The Swedish supergroup ABBA continues to draw devoted fans worldwide, despite their having disbanded back in 1982 and then again in 2021 after the release of their ninth studio album Voyage. The fact that the show Thank You for the Music, the ultimate tribute to ABBA is currently on tour after some 20 years after the band’s heyday demonstrates the group’s enduring appeal. There’s something about ABBA’s songs that is irresistible – those catchy melodies and danceable rhythms appeal to generation after generation.
In this show, Thank You for the Music, playing for one night only at the Adelphi Theatre, we’ve given two hours of the greatest ABBA hits – and somehow every single song remains a hit. It’s fun beforehand to try and guess what you’ll hear. The tribute band begin with Dancing Queen and end, of course, with Thank You for the Music. We get Waterloo, the song with which ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, and many, more favourites from Super Trouper and Money, Money, Money to S.O.S. and The Name of the Game.
Emma Parker and Kellie Valance as Agnetha and Frida are the real stars, dressed in suitably seventies kit and singing and dancing with power and energy. Benny and Bjorn are played by Steven Nelson and Dave Miles in satin bell bottoms and white platform boots. Nelson, in an awful wig, cheerfully hams up his performance while Miles stays very much in the background. The numbers are interspersed with a thin spread of cheesy banter, very loosely adapted to the current venue. The audience are encouraged to interact, holding up their phone torches for one number, belting out the chorus for another. There’s only one song when we are asked to get up and dance – Parker training us briefly in a basic move. But that doesn’t stop many fans from disco-ing away the entire show.
On stage there are also two backing vocalists, Amy Reet and Elspeth Foster, and an impressive threesome – Jason Gumbley on drums, Ben Hanson on bass and Harry Garbutt on keys – providing the backing tracks.
It’s a neat package, even if there are no surprises. Entertainers, the production company behind the show, also offer similar shows on Neil Diamond, Elton John, George Michael and Queen.
Reviewed on 21 December and tours until 15 December 2023
