Inside Stockholm's New Music Exhibition With ABBA's Björn

Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus spoke to The Local about a new exhibition documenting a legendary Swedish concert venue. Photo: Pop House Stockholm

The Beatles meet Hendrix in his prime:

Inside Stockholm's new music exhibition with ABBA's Björn

The Local Sweden

Where can you watch an electric performance from Jimi Hendrix and one of Bob Marley's last gigs? At the new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition in Stockhom. The Local met Abba icon Björn Ulvaeus – who also played there – to take a sneak peak at the ode to a legendary venue.

Seven roller coasters, 177,601 hamburgers consumed in 2016 alone, and 89 years of music history – the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm is an institution, not least for having one of the oldest and most important music stages in Sweden.
The Beatles, Iggy Pop, Miles Davis, Bryan Adams, Cliff Richard, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, BB King, Louis Armstrong – the list of people to set foot on that stage is enviable. Every year since 1928 the park has attracted hundreds of thousands of music lovers to its famous summer concerts, and with line-ups like that it's no wonder.
The new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition at Pop House Stockholm celebrates that history, paying tribute to all the fantastic stories that have unfolded there over nearly 90 years. The Local contributor Miriam Bade was one of the lucky few to get a sneak peak of the exhibition ahead of its launch,
"This is a very Swedish thing," Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus tells The Local at the launch.


 
Björn Ulvaeus flanked by images of some of the fellow music heavyweights to play Gröna Lund. Photo: Micke Bayart/Azul


"Gröna Lund is one of the most popular stages in Sweden, in the middle of the city. I think the exhibition is pretty much complete, and I like to go through it with people who haven't seen it before."
Asked to pick one favourite part, the Abba mastermind says it's too difficult:
"I wouldn't point out one specific place. It all belongs together. I dont have a favourite spot here any more than I have a favourite Abba song."



Not many venues can claim to have hosted Abba in their prime and Chuck Berry. Photo: Micke Bayart


Located downstairs from the main entrance to the popular Abba The Museum in Pop House Stockholm, the first thing visitors see when entering the exhibition is a huge wall of video.
Each screen shows historic concerts, framed and illuminated with multi-coloured light bulbs. Grab a set of headphones and get lost in the sounds, sights and atmosphere of concerts by no less than Jimi Hendrix (1967), Kiss (1976), Lady Gaga (2009) and – of course – Abba (1975).
All took place at Gröna Lund during the last half century. Bob Marley's landmark concert from 1980, represented though closing number Lively Up Yourself, stands out in particular. The realization that this was one of his last performances before dying less than a year later is sure to send shivers up the listner's spine.



 
Music history, and a slice of amusement park iconography for good measure. Photo: Pop House Stockholm
 

On top of the videos there's original photography, the park's typically unique looking concert posters, and even stage outfits spread across eight smaller gallery areas and ordered chronologically.



Not your average ceiling. Photo: Miriam Bade

 

 

Sleep Like A Popstar In The ABBA Gold Room !

STAY IN DUVEMÅLA OR SLEEP LIKE A POP STAR IN THE ABBA GOLD ROOM – Pop House Hotel is proud to present new themed hotel rooms linked to Swedish music!

"What made ABBA so successful? Björn: Hard work and two beautiful voices!"
 
Pop House Hotel is located in the same building as ABBA The Museum and the Swedish Music Hall of Fame, of which Björn Ulvaeus is part owner. What makes the hotel unique is its strong connection to the operations that are housed in the building, namely exhibitions about Swedish pop music, the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and ABBA The Museum. The vision of a house of music in Stockholm/Sweden is now being ramped up thanks to the hotel’s new live-gig initiative, as well as new Swedish music-themed hotel rooms.

In the Duvemåla room, guests are greeted by a welcome letter from Björn Ulvaeus, which paints a picture of the arduous path of emigration, then and now.

The room breathes peace and tranquillity, with handpicked details and props. There is handmade wallpaper and handwoven rag-rugs. On the wall, framed in glass, hangs a dress from the 1995 musical. The terrace is enclosed by a genuine Swedish roundpole fence and guests can cosy up on a wooden bench that smells of good old-fashioned linseed oil, to enjoy the twilight hours. The mini-bar is found in a rustic-style nightstand and the TV is hidden behind a traditional Swedish pärlspånt panel, closed with a simple hook. The traveller’s trunk, rocking chair and sofa bed, all handcrafted in Sweden in the early 1900s, take you back to the period when Vilhelm Moberg’s The Emigrants unfolded. Featuring state-of-the-art comfort, the unique ambiance of the room is an exciting contrast to the hotel’s other spaces.

The ABBA Gold album was released in 1992, ten years after ABBA took a pause. Over 30 million copies of the album have been sold and it is considered one of ABBA’s major successes, as well as being one of the best-selling CDs of all time in the UK, the home of pop music. In collaboration with ABBA The Museum and as a tribute to the ABBA revival of the 90s seen all over the world, Pop House Hotel has transformed one of the junior suites into an ABBA Gold room. Overlooking one of Stockholm’s oldest entertainment establishments (Gröna Lund) and Saltsjön bay, guests can drift away into gilt-edged dreams and feel like pop star royalty. Perfect for key creative meetings, the room might well inspire new success stories. Designed in glittering gold and glossy black, with gold curtains and gold mirrors, the room also features an enormous Tom Dixon lamp adding an exclusive 
touch.

http://www.pophousehotel.se/#about 

https://www.facebook.com/pophousehotel?fref=ts

Mamma Mia! The Party - Update

Hello!

We have now come a little further with this exciting experiment. The refurbishment of historic Tyrol has just started and the transformation into a Greek Taverna will be really exciting to follow. The other day, we were pleasantly surprised by our rhythmical craftsmen - see the stunt here.

You can also see the film and follow the process on mammamiatheparty.com. Tickets go on sale on the 25th of August.

Until then, have a wonderful summer!

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus On Stockholm

Stockholm has everything New York or London has but without the people and the traffic. Because it is built on islands and surrounded by water, you get this enormous sense of freedom. People don’t bother me at all, so I can walk around without any problem.

Naturally, I would recommend a visit to Abba the Museum. When they told me that it should be in Stockholm, that’s when it dawned on me – it’s going to be in a very prominent place that I will pass many times a year, with my children and grandchildren, and with friends. It had to be great, because I wouldn’t be able to escape it. That’s why I got involved. It’s a very hi-tech museum, but it also has warmth and humour. My favourite exhibit would have to be the homemade double bass from my first-ever group.

Stockholm is the most beautiful capital in the world. Visitors should take one of the sightseeing boats and see it from the water. They should also visit the Vasa Museum. It’s absolutely magnificent – a large 17th-century ship housed within a museum.

The Stockholm archipelago is unique, with tens of thousands of islands. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’ll often take my boat to Sandhamn, an island outside of Stockholm. There’s a restaurant there called Monrad’s where I like to have lunch. Actually, I’ll be going there soon with the new lady in my life. I’ve called her Dancing Queen and she’s a Princess 64 Flybridge yacht.

There are lots of outfits in the museum. I’m proud to say that most of my Abba costumes still fit me. I don’t have a favourite, but if I had to choose one it would be something from the later years. There’s a photo of me in a kind of Superman outfit from early on and I cry in pain every time I see it. It shows a level of bad taste unsurpassed by any other pop star.

I love the city’s food hall markets. Two of the best are Östermalmshallen and Hötorgshallen. My favourite restaurant is at Hotel Skeppsholmen, but the food I couldn’t do without is sashimi. I go to a great Japanese restaurant in the centre called Seikoen. There’s also a marina called Bullandö, just outside Stockholm, where I go to eat the best ice-cream in Europe – it’s called Bullandö Glassfabrik.

My favourite thing about Stockholm, and Sweden in general, is that it’s not overcrowded. There are only nine million of us Swedes, so we’re not overpopulated in the way many areas of Europe are.

People in Stockholm are quicker to adapt to change than in the rest of the country. It has become a very creative city – for music, fashion and computer games. It is a lot more cosmopolitan than it used to be, but I wouldn’t want it to grow much bigger.

When I get time off, I love to relax with my grandchildren – sailing, kayaking, reading, and watching movies and documentaries. I love to take them all on holiday with me.

Benny comes to Stockholm regularly so I see him quite a bit, especially since we still work together from time to time. Agnetha and I have children and grandchildren together, so I see her at birthday parties and such. Frida comes to Stockholm from her home in Switzerland every now and then, and she’ll say hello.

There are some great Swedish musicians around at the moment. I’ve been listening a lot to the Swedish band First Aid Kit. Their roots are in folk music and the same goes for me.

I don’t think I’ll be watching Eurovision this weekend. I rarely watch it these days. Not because it was better in the old days (it wasn’t), but because there are too many countries in the competition. And as a songwriter, I’d be more interested in a contest where the emphasis was on the quality of the song.

I love churches and there are a couple in the old city, such as the Storkyrkan, which I’d recommend visiting.

Another special exhibit at the Abba Museum is an award we were given which I had at home for years. It’s a hideously ugly German music award, a figurine in the form of Hiawatha called Silberne Otto. It was awarded to us by the German magazine Bravo and I kept it on my windowsill. Over time I grew rather fond of it and it was with a heavy heart that I gave it to the museum. Come to think of it, I miss my Silberne Otto.

During the Abba years, we did some television work in East Berlin. People there loved us but it was so depressing. I remember we were paid in whatever currency they had – East German marks or whatever – which you couldn’t change when you got to the west. Nobody would take it. I had one day to get rid of it, so I bought everyone in the bar a drink!

I only book holidays in winter. Why? Try a cold, windy and damp November day in Stockholm and you’ll know why!

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/may/22/bjorn-ulvaeus-abba-stockholm-sweden-travel

Aussie Wins Museum Choir Competition !

Our very own fellow Australian, Grace McCallum, has won ABBA The Museum's competition to become the final member of the ABBA The Museum Choir !
Grace will travel to Stockholm in April to perform at the Museum with the choir - in celebrations taking place for the 40th Anniversary of Waterloo.

Congratulations Grace !

Very proud that Australia will be represented during this most auspicious occasion in the history of ABBA and ABBA fandom.
Thank you Grace for putting yourself out there - and for being such a beautiful singer :)

Wishing you all the best in the upcoming weeks - and hope you are able to savour every magical moment of this journey.

Can't wait to see you performing with the choir in April !!

Go get 'em girl !

Aussie Aussie Aussie ......

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=544052675707987&set=vb.247052962074628&type=2&theater