Strange but true, the day after seeing Iron Maiden live at the London Stadium, we went to see ABBA Voyage on Sunday 29th June 2025. Heavy metal one night, cheesy pop the next... it was certainly a weekend of contrasts.
That was partly the idea. Iron Maiden was mainly for me, while ABBA Voyage was mainly for Debs, so it seemed a pretty good way of making a full weekend out of the trip.
This was the 2nd time I'd seen ABBA Voyage and probably the 3rd or 4th time Debs had been. It was originally set up as something of a pop-up event and, if I remember rightly, there was talk of the show eventually travelling around the world. Instead, it seems to have found a permanent home in London, at least for the time being.
When I first heard about bands being recreated using holograms and digital avatars, I imagined something like a glorified video screen, or perhaps an image projected onto glass or smoke. ABBA Voyage is nothing like that.
The digital versions of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid genuinely appear to move around the stage, walk towards the audience and interact with each other. Huge screens help give the whole thing the scale of a proper arena concert, while the lighting, sound and acoustics add enormously to the illusion. There's also a live band on stage, which makes a bigger difference than you might expect.
Honestly, within about 10 or 15 minutes you completely forget that the four members of ABBA aren't actually standing in front of you. You just buy into the whole thing.
I love the venue too. The purpose-built ABBA Arena somehow manages to feel fairly intimate despite holding a lot of people, with a mixture of standing areas, normal seating and the more private dance booths or 'pods'. We've tried both standing and seated tickets now and, for us, standing wins. You can dance, move around and get more involved, whereas the seats make it feel slightly more relaxed and theatre-like.
The audience certainly plays its part as well. Every time we've been there have been plenty of sequins, platform boots, flared trousers and long wigs. The ABBA avatars are based on how the group looked in the 1970s, so all of that dressing up just adds another layer of nostalgia to the night.
The set isn't completely fixed either. Songs are changed from time to time, so if, like us, you go back every so often, there's usually something slightly different to see.
What really impresses me is how much thought has gone into the whole experience. From arriving by train, to the photo opportunities, the bars and the purpose-built arena itself, everything has been designed around this one show. It never feels like ABBA have simply been dropped into an ordinary concert venue; the entire place exists to make the experience work.
And it really does work.
We've already seen ABBA Voyage several times between us, and I can't imagine this being the last. We'll definitely be back.
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