ABBA in Concert

In 1999, ABBA turned down an offer of $1 billion to do a reunion tour, with Benny quipping "We're the band that does not come back." With all their worldwide success, 8 albums, and songs that are being covered & re-covered by new artists 30 years later, it's hard to believe the cultural colossus known as ABBA only toured twice. There was the Australia tour captured in "ABBA the Movie" and the North American/European tour in this, "ABBA in Concert".

Only intended to be a 55-min TV special produced by a reluctant Swedish channel, "ABBA in Concert" may leave you wanting more songs, but what it delivers is powerful and authentic. Speaking as an amateur sound engineer and even amateurer film editor, I can say that that the production is remarkably tight & energetic, without any cheap filler like lengthy crowd scenes over the music, or re-using footage from different songs to fill in the gaps (which almost every other concert video of the 70s-80s did, due to the expense of having multiple cameras).

"ABBA in Concert" (the concert footage portion) was filmed over the course of 2 nights at Wembley, using 5 cameras each time. One stage camera was supposedly operated by a guy ON ROLLERSKATES. Too cool. The result is plenty of clear shots of each band member with both closeup intimate angles as well as powerful wide angles.

Although this was their first and only tour of the USA, unfortunately no USA shows were used. I can only guess, from the description in their liner notes, that ABBA was not as wildly received in some of the American venues which were smaller. Instead of concert footage we get 15-20 minutes of road footage which is interesting because we get to "travel" with the band. However it lacks the intensity of the road/hotel footage on the Australian "ABBA the Movie" which was at times frightening with the number of crazed fans. Suddenly & inexplicably we switch from USA road footage to the Wembley concert (without any establishing shots of London or the British fans).

But once the concert begins, it's like an unrelenting freight train picking up momentum until its spectacular end (the last 3 songs in particular had me rockin on the sofa, much to my dog's confusion). As you're watching you realize, despite their lack of touring experience, Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny & Frida were superstars in every sense. Professional, practiced, polished and totally pumped with energy, they put on a show every bit as dazzling as you'd hope. I've been going to concerts since the late 80s, and aside from a Van Halen show where David Lee Roth was climbing the rafters of the stadium while the bassist was log rolling down the stage, this has got to be one of the most energetic shows I can think of, and I'm kicking myself for missing it. But at least we have this DVD.

The setlist is, in this order,

1 Waterloo

2 Eagle

3 Take A Chance On Me

4 Voulez-Vous

5 Chiquitita

6 I Have A Dream

7 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

8 Knowing Me, Knowing You

9 Summer Night City

10 Dancing Queen

11 Does Your Mother Know

12 Hole In Your Soul

Bonus Tracks

13 The Way Old Friends Do (Previously Unreleased On DVD)

14 I Have A Dream (Unedited Live Version)

15 Thank You For The Music (Previously Unreleased Performance From The Tour, Never Broadcast)

16 Interview With Director Urban Lasson

17 Interview With Promoter And Tour Producer Thomas Johansson

18 Tour Souvenir Programme Picture Gallery

19 Mamma Mia! Trailer

This 2004 DVD release of the 1980 (ABBA in Concert) has good video quality, slightly grainy as with all concert vids of the times, and the audio is pretty good too. Apparently in 1980 it was one of the first stereo TV broadcasts because the Japanese TV stations demanded it, and 30 years later it still holds up. ABBA fans should definitely check this one out. If you're new to ABBA, I would start with the documentary "Super Troupers" or the Australian tour in "ABBA the Movie" because they present more of a story format. But for pure concert footage of ABBA, this can't be beat.

I would like to tell everybody that this concert special is perfect!! Although there are songs that were not included on the DVD, a lot of Abba's greatest hits were included.

The only thing I didn't like much is that the song Waterloo is not complete but just part of it, but the rest of the special is excellent. I love it very much, and I would recommend it to everybody.

From beginning to end you can't stop dancing, the songs are great, the energy, the music, everything is fantastic. And I'm a musician so I know what I'm talking about.

I would love to see another new release of abba's concerts on DVD as soon as possible.

And to finish this up, I would like to say that Agnetha was gorgeous, so beautiful, and was and still is a very good human being. She's one of the loves of my life, he he. God bless you Agnetha! Thanks to you and the others in the group for giving the people such fantastic and beautiful music, take care you all;

Alberto Marrero

Being a huge and devoted ABBA Fan for about 30 years, I was thrilled that the '79 ABBA concert was finally released on DVD! But due to time constrictions when the concert was filmed for television, there is a bunch of concert footage that wasn't included. For example, Agnetha's vocal and piano solo of "I'm Still Alive." It would have been absolutely THRILLING if they could've included that in the concert DVD. There are also other songs not included that I would've loved to have seen the Girls of ABBA sing live.

If you're an ABBA Fan like I am, the DVD is most definitely worth buying and watching over and over again. It is very heart pounding and almost impossible to control yourself from singing along with the Girls.

Just enjoy what little of the concert is on the DVD! I surely have! And with any luck, maybe another concert DVD will be released called "More ABBA in Concert"!!

ABBA were never known as a live act. In fact in their hey day, they were accused of being a hit machine. This nowadays is rejected, the ins and outs of each ABBA song is now well documented to have been a very complicated derivation of a song from its early stages to its completed form.

ABBA In Concert is ABBA at their best, recently released on DVD the show flows through their gruelling US tour. A small insight into the group's day to day lives is included, but mainly the music is concentrated on.

I recently watched Madonna's Confessions on the Dancefloor Show on TV, now also out on DVD, this show by Madonna had undertaken many hours of editing, overdubbing and to be frank was a fraud. She did not sound anything like this in reality, she was taken into the studio and redid many of the vocals.

This in ABBA's In Concert DVD is evidently not done, the group is shown performing live as live was intended, with absolutely no overdubs and a true live sound. The difference between a Madonna "live" concert and an ABBA Live concert is massive, Madonna defrauded the viewer, ABBA played it live as true professionals, and I respect ABBA for having shown the world that they were TRUE artists and not frauds like many of the stars of today with all their fake voice enhancements.

Long live ABBA, they will be remembered for far longer than a Madonna or anything produced in today's throw away music world.

A film showing the Swedish pop group ABBA's tour of North America and Europe in 1979. The majority of the film is devoted to the concert at Wembley Arena in London but we also have footage from certain US concerts plus backstage and between-concerts scenes.

A great reminder of the phenomenon that was ABBA - the innocent, singalong lyrics, the wonderful tunes. Also a reminder when music still had a degree of innocence and wonder.

So, as you would expect, the music is great. However, the rest, even the concert theatrics are quite dull. The behind-the-scenes stuff doesn't add anything, is largely bland and even feels staged. The concerts capture the vibrancy and innocence of the band, but the stage work feels sort of amateurish. This amateurishness adds to the charm in one way but just feels clumsy in another.

Maybe I just feel disappointed that an ABBA show would seem so ordinary.

Also worth noting that this tour was ABBA's final tour. They broke up three years later, never having toured again.