The ABBA Show

Once upon a time there was Abba. When they came to an end, the Abba tribute band was born. First off, and king amongst tribute bands, was Bjorn Again. They looked like Abba, dressed like Abba, played like Abba, sang like Abba. But times move on, and with the multiplicity of bands around, there is bound to be some variation. The ABBA Show featuring ABBAsolutely FABBAulous (oh, to capitalise or not to capitalise? The first-world dilemmas of the modern blogger!) came to Wellington to play their unique Aussie-style Abba impersonations.

What's the difference? Well, firstly the clothes were more "inspired by Abba" than actual facsimiles of the costumes worn by the band. Similarly, apart from Bjorn (in a wig - I sincerely hope) they didn't look much like them. OK, one girl was blonde, the other not, one guy played a piano, another guitar. (They also had a bassist and a drummer, but they sat at the back). So the music was completely live, not just performed to a backing track, which was good. Also, the girls could sing (not a given in all tribute bands) - possibly better than the originals.

Occasionally, they chatted amongst themselves, in what were supposed to be Swedish accents, but actually sounded German. They also interacted with the audience to encourage singing along and dancing. At one point Benny threw a tantrum on stage - "it's called Dancing Queen, not Sitting Queen!"

However, none of this mattered. To an audience mostly in their 40s or 50s (some had dragged their kids along, who must have been mystified by the whole spectacle) it was a spectacular wallow in nostalgia. Inevitably, some had dressed up for the occasion. Equally inevitably, some of those that did shouldn't have gone out in public in that.

As anyone who's been to a tribute band show before will know, you know all the songs. They did play one song I'd not heard before (I've Been Waiting For You), but it turns out that this was released as a single in Australia and New Zealand, where it was a hit. Otherwise they stuck to the standard repertoire of hits we all know and love.