Bjorn Again are the premier ABBA tribute band, and these special shows are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Waterloo winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.
The best tribute band in the world is no hyperbole. They began in Melbourne in 1988, at the Tote Hotel in Collingwood. The band was put together by John Tyrell and Rod Stephen and was initially a parody of the original group.
What were they aiming for? An affectionate and satirical take like the The Rutles, co-created by Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle. Which has acquired cult status.
Or something like the Bootleg Beatles, the best Fab Four tribute band, and which are still touring. I saw them here last year.
Mostly the latter, with a little of the former.
There can be three versions of the show performing across the globe. There is a European division and an Australasian one.
The shows are fully rehearsed and timed down to the last minute. The equal to the famous James Brown Revues spanning five decades.
They have appeared at iconic festivals like Glastonbury and Knebworth.
David Grohl loves them, when they preceded headline act Nirvana at the Reading Festival in 1992. They stole the show and got the best response of the day.
The best endorsement is from the original band. Benny Anderson states they are the closest to watching the real ABBA.
Many serious music fans, critics, performers have a studied disdain for tribute acts. Like academic and highly regarded modern music critic Greil Marcus. Don’t you just hate tribute bands. No!
I see as many as I can. They allow you to avoid the baggage and convoluted history of the original artists. You can wallow in the nostalgic good times with a guilty pleasure.
The Rolling Stones have achieved the rare distinction of being their own tribute band. Bob Dylan has achieved the even rarer distinction of being the exact opposite, and deservedly gaining a Nobel prize.
The show starts with Waterloo and in the first few minutes the voodoo magic takes hold.
Are they just miming all this or is it real? This has happened to all the tribute Beatles and the Beach Boys permutations.
What is startling and honestly emotional is the intense presence the music has performed live. Akin to Pop Art and the Super Realists.
Super Trouper. Audience waves arms on cue. Written about the quartets life as they became the biggest stars on the planet.
Honey, Honey. A perfect companion song to the Pop Bubblegum classic Sugar, Sugar. Bjorn Volvo-us is playing a 12-string guitar.
The hooks the songwriters could produce by the bucket load have their origins in the classic Brill Building repertoire, and the production work of Phil Spector, crucially assisted by engineer Larry Levine and arranger Jack Specs Nitzsche.
Early song Ring,Ring had help from Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. The two singers are wonderful in unison, Agnetha Falstart and Frida Longstockin.
I Do, I Do, I Do sounds like superior Music Hall and is a perfect wedding song.
Punk was germinating in 1977 in Australasia and peaked here in ’78 and ’79.
Some of us serious music addicts decided to turn our back on Pop music and so we came to regards ABBA as the enemy. They were not socio-politically correct.
But the band was far more Punk than we realised at the time.
Glen Matlock and Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols were massive fans. Matlock wrote the Punk anthem Pretty Vacant by adapting the rhythm riffs to ABBA’s SOS.
It was reversed and formed the key riff to the Clash’s I’m So Bored with the USA.
They perform the song, and I can hear the Clash rhythm speeded up, but the Pistols version remains cryptic. Bjorn Again segue their version tonight into the Police’s Message in a Bottle, complete with a few Metal guitar licks.
It is in the great bass line of the original song. That puts ABBA on a par with James Brown for innovation and being multiply sampled.
The drummer Ola Drumkit plays a flute to lead Fernando. The National Youth Theatre Junior Choir are on stage to provide backing voices.
They are there for I Have a Dream as well.
The pick of the ballads would be The Winner Takes It All, and the players act out the drama, as in players only love you when they’re playing. A nod to Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie and Lindsay.
Rock Me is in the best traditions of Glam Rock. The Sweet, Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band. The guys get to show their Rock’n’roll roots.
Take A Chance on Me has Benny Anderwear, who has been behind the keyboards all night, step out and indulge in some Old Skool Rap. Around the time of the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash.
Most startling was when the guys confused ABBA and AC-DC. Bjorn played the opening riff of Thunderstruck, then launching into Moneytalks. Most amusing is that it sounds like an ABBA song even when played in the original style.
Voulez Vous is hard Disco with a bass line that Chic’s Bernard Edward would have killed for. Rutger Sonofagunn is the player.
Gimme! Gimme! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight), and we see four male dancers who could well be Chippendale strays.
Mamma Mia is a sheer blast of hook-laden fun, the females in Wonder Woman costume.
Chiquitita is superior Latin-tinged Pop with military drums, and close to a two-step rhythm.
Ola Drumkit takes time out to do a solo featuring rapid-fire kick drums.
The matinee crowd were a little shy in the first half but have been on their feet and raging after the intermission.
Waterloo closes the show with clarion vocals.
Bjorn Again have a deserved legendary status and it was a privilege to finally get to experience them.
Rev. Orange Peel
