ABBA’s “hologram” show is giving Taylor Swift & Beyoncé a run for their money—could it be coming to a city near you?
ahem* money, money, money…Over a year into its run, Swedish pop legends ABBA’s London residency show ABBA Voyage is still selling out arenas and raking in a whopping $2 million a week—and the band’s not even stepping foot on stage!And that’s because Voyage is a unique virtual concert experience, featuring Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid partying like it’s 1979.
That is to say, the septuagenarian queer icons are using motion-capture digital avatars and other cutting-edge technology to appear and perform like they did all those decades ago.So, yes, while Tay and Bey complete Olympic-level marathon performances every night of their tours—both clocking in over three hours long—ABBA gets to kick back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of their historic career while their “holograms” do the work.
It’s what they deserve!But that’s not to say ABBA Voyage hasn’t been a lot of work. For one, an entirely new venue was created to house the massive undertaking: The aptly named ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.And, digital avatars aside, designing and bringing the show to life was a massive undertaking, all done in an effort to give the band’s fans, young and old, gay and straight, the true, multi-sensory ABBA concert experience.In fact, despite the whopping weekly earnings and sold-out shows night after night, ABBA Voyage has yet to recoup its production budget, believe it or not.
Per a report from Bloomberg, before the show’s doors even opened, the budget had ballooned to over $176 million—that makes it the most expensive music production ever.
