I have seen the future of live entertainment, thanks to ABBA - Karen Koren

Katy (my daughter) bought me a lovely Christmas present which I was able to enjoy last week. It was the ABBA Voyage in Stratford at a purpose-built arena with 500 moving lights, 291 speakers and a capacity of 3,000.

The bespoke show that was made by ABBA themselves is the absolute future of entertainment – to see the best of ABBA in form and looks. They are avatars and they look spectacular. From the moment they rose from the back of the auditorium in shadow form and becoming full blown colour and real. Whatever they are, the effect is genuinely jaw-dropping. Chants roar through the audience as the show starts and you see them: Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida. Dressed in tight, sequinned jumpsuits, crowned with full heads of hair, they’re glowing, smiling and flawless. With incredible “ABBAesque” costumes, but none that you have seen before. There’s a ten-piece live band which appears and disappears depending on which song is being performed. The surround sound is incredible and multiscreen close-ups flawless.

Watching the four figures on the stage, it’s almost impossible to tell you’re not watching human beings. The projections on the giant screens either side of the stage, make them look slightly too good, but your attention is drawn to the human-sized avatars towards the back of the stage. Once you get over the weirdness – and give up comparing the avatars to the ‘real thing’ – the fun begins. The technology is mind-boggling. Wherever you are in the arena, you’re totally immersed by lights, whisked into a dazzling futuristic disco. There are multiple screens of video and stunning transitions between songs: a huge sun silhouette for Chiquitita, the Northern Lights for Fernando and the deep cosmos for Summer Night City. Dancing Queen is when all the audience sing in unison and The Winner Takes It All is the encore and we are moved to tears.

The 3D digital ABBA-tars as they are called were created by blending five weeks of ABBA’s current selves with younger body doubles, mixing them to look like their ’70s prime. It’s a great idea and ABBA always were innovative, so it makes sense that they’re pioneering this exciting technology in live entertainment. It’s the future and everyone should experience it at least once.