ABBA Voyage: The Concert Residency – CONTAINS MAJOR SET LIST SPOILERS

[Sheena]

"Oh no, you don't walk in here, you need to go down the red carpet"

ME IN JEANS and a T-SHIRT, Richard and JUDY to our right...

 

[lolly]

And we don't look a DAY OLDER!

NOT DEAD YET

 

[Sheena]

They can move the show but this arena was built for it - you can't just move it into the Brighton Dome or the Sydney Opera House is what I meant

Again, I think that's the whole point- the arena built for it is sustainable and can be moved. That was KIND of the point.

 

[Sheena]

The STAGE DOOR:

"Frida, would you mind signing..."

Frida: "NO!", flounces past...

 

[Madíson]

My understanding too was that the Arena itself was designed to be easily moved.

It won’t stay where it is. ABBA’s planning permission was always clearly time-limited - they are committed to flattening the whole site at the end. There’s a whole neighbourhood with planning consent scheduled to start being built there from 2026.

If they wanted to keep it in London, I wonder if they could move it to where that hideous MSG death sphere was going to be.

 

[Christian]

We'll all be merrily flying off to SYDNEY when they ship the arena there, add in a twenty second animated interlude of SUPER TROUPER and a new MUG in the shop - and nothing else

 

[lolly]

According to someone on one of the Facebook groups, from a member of staff at the venue, they are anticipating Vegas, Australia and Singapore all to be announced at the 2nd anniversary Q&A with B&B.

I find it hard to think a security guard or anyone flogging the programmes would be privy to that kind of info though, so that may well just be someone picking up on the three locations most frequently mentioned.

 

[Christian]

Launching three new locations at the same time seems really unlikely given how hands on they are with the production and the promotion.

 

[lolly]

Yes, I see no reason why it couldn't run in all those places simultaneously, but not launching at the same time or close to it.

 

[Christian]

Yes, I see no reason why it couldn't run in all those places simultaneously, but not launching at the same time or close to it.

Plus it's a lot easier to hop to London from Sweden than it is to any of those other places.

 

[Christian]

I am surprised they haven't updated the show, especially now they've got their heads around the tech and how long they can use the big "hologram" screens for. I imagine two years on, things will have developed quite a. bit on that front and I wonder if the next sit down for the show will be quite different to what we've got in London.

 

[Soldi]

Everyone’s favourite D-lister ‘AR MAE also in attendance

 

[lolly]

With Mae, Lucie Jones and SuRie at Abba Arena and Nicki French at that event in Brighton, where were Lindsay Dracass, Daz Sampson and Jessica Garlick?

 

[Christian]

I'm actually surprised Sam Ryder was booked and busy.

 

[Christian]

diamond geezer

diamondgeezer.blogspot.com

All the information you could ever want about Pudding Mill Lane Station, with some ABBA Voyage bits towards the end.

Basically, the dismantling of the venue was originally due to happen in December this year, but of course has now been put back. The producers would like to stay as the stadium isn't quite as flat-pack as originally suggested, and will be quite pricey to move. The council has its own priorities though and want the site for housing as originally planned.

Ticket sales are bringing in £1.5 million every week, and that's before you get to what the local bars, restaurants, container hotel, parking, etc., are taking (and then paying out a portion of in business rates).

And yet: The elephant in the room at Pudding Mill Lane is the Abba Arena which has been far more successful than ever imagined. When it opened it only had planning permission until 31st March 2025 meaning the building would have started to be dismantled at the end of this year. That deadline's since been extended to 2026 but the intention remains that it must disappear because the underlying plan for housing takes precedence. This prime spot by the station is needed for shops, a health centre, employment space and a community focus, even if that means sacrificing a world class tourist attraction for a pigeon-y piazza and few stacks of flats.

The future: The promoters would love Abba Voyage "to stay forever", because although the arena's technically reusable it's not economically viable to move it elsewhere, but it'd take a strategic change of heart for that to happen. The golden goose which put Pudding Mill Lane on the world map may yet fly away, replaced by an identikit neighbourhood of densely-packed housing with a station that's still unnecessarily enormous. Come back in ten more years and see how it all turns out.

 

[Christian]

A typical Saturday: Very quiet. A few more bored teenaged stunt cyclists than usual. Sudden arrival of provincial 60-somethings in glittery tops and swishy slacks, thinking there was some genuine need to get here early. Increasing onslaught of giggly families, spangled friends and overdressed ladies spilling across the street. Sudden quiet bit during the performance. Leery invasion by beery West Ham fans on occasional weekends. Repeated onslaught for evening performance. A few last strays hanging around outside the bar in the 'Snoozebox' container hotel.

 

[lolly]

What was in that spot before the arena which needed a station like Pudding Mill Lane? I thought it opened for the arena specifically - and even then wondered who on earth used it outside of Voyage shows.

 

[GNL]

who on earth used it outside of Voyage shows.

ME! (but literally just me)

 

[Pingu]

What was in that spot before the arena which needed a station like Pudding Mill Lane? I thought it opened for the arena specifically - and even then wondered who on earth used it outside of Voyage shows.

Pretty much nothing was there. It was originally a pretty small basic station that was only built to take some pressure off Stratford, but it was closed in the mid-2000s partly because it wouldn't have been able to cope with the passenger numbers at the Olympics and partly because the Elizabeth Line was set to blitz right through the site anyway.

It was rebuilt bigger than it needed to be as futureproofing for all the regeneration that was anticipated post-Olympics, so it's fairly new in its current form.