I created this blog to help share ABBA information with other fans and to show off my new collection items :)
Please note: Collection item photos are from my own personal collection. These are not stock photos. If you wish to use any of my photos elsewhere, please have the courtesy to ask first - Thank you :)
Showing posts with label ABBA Sydney 1977. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABBA Sydney 1977. Show all posts
On Thursday
3rd March 1977, ABBA performed the first of their 11 concerts in
Australia. It was held at the Showground in Sydney as there was no Entertainment
Centre in Sydney until 1983, and no other indoor venue that could cater for
such a show.
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."
Check out the 'Bang A Boomerang' documentary for some great commentary about the tour - including Michael Chugg's entertaining memories :)
From Ingmarie Halling's book 'Backstage Stories'
Fabulous drawing by Doug Warren
Frida after slipping on the wet stage
Contrary to the reports that Frida was unhurt by her fall during an energetic performance of 'Waterloo', it actually resulted in a contusion of her hip and 2 sprained fingers ! You would never have known that she was injured however, she was so professional.
Frida said: "The rainstorm came out of nowhere. But the audience
were clearly going to stay whatever the weather to see us. So, in those
circumstances, we were definitely going ahead with our show. The tumble
shook me up, but that's all. It was a small price to pay when the fans
were showing such a great loyality".
According to Lasse Hallström in the
interview on ABBA The Movie Limited Edition, all Australian concerts
were filmed with five cameras each, one steadycam on stage and four
cameras on tripods. However, most of the material filmed on the first
show in Sydney was damaged by water, hence some editing of the songs in
ABBA - The Movie.
"We waited a long time for the rain to ease up. With so much
electrical equipment around, guitars, microphines, sockets and so on, it
made performing risky. However, we decided not to leave the soaking
audience in the lurch, which was so much appreciated that we have
probably never received such a rapturous reception anywhere – when we
ran on the stage it seemed the ovation would never end." - Agnetha in As I Am .
In 1977, Australia’s population was
14.1 million people – 160,000 of those
people saw ABBA perform Live – and around 60,000 of those people would see ABBA in Sydney. Tickets for the concerts had gone on sale the previous October on
a first in first served basis – tickets sold out very quickly.
There had never been a concert tour
undertaking such as this in Australia before ABBA.
A tour party of 117 people
including a 17 piece Australian orchestra and a movie crew – 28 tonnes of sound
equipment, 30 tonnes of lighting and a custom built hydraulic stage used to
raise and lower the orchestra – a unique feature. Jands in Australia provided much of this equipment and built the custom stage.
All being carted around the country
in IPEC semi-trailers. It took 40 crew to set up and dismantle this equipment.
The setup for Sydney began on 28 February with the first sound rehearsal at 2pm on 1 March.
On this day, 2nd March, there would be a full sound and string rehearsal.
Just a little note of interest - the musical director for the orchestra during this tour was none other than our very own Graeme Lyall from the Don Lane Show !
