ABBA's thriving avatar show in London presents a glimpse at a daring contemporary demand for live music

January 03, 2023: -Before the launch of “ABBA Voyage,” the London concert performed by the 3D avatar of the iconic Swedish band, member Björn Ulvaeus stated that they hoped audiences would “feel that they’ve gone through something that they’ve never seen before.”

After its May 27 debut, much of the action from domestic and international critics, fans and enterprise professionals has been rapturous.

“Other than the team concerned, no one knew how they would integrate an avatar-based performance,” Sarah Cox, director of live event technical consultancy Neutral, Human, told CNBC. “That blew me away as someone operating on real-time graphics. My jaw hit the floor. You look around, and people are purchasing the idea that ABBA is there.”

Demand has been strong. The show’s run has been extended to November 2023 and could go beyond that.

And the group has confirmed it aims to take the show worldwide.

“Our ambition is to make another ABBA Journey, let’s say in North America, Australasia; we could do another in Europe. We can duplicate the theatre and the show,” producer Svana Gisla told a U.K. government committee session in November.

It also indicates further shows to start following the same model.

“The tech itself isn’t new, but how we’ve used it and the scale and barriers we’ve broken down are unique. I’m sure others will follow and are planning to follow,” Gisla spoke.

She added that that could “absolutely” be the case somewhere like Las Vegas, where some displays manoeuvre around the clock with rotating crews.

“We have live songwriters, so we hold our band and do seven shows five days a week. But you could rumble round the clock. Vegas will adopt this recreation style quickly and do Elvis or the Beatles.”