On This day - 5th March 1977 Melbourne
On Saturday, March 5, Abba boarded their chartered Boeing
707 and flew to Melbourne to continue the tour. The airport reception was
somewhat quieter than in Sydney – only about 100 fans greeted Abba this time,
but it turned out to be the calm before the storm, for once they had reached
the city a truly amazing welcome awaited them.
At 12.30pm Abba were scheduled to attend a Lord Mayor’s
reception in the Melbourne Town Hall. The event had been announced in the media
well in advance, which explained the absence of fans at the airport – they knew
where the real fun was going to happen.
When Abba arrived at the town hall in
their Rolls Royces, an estimated 6,000 people stood cheering and screaming at
them, many having waited for the group for several hours. “First, when you
drive out from the airport and you see the street actually lined up all the way
from the airport to the city, you don’t even believe your eyes,” recalled
Frida. “And then you understand, ‘This is actually a reception for us, nobody
else. It’s not the president coming’.”
The Abba entourage stepped out of their cars, entered the
building and climbed the stairs to the balcony to greet the crowd. Excited
radio reporters were covering the event live on the air, blow by blow: “Here
they come now. I can see them! They’re inside. They’re just about to come on
their way out. They’re coming out onto the balcony now … It should be in two to
three seconds … And here they are!”
When Abba finally stepped out on the balcony, the crowd
erupted. All the group had to do was to stand there and wave. During the five
minutes they appeared on the balcony, the screaming never died down. The scenes
outside Melbourne Town Hall constituted irrefutable proof that Abba’s
popularity had exploded far beyond ordinary fame. In Australia, if not quite
elsewhere in the world, it was clearly on a par with The Beatles during 1964,
when they too had appeared, Popelike, on that same Melbourne Town Hall balcony
to greet streets full of frenzied fans.
Afterwards, although the group was meant to stay and mingle
with guests at the reception, they were too exhausted and were escorted back to
their Rolls Royces. But when they got to the cars there were no drivers – the
group wasn’t expected back for another 20 minutes. Hemmed in by watching crowds
gripped by fever-pitch excitement that could bubble over into a riot at any
moment, Abba had to wait in the cars for five very long minutes before the
drivers returned. In the meantime, they were more or less forced to chat to the
media and sign a few autographs.
They eventually were able to get back to their hotel and prepare for that night's concert at Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
Text excerpt taken from ‘Bright Lights Dark Shadows’ by Carl Magnus Palm.
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