ABBAWorld – I Was There
January 22, 2010
This thread will remain open through the whole run of ABBAWorld in London, including the ABBA Fan Club preview day and the Björn and Frida graced opening event. Please do tell us every important impression of this huge exhibition…how was it for you?
Anyone asked the exhibition people why there appears to be this cock-up with the interactive stuff? Are refunds due?
I went to ABBA world on the27th which was absolutely Brilliant but I didn?t bother logging on to look at my interactive stuff
However I just tried it and I was able to log on with my user name and pass word
Its usually best to cut and past pass words,
But when I enter the ticket number it says
This ticket is not available for registration yet. It can take up to 24 hours after your visit before your content is made available.
Which is strange sine I was at abba world over a week ago
Thanks for your kind comments about my Abbaworld photos. I have made a virtual book out of some of them. If anyone wants to take a look here is the link:
http://www.photobox.co.uk/creation/312990301
@Michael – I think the interactive stuff is only available for seven days after your visit, so although the error message you get says ‘not available yet’ I would suspect it’s because it expired even before you tried to access it. You’ll just have to go back!
Please email info [at] touringx.com (and substitute the [at] with an @) if you have any problems accessing your content. Please remember that the content only remains on the site for seven days.
Thank you Sean
Then it looks like I would have had no problem axising my interactive stuff,
I?m planning to go back as its so incredible there, I need a 12 noon booking, as you need hours to take in all the exciting wonderment on display.
Some interesting detail from Claes af Geijerstam’s handwritten song list of the songs due to be performed on the ’79 tour that is in the exhibition – Agnetha’s song Turn Of The Tide is mentioned, so this was either an earlier title of I’m Still Alive or else was a different song that she was working on at the time (it has been speculated this later became Kicki Moberg’s Men natten är vår).
Also, The King Has Lost His Crown was on the set list, after SOS, which may suggest it featured in the early rehearsals for the tour?
I had an amazing time at ABBAWORLD. I went on a Friday, at 10am. It wasn’t busy which was ideal. Way too much to take in. I felt dizzy most of the time because I really didn’t want to miss a stitch. The highlight had to be the original costumes. I think I spent a good ten minutes alone just staring at every tiny detail of Agnetha’s Waterloo outfit. So unbelievable and surreal to be so close to such iconic pop items.
Wouldn’t it be good if Abbaworld could be extended to at least 14th April. Could then visit it on the same day as seeing Kristina and make a full day of it. Fingers crossed.
I expect everyone has had a email from Albert Hall or Livenation but if you are going again (or even the first time for some of us) you can use the code Sw3den24 to get tickets at £15 – all dates and times seem to be up for sale – interestingly they are showing the last date as Sunday 28th but not advertising it as a limited must end event.
I visited on Saturday afternoon and having had to go half way around London to get there from the north because of Underground closures, arrived late.
I also went the wrong way out of Earl’s court despite being aware of the issue. The signposting is non-existent. The publicity at the venue is non-existent. It’s so sad.
The exhibition itself was fantastic. There was so much to see and take in: Details such as what the members did after they arrived back from Brighton, vowing to do nothing over Easter, the pictures of them privately, the pics of them doing the video for KMKY. I wish they’d inlcuded the wheelbarrow shots when they filmed the one for TWTIA. Apparently the view from the cabin is a live feed- if it was, boats and ferries passed by at 3pm! The costumes were amazing, and it was great to see all members contributing new interviews. Frida looks fabulous though she should go red haired again – so warm and inspirational. Agnetha bit her lip and did that ‘nod’ and her laughter is as infectious as ever. Truly outstanding. I’m so sorry how so few people were there, however. I’d go again.
Hi there, I loved reading all the infos and seeing the pictures of ABBA WORLD that were posted here, great! Now that the exibition will not go further than 28th March I booked a flight to London. Unforntunately I had no luck booking tickets for ABBA WORLD: Can anyone tell me, if I would have luck by just going there and get a ticket that same day? Usually it is no problem, or does it have anything to do with the special online features that I have to order a ticket beforehand? Would be so lovely if anyone could tell me. Thanks and see u!
Vera
Hi Vera,
I just went twice last week without having bought tickets beforehand. No problem buying them at the venue.
You won’t regret your visit.. it’s much fun and there’s enough to see. By the way: the best stop is West Brompton Underground station. You’ll just get out and there’s ABBA World!
Have fun!
Will
Two for the price of one becomes reality!
No longer do those words "two for the price of one" need to send a shiver down ABBA fans backs as they remember one of ABBA least favourite songs!
Ticketmaster are offering a two for one offer for all dates up to and including the 25th of March (I presume they are expecting a stampede of distraught UK fans over the last three days as it would seem unlikely these items will grace UK shores again) Offer starts from midday on Friday 26th for 72 hours and you need to enter the code word Countdown on the ticket ordering site against the ticket offer box marked countdown. – extra £2 booking fee per ticket but still a bargain if you have a someone you can bring along (willingly or not!)
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Good for us but not for the success or prestige of ABBA to offer these ticket reductions over such a short run – Lack of coverage and an out of centre location seem to have taken their toll on the success of this event which is a shame as the organisers seems to have done a outstanding job in presentation and design of the show, it should have got more coverage for the interactive aspects alone – is it took late to get someone from "the one show" to visit it and drum up some publicity?
Hope to finally get to it on either the 6th or 13th which will leave the chance of a return if needed!
THANK YOU WILL, thats nice to read! I´m sure the exibition is worth traveling :O)))) London is also cheaper than Melbourne for me….and thanx for underground tip. My Hotel is at Earls Court so I have short ways. Have a nice weekend and thanks!
Vera
I would like to go back for another visit.
It it cheeper if you buy the ticket at the door.
I enjoyed the exhibition IMMMENSELY and as a group we spent nearly 4 hours there, taking it all in, reading everything, photographing and taking advantage of all the interactive elements.
Loved the attention to detail, and the features on the post ABBA careers I really wasn’t expecting that much at all. Had great fun on the interactive stuff, a LOVELY idea that you can keep them. Agree that the choice of songs for the holograms, dancing in the music vids, karaoke, Tretow challenge is too limited. I wanted to sing Under Attack!! I was not expecting to think it was value for money -most London attractions are overpriced IMO, but I thought this was worth it! Obviously the thing is NOT selling as well as they hoped. For a Saturday, it was not busy at all. The many booths and dance mats provided were not even being used. I don’t think it’s been publicised well – most friends and colleagues of mine had no knowledge of it. The fact ticket offers have started and coming off early is an obvious indicator. Mamma Mia seems to have an infinitely bigger draw than ABBA themselves, which is frustrating. I think the film has become a double edged behemoth!
Mamma mia isn?t a bigger draw than ABBA , a museum is a different entity to a stage show or film.
I notice ABBA world isn?t mentioned anywhere on the official ABBA you tube channel , and only gets a small mention in the news section on the mamamia web site, for some season there isn?t the cross fertilisation of publicity you would expect.
I?m still hoping our song for Europe show on march the 8th will give it a plug.
I also think the organisers will be thinking of the long-term not short term ,exhibitions at somewhere like Alexandra palace are promoted six month in advance not two/three month as in the case of ABBA world.
The publicity from London will make it a success in Australia and the publicity from Australia will make it a success in new York, at which point we can all start campaigning to have it return to London.
Of course there is little to say what hasnt been said,il just offer a few points,I went on Tue and must say really enjoyed it,I was a bit skeptical at first,thinking was it just going to be a few old costumes and some pictures tacked up,well there was so much to see,and many pictures I had never seen before.
The songwriting hut was amazing,on the piano I noticed a little book called "The Little White Piano" by a certain Bjorn Ulvaeus…
anyone know anything about this???
I must admit I waited till there was no one around(!)I lent over the barrier and tried to look inside,it was typewritten inside but I wasnt near enough to see what it said,also I didnt want to get chucked out so was only a quick glance!
Looked amazing with the moving lake and trees.
Also the recreation of the Polar Studio was good,all the instruments and the mixing desk.
Was fascinating.
Loved the video interviews with ABBA,and all the key players.Was obvious they all look back on there time with ABBA with great affection.
Not so great…………..,Bjorn and Agnetha`s names spelt wrong in parts,and also photos from Voulez Vouz labelled up as 1975…Nitpicking,maybe.But in an exhibition endorsed by the members themselves,a bit sloppy.
Also,because their music was playing constantly (no bad thing!)from screens playing different songs but which were quite close together,it did get a bit noisy at times and I did leave with a headache! (Im no old codger either,im 34!)
But these only minor things,I would say to anyone who is wondering about timings,that you should allow a good 3 hours as a minimum,I didnt race round, or crawl either,but I watched every video,and read every board,and of course took part in the interactive elements as well.
The Trewtow mix was great,but to short! And I
was quite proud of my 73% score!
All in all I was undecided whether to go or not,I live 100 miles away from London so it was an all day job,literally,with travel,but I let the train and the Tube take the strain,and im real glad I went,it was all I expected and more.
If your undecided,I say,go see!
I went back for a second visit today , plucked up the courage to get up on stage and dance to Dancing Queen ,which I d hadn?t done the first time ,and had the best fun I have had for years, I cant sing so I was trying to copy the dance moves of the hologram?s, GREAT FUN FUN FUN FUN they let me do it three times even though it is only record the first. I want to go back for a third visit, so I can try and synchronise my dance move better with the holograms , I also danced on a video and had an album cover picture taken.
I enjoyed it so much I could have slept there , and please don?t think I?m strange but I even like the smell of the place.
I cant wait to check my interactive stuff.
How would I rate it.
Better than the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
Intermezzo are reporting ABBAWORLD will close on the 28th March as planned.
It does mention that the ABBAWORLD organisers are now looking for a permanent London home in the Leicester Square area for the exhibit.
I am visiting ABBA World nearer the end of march. I just wondered whether photography is permitted in the exhibition – i would think it is but want to be certain before I go.
Yes, you are permitted to take photos.
Have a good time!
Ice
I went to ABBAWorld yesterday, it was great, I really enjoyed performing Mamma Mia with the band, and the costumes were fabulous to see.
I may have been expecting too much.. I was thrilled to see so many items form ABBA’s history and did enjoy the visit but I was expecting more structure and context to the displays and to have more information available than a single panel covering a years work or album release.
A well planned exhibition will interest someone even if they have little knowledge or interest in the subject as the structure and presentation of the exhibition draws them in I doubt as it is that the world would interest many passing interest ABBA followers for very long.
There are some superb display aspects to the show and the ground breaking interactive side but there are many areas where it is uninformative and displays amount to a few pictures to cover an album release. As this exhibition has come from the original idea of the museum it did lead me to think it would have detail and not rely on the expectation of people being thrilled to see an ABBA item.
I am sure they have picked up a lot from the London reaction to the show and will incorporate changes when it hits Melbourne
Top Items
The new ABBA interviews and all members being open about ABBA and themselves
The additional videos from the inner circle – good to see Michel looking so well
The Ola tributes and Stig room (getting more recognition than we might have expected)
The costumes sections and seeing the detail close up – (even if it was a bit odd to see single examples in most cases rather than having four together or at least the two girls side by side which would have made the greater impact.)
The mixing desk
The Piano
Being able to take photos freely
The not so good points
A entire years work put in a few paragraphs – no context or info about the seventies or ABBA competitors or the music scene at that time
Albums were done in a few pictures and covers – few if any details of singles, chart positions why the titles were chosen, promotional poster and appearances etc
Little Fan memorabilia – the items that are on show tended to be the stuff only ABBA or the inner circle would only have had access to.
Sound – have a common playback system – some over lap will happen but by the time you get to the "tour section" the music from all the rooms just make an unrecognisable noise (the only time I ever want to call ABBA music that!)
ABBA have influenced more than just a stage show – no details of the tribute bands, movies and musicians which have sited ABBA as an inspiration
Visited ABBA world on sunday 21st March. Had a fantastic time, am still trying to calm myself down.
The display of ABBA costumes was great. It was great being able to see small details that can’t be picked up in photos and videos of ABBA performing in them.
I went on stage and performed dancing queen with the holograms. I had rehearsed a routine before my visit so hope I entertained the people watching me.
Interviews with ABBA members were a nice touch. Agnetha’s was my favourite.
I thought a great job was done recreating certain rooms like Polar studio, Stig’s office and the dressing room.
Being in my late teens, I was not about when ABBA were together so have very little ABBA items from that time, so the shop was great for me to collect some more items. I bought the ABBA letters (could not resist, they are great), couple of posters, keyring, pin badge, coasters, mouse mat, couple of post cards, souvenir book and a mug. I had also bought the ABBA World globe tshirt from the online shop prior to my visit.
All in all, I had a fantastic time and recommend it to anyone who has not yet been.
After visiting Abba world on the preview fan day, my friend and I thought we would also visit it again on the last day (first in, last out senario). I think we just go too excited about it on our first visit to appreciate it. This time we took it all in and still had just as wonderful a time as before.
We had only one problem, and that was we had to renew our tickets after 4 hours as they had expired. We were told that they didn’t expect anyone to be there for more than 4 hours and looked at us in dismay when we said we had already been there 6. Well we were enjoying ourselves of course.
Finally it was a shame that much of the shops stock had starting to be shipped to Australia (or so we were told). Therefore that last opportunity to buy the items we regretted not buying on the first day (due to the shock at the price) was missed.
Anyway thoroughly enjoyed Abba world.
Janet
Hej!
I’ve been with 2 friends last week at the last day….what an amazing experience! I was overwhelmed and had a very, VERY proud feeling! I was in tears at the beginning….. A fantastic experience! Hope to see it again in the future!