ABBA reunite to launch incredible virtual concert

The four members of Abba made their first public appearance in 14 years as they attended the premiere of their Abba Voyage show in London.

Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Bjorn reunited for the opening night of the concert, which features digital versions of the band.

Frida watched the show with a wide grin across her face, while Benny stood up and clapped along to Dancing Queen.

They took a curtain call at the end, to deafening applause from the audience.

"Abba has never left us, in my heart," singer Agnetha Faltskog told the BBC on the red carpet.

"It was not such a difficult decision [to reunite] because the music is part of us."

"I dreamed of this for years," added Anni-Frid Lyngstad. "We love our music, we love to sing."

The launch night was attended by a host of musical stars including Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jarvis Cocker and Keira Knightley.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Silvia also joined the audience - meaning there was a real life Dancing Queen in attendance.

The concert has been in the works since 2016 and features ground-breaking new technology that recreates the sight of Abba in their 1970s prime, playing hits like SOS, Voulez-Vous and Lay All Your Love On me.

To create the spectacle, the band performed in motion capture suits for five weeks, with 160 cameras scanning their body movements and facial expressions.

Those became reference points for hundreds of animators and visual effects artists to create avatars of the band in their heyday.

Affectionately known as "Abba-tars", the characters are not 3D holograms - as everyone involved in the production is at pains to point out.

"I don't think any hologram shows have been successful, “producer Baillie Walsh told Dazed magazine last year. "After five minutes, I don't think they're that interesting."

Instead, the characters appear on a massive, 65million pixel screen, with lights and other effects blurring the boundaries between the digital elements and the "real world" in the arena.

 

Photo credit Baillie Walsh  Caption: The group performed in motion capture suits to help create their digital avatars