ABBA’s Voyage concert series is making London “Money, Money, Money”
ABBA’s Voyage concert series is making London “Money, Money, Money”
This story was produced by our colleagues at the BBC.
ABBA’s Voyage concert series opened in May of 2022 in Stratford, London, featuring a rundown of both classics and new songs as performed by three-dimensional avatars of the band’s four pop singers. The Guardian has called it a “a dazzling retro-futurist extravaganza” and the concert is noted as one of the most expensive productions in music history.
But Voyage has done lots for London’s economy too — providing more than $400 million for London’s economy.
The arena was built specifically for the concert and is situated just a two-minute walk from what was the 2012 Olympic Stadium.
In the year since the concert opened, more than a million super troupers and dancing queens saw the ABBA show, with a fifth of attendees coming from outside the United Kingdom. Roughly 40% of all the money, money, money was generated within a few miles of the venue — including some of the most deprived areas all of Britain.
ABBA’s arena can be fully dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. It found its current location with the help of the London Legacy Development Corporation, which was created to redevelop East London after the Olympics.
“They were looking with their wonderful new technology show for an opportunity to launch it in London and were looking at several sites. And we were able to find them a site on the park,” said Mark Camley, the executive director for park operations and venues.
But that area will soon be housing. “We’re building out different areas over time. And this is one of the later areas that we’ll build out, but it will be a housing area with a new commercial center,” he said.
So how long is ABBA to be there?
“We’re in closer discussion with them about how long they would like to stay,” Camley explained. “And I think we are delighted with how well it has gone but recognize that actually building housing is also important for London. But while they’re here, we all want to enjoy it.”
ABBA has sung about empty houses before, but these new houses will eventually force them to move. The current lease ends in three years. But the band is hoping that that these new figures will increase the chances of being renewed. In the meantime, the show goes on and the (virtual) band continues to say “thank you for the music.”
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