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| Fabulous Frida In Melbourne |
ABBA Tight-Lipped Over Name Of Their Comeback Game
by Neil McMahon
Forty years on from the legendary visit that stands as ABBA's biggest
and Australia's craziest concert tour, band legend Frida Lyngstad says
the Swedish icons will be back. But is it a reunion? She calls it "a new
ABBA creation" – but if history is any guide, we'll lap it up whatever
it is.
In a rare interview with
Good Weekend to mark
the anniversary of the 1977 tour, Lyngstad confirms she and bandmates
Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson are busy with …
something.
"We have just started to explore a new technological world, with
virtual reality and artificial intelligence at the forefront," Lyngstad
says. "Our fans are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new
ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites us."
Lyngstad
reveals nothing else about the new project, but it's safe to say
nothing in the virtual realm will ever match the flesh-and-blood fervour
of that 1977 tour, in which the band played 11 concerts in Sydney,
Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth across two weeks remembered for fan and
media hysteria wherever they went.
Lyngstad remembers the
fortnight in fond detail, including the first concert in Sydney that was
nearly abandoned due to torrential rain. Lyngstad famously panicked
fans and promoters when she fell over on the wet stage, which was also
invaded by bugs.
An "unforgettable" concert, says Lyngstad, while also recalling quiet moments away from the tour spotlight.
"We had a few days off, and were taken to a beautiful national park
outside Sydney, and enjoyed a boat trip on the waters outside Melbourne,
even swimming together with seals in a bay I do not remember the name
of. A very special experience, to say the least."
The Melbourne
leg of the tour is remembered for fan crushes on the streets at their
hotel, the Old Melbourne Motor Inn in Flemington Road, and in Swanston
Street where they greeted fans from the Town Hall balcony.
Tony
Johnson, manager of the hotel at the time, remembers the constant crush
of fans. "There was literally thousands of people at the Old Melbourne
to welcome them when they arrived. We had the mounted police out the
front to stop the crowd. We had additional security because there were
so many people trying to get access to their suites. They were captive …
because there was so many people outside."
Promoter Michael
Chugg, then a tour manager for Paul Dainty, remembers the chaos of the
Sydney show. "The Sebel Townhouse got the shits with us because we took
every white towel they had to keep drying the stage. But they played in
the rain, the audience turned up in the rain, they just absolutely loved
it. It affected everybody from toddlers to grandma and grandpa. It was
incredible to look into the audience and see the spread of the
demographic."
That generation-crossing devotion is confirmed by
musician Kate Miller-Heidke, who wasn't even born during ABBA's heyday
but who is working on a keenly awaited ABBA-related project – writing a
stage musical production of the ABBA-laden movie
Muriel's Wedding, which premieres for the Sydney Theatre Company in November.
"They
have basically formed part of the soundtrack to my life, their music is
everywhere," Miller-Heidke says. "The songs are undeniable. As a
songwriter I would never say that they were of no lasting value … just
the way they put lyrics and melody together in a way that burns into
people's minds."
http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/abba-tightlipped-over-name-of-their-comeback-game-20170216-gueszi.html
