Abba tribute come to UAE

Dancing Queens and Gulfi Sheiks: Abba tribute come to UAE

The UAE just can’t get enough of Abba.

Bjorn Again, the tribute to the 1970s Swedish pop stars, are back in Abu Dhabi next month for a concert.

They’ll play at Adnec on October 19, following a well-received performance there last autumn.

Fans can expect to hear covers including Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dancing Queen, and Voulez-Vous during the 90-minute performance.

Tickets start from Dh80 (standard) to Dh475 (VIP, including hall balcony seating, snacks, and table service).

Hotel packages for two persons at Hyatt Capital Gate, Aloft Abu Dhabi, Capital Centre and Premier Capital Centre Hotels start from Dh610. Aloft Abu Dhabi will host a classic hits after party with DJ Tim Cheddar.

Going from Abba to The Carpenters

Going from Abba to The Carpenters was best decision I made!

It is an experience that has taken her to Russia and Norway this year alone, with further dates planned in Barbados and Antigua.
Laurie said: "It has been a success beyond anything we could have dreamed about.
"I never thought it was something that would go international."
Laurie, together with singer Jason Scott, recreates the look and sound of the American brother and sister act, Karen and Richard Carpenter.
During the 1970s this shiny-haired Californian duo bestrode popular music – shifting some 100 million records.
Laurie said: "I have always loved The Carpenters, one of the first songs I remember was Close To You.
"I remember singing along and thinking 'I can do this' – I could get that range when I was a child and, as I got older, my voice matured, so it becomes a lot easier.
"The music is so beautiful that I never get bored of it."
Laurie was formerly in an Abba tribute band that was based in London.
Tiring of the regular journeys to the capital for rehearsals, she opted to follow her first musical love instead.
Recruiting Jason, a musical director and freelance lecturer, as her "Richard", the pair, backed by a four-piece band, have spent four months rehearsing for their current British tour.
"The music is not easy to emulate as it is so intricate," she said. "But we have worked really hard. It took us six months to record the backing vocals for this tour and we spent four months rehearsing in a church hall in Leeds."
Alongside the look of the era – Laurie has tracked down authentic Californian dresses from the 1970s as her stage wear – there is also a dedication to the songs.
When creating the music for the show, every note, from the smallest percussion part to the complexity of the backing vocals, have been transcribed.
The sweat has paid off. In 2010, they performed in China to devoted fans who were, Laurie says, "word perfect" on the songs.
A tour of major Chinese cities is planned for next year, including Beijing and Shanghai.
Laurie said: "We look to do an honest interpretation.
"It has been very well received but there will only ever be one Karen Carpenter."
Part of their show, which includes The Carpenters' best-known hits, is the rarely performed rock'n'roll medley from the album Now & Then.
"When you think of The Carpenters, you think of a relaxed style of music but we wanted to show it was not just that," Laurie said.
"They were very versatile and this was showing to people the music they had grown up with and loved."
As the projects continue to mount up she does admit to some tiredness.
"I feel a bit frazzled sometimes," she said. "But it is all good."

 

The sincerest form of ABBA flattery

Waterloo looks like ABBA, sounds like ABBA and since the real ABBA no longer performs, this tribute act to the iconic Swedish disco rock band bills itself as "the closest to ABBA you'll ever get."
"We know there are other tribute bands," publicist Matt Valenti said. "We certainly think they're the best one."
If you're wondering why or how a tribute band can play the 6,500-capacity nTelos Wireless Pavilion, this Friday night, consider this; Waterloo has sold out the 15,000-seat Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, attracted 20,000 fans to Highland Park in Chicago and played for more than 11,000 people in Brooklyn.
Not bad for a facsimile.
Waterloo plays all the familiar songs - such as "Dancing Queen," "Mamma Mia," "Take a Chance on Me," "Fernando" and, naturally, its namesake "Waterloo." And just in case you need more authenticity, a few original ABBA drummers, saxophonists or bass players always join the tour.
"We make it sound as close to ABBA as possible," said Christian Fast, Waterloo's lead guitarist and bandleader. "People can expect a set that takes them back. They'll get all the hits, the songs people know. That's what people want to hear."
ABBA and its popular blend of pop, rock and disco formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 with singers Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Thanks to its stable of aforementioned hits, the group became a worldwide pop music sensation. But relationship friction in each of the group's two married couples contributed to its long, and current, absence from the pop world.
After ABBA's last performance in 1982, tribute bands began springing up everywhere - in the United Kingdom alone, there are at least 40.
But none is the same as a Swedish tribute band, says Fast. Waterloo was founded in Stockholm in 1996, and since has performed more than 1,000 shows in more than 20 countries. Last year, Waterloo performed 35 concerts in the United States - about half of the shows the band does in a year. The current U.S. tour includes five locations on the East Coast, including Friday's gig at the nTelos Pavilion.
Despite singers that sound just like ABBA, the '70s-style hairdos and costumes replicated down to every last gold braid and scarf, Fast admits there are always some people who criticize Waterloo. One of the biggest compliments the band can get is when the doubters come and end up loving the show, he said.
"Just prepare for a great night," Fast said. "You won't be disappointed."

 

'ABBA Gold's' twentieth anniversary

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the phenomenally successful compilation album, “ABBA Gold”, which at over 28 million sold to date, makes it the group’s bestselling album ever. “ABBA Gold” also has the distinction of being one of only three albums in Great Britain to sell five million copies. The triumph of this album is documented in “From ABBA to Mamma Mia! The Official Book” by Anders Hanser and Carl Magnus Palm.
One of the most surprising things about the success of “ABBA Gold” is the fact that it was released ten years after the group’s final recordings together. Although the Swedish foursome never officially announced that they were calling it quits, the book describes how the two couples, who had both divorced by the early eighties, decided to pursue other projects. The two women, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Falkskog, both embarked on solo careers, while Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote songs for the Broadway musical “Chess”. Even after the enormous popularity of “ABBA Gold”, the members of ABBA still refused to reunite; despite what was reportedly a billion dollar offer to go on tour. Ulvaeus says he wants the group to be remembered the way they were at their peak.

A marquee announces the upcoming fall musical 'Mamma Mia' based on the songs of Abba August 22, 2001 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.

As hot as ABBA was during the years when the group was active, they were often panned by critics and not taken seriously by the general public. According to “From ABBA to Mamma Mia”, in the years since the release of “ABBA Gold”, and ABBA-based projects like the Broadway show “Mamma Mia”, critics have been singing a different tune. It is no longer un-cool to be a fan of ABBA. Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus have been highly praised for their songwriting skills, especially for their more profound compositions. Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Angetha Faltskog are revered for their amazing voices.
ABBA had many things going for them. The fact that they were Swedish, something that hurt them early on, later served to add to their exotic appeal in other parts of the world. They were two attractive married couples, which enhanced the romantic appeal of most of their songs. They also had a very clever recording engineer, Michael Tretow, who played a major role in giving them a unique sound. And then there was the man they called the fifth member of ABBA, Stig Anderson, a brilliant and devoted manager the likes of which most artists can only dream about. But the biggest reason for ABBA’s success was the high quality and in many cases timelessness of the music itself, which is the reason ABBA continues to be so popular thirty years after they went their separate ways.

ABBA Salute to perform at Wilmette's Wallace Bowl

 

WILMETTE—

The performing group ABBA Salute from Chicago will perform at the Wallace Bowl in Wilmette on Friday, June 22 in the second free weekly summer concert.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Wallace Bowl is in Gilson Park, at Sheridan Road and Michigan Avenue.
"We get about 1,200 people out there for them," Bob Bierie, performing arts supervisor for the Wilmette Park District, said of ABBA Salute. "They're a real crowd pleaser."
This is ABBA Salute's fourth year in the summer concert series, Bierie said.
ABBA was a Swedish rock group formed in 1972. The group's songs include "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Mamma Mia," according to songfacts.com.
Another concert will feature the Palatine Concert Band in an Independence Day concert on Tuesday, July 3. The band will perform a Broadway show sneak preview at 7:15 p.m.
A fireworks display will follow the concert, according to the Wilmette Park District.
Also in July, the Broadway musical "Brigadoon" will be staged at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, July 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. The director is Wendy Avon, the musical director is Francesca Sherrill and the choreographer is Kirsten Markham, according to the Wilmette Park District website.
On Saturday, Aug. 4, "Night at the Opera," performed by DaCorneto Opera Company, will dominate the stage for the eighth time. This performance draws 800-900 people, Bierie said.
"We get a grand piano and put it on the stage," Bierie said.
Baby boomers may enjoy '60s-'70s Rock Night at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, and a week later, at 8 p.m. Aug. 25, the U.S. Air Force Military Command Band will perform, according to the concert schedule.
The park district also offers several concerts at Mallinckrodt Park, 1960 Elmwood Ave. On Sunday, June 24, the concert Country Western Sunday performed by Jin & Tonic will begin at 4 p.m.
The Illinois Brass Band will present Brass in the Park at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 8 at Mallinckrodt Park.

ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog hints at reunion 

ABBA singer Agnetha Faltskog has admitted that she is open to a reunion with her former bandmates.

She revealed that she has not discussed reforming with her ex-bandmembers - her ex-husband Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen - but would like to meet with them to discuss the idea.

"A reunion, an occasional opportunity, maybe in connection with a charity event, I believe we could consider it," she told M Magazine. "We would not reunite for a tour like The Rolling Stones and other old bands do now.

"However, I could see us doing something together in the future. It is just a feeling I have that it would be fun to get together, talk a bit about the past and maybe perform together."

The group last recorded together in 1982, for an album that was never completed, and broke up in 1983.

Meanwhile, Ladbrokes have offered odds of 66-1 for ABBA to play the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.

Other acts tipped to perform include Elton John and Paul McCartney.

 

Abba tribute joins Bjorn Again Steps

SUPER Troupers are coming to Westonbirt Arboretum when Bjorn Again perform as the special guest of Steps.
The internationally-acclaimed Abba tribute show was created and founded by Rod Stephen in 1988 in Australia, and has gone on to perform an 4,700 concerts in 70 countries over 24 years.

Bjorn Again.

Songs like Mamma Mia, Money, Money, Money and Take A Chance On Me are bound to get the Westonbirt audience up on their feet.
Steps have recently completed a highly successful UK arena tour, captured on the popular Sky Living show Steps: On the Road Again.
The Brit-award winning group – comprising Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian 'H' Watkins dominated the charts over a five-year period.
An impressive run of 14 consecutive top five singles which got the nation dancing included One For Sorrow, Heartbeat/Tragedy, Love's Got A Hold Of My Heart and Stomp.
Steps with special guest Bjorn Again will be appearing on July 22.

Abba concert at Potters Bar theatre

Abba concert for children at Potters Bar theatre

For The Honey Honey Show – the world’s first Abba concert for kids – will be appearing at the Wyllyotts Theatre on Wednesday, June 6 as part of a half-term tour.
Imagine a pop concert, a pantomime and going to the cinema all in one show and you have The Honey Honey experience.
Joining the performers is the mischievous Benny Bear, on stage, on the giant video screen and even in the audience, for singing, dancing and crazy fun.
The show features the music of Abba, including all the great songs from the hit movie Mamma Mia!

Abba tribute The Honey Honey Show featuring Benny Bear will appear at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar

The music is performed by a six-piece live band on stage, including musicians Aileen Mclaughlin, T J Davis, Robin Scott and Jules Dodd, who have toured the world with Björn Again over the last 14 years.
The band are all session players in their own right and between them they have played and recorded with artists including Sir Tom Jones, Smokey Robinson, Lesley Garrett, The Stereophonics and Blur.
Robin Scott, one of the show’s producers, said: “It has been a dream of ours to produce a show using this wonderful music for a new generation of theatre-goers.
“If you are looking for a show that is guaranteed to be great fun for the whole family, you’ve just found it!”
So don’t miss out on this treat for all Dancing Queens young and old!
Tickets for The Honey Honey Show are priced at £10.50 child and £12.50 adult.
Family tickets for two adults and two children are £43.