections where Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida take it in turns to talk to the audience are a little corny, but they’re self-effacing and bring some of their personalities to the show.
The set list has been tweaked – out has gone the ballad When All Is Said and Done, to be replaced by the pensive 1977 chart-topper The Name of the Game, while two other ‘bangers’ have been added, in the shape of Take a Chance on Me and Money, Money, Money, which raise the tempo at critical junctures.
It also feels like the current 10-piece band has been given more chances to shine – in Does Your Mother Know, the lead vocals are handed over the three backing singers, Natalia Brown, Verity Jones and Anthonia Edwards, who all give powerhouse performances.
The choral introduction to Lay All Your Love on Me is breath-taking, as is the storming dancefloor filler Summer Night City, and the funky combination of guitar, percussion and saxophone adds a fiery element to Voulez-Vous.
The lengthy animé sequences for Eagle and Voulez-Vous – which were part of the original show – might leave some of the younger members of the audience shuffling in the seats, however they’re visually impressive and they do serve as useful punctuation.
Meanwhile, the two numbers from the 2021 reunion album – Don’t Shut Me Down and I Still Have Faith in You – are curiously affecting odes to the passage of time.
Waterloo, complete with footage of ABBA’s 1974 Eurovision win, is still the ace up this show’s sleeve, its glam stomp sounding as joyful as ever, yet there’s also the immortal Dancing Queen and Agnetha’s soaring vocal turns the melancholy sentiment of The Winner Takes It All into a bittersweet triumph.
Four years on, can ABBA Voyage still cut it? My, my, yes it can.
ABBA Voyage continues daily throughout 2026 at the ABBA Arena, Pudding Mill Lane, London. In July and August a family summer rate is available on tickets. The offer means that one full-price adult ticket unlocks up to two half-price seated tickets for children. For details, visit https://abbavoyage.com/family/