ABBA: In Concert (1979)

A film showing the Swedish pop group ABBA's tour of North America and Europe in 1979. The majority of the film is devoted to the concert at Wembley Arena in London but we also have footage from certain US concerts plus backstage and between-concerts scenes.A great reminder of the phenomenon that was ABBA - the innocent, singalong lyrics, the wonderful tunes. Also a reminder when music still had a degree of innocence and wonder.So, as you would expect, the music is great. However, the rest, even the concert theatrics are quite dull. The behind-the-scenes stuff doesn't add anything, is largely bland and even feels staged. The concerts capture the vibrancy and innocence of the band, but the stage work feels sort of amateurish. This amateurishness adds to the charm in one way but just feels clumsy in another.Maybe I just feel disappointed that an ABBA show would seem so ordinary. Also worth noting that this tour was ABBA's final tour. They broke up three years later, never having toured again.

ABBA were never known as a live act. In fact in their hey day, they were accused of being a hit machine. This nowadays is rejected, the ins and outs of each ABBA song is now well documented to have been a very complicated derivation of a song from its early stages to its completed form.ABBA In Concert is ABBA at their best, recently released on DVD the show flows through their gruelling US tour. A small insight into the group's day to day lives is included, but mainly the music is concentrated on.I recently watched Madonna's Confessions on the Dancefloor Show on TV, now also out on DVD, this show by Madonna had undertaken many hours of editing, overdubbing and to be frank was a fraud. She did not sound anything like this in reality, she was taken into the studio and redid many of the vocals.This in ABBA's In Concert DVD is evidently not done, the group is shown performing live as live was intended, with absolutely no overdubs and a true live sound. The difference between a Madonna "live" concert and an ABBA Live concert is massive, Madonna defrauded the viewer, ABBA played it live as true professionals, and I respect ABBA for having shown the world that they were TRUE artists and not frauds like many of the stars of today with all their fake voice enhancements.Long live ABBA, they will be remembered for far longer than a Madonna or anything produced in today's throw away music world.

Abba only toured twice in their extremely successful career, and ABBA in Concert followed their 1979 tour of the United States and Europe.Kicking off with the group performing their breakthrough song Waterloo, we are then transported to America, where they are seen relaxing and preparing for their shows. The camera then suddenly transports us to the Wembley Arena in London, and a wonderful live concert to a crowd of around 45,000 fans! There were many critics to any live show Abba conducted, but they sure do shine at Wembley, and definitely seemed to be enjoying it (Frida particularly)! Great shots of the group in performance also.It was a shame that we did not see Abba actually perform in the US, where they were sadly not as successful as elsewhere in the world, but did have their fans.Unsurprising that the concert included the terrific Dancing Queen, and the sheer excitement of the crowd certainly sealed their popularity as one of the biggest groups in the world, even if, ironically, 1979 was the year that, despite this massive world tour, was the only year between 1976 and 1980 in which Abba had no UK #1s or U.S. Top 15 hits! Nevertheless, it's hard to believe the group split up so long ago now, as this film makes you believe that you can still go and see them live!ABBA in Concert is a definite must for any Abba fan, with terrific, polished performances that showcased the group as a perfectly great live band as well as a studio group.

Being a huge and devoted ABBA Fan for about 30 years, I was thrilled that the '79 ABBA concert was finally released on DVD! But due to time constrictions when the concert was filmed for television, there is a bunch of concert footage that wasn't included. For example, Agnetha's vocal and piano solo of "I'm Still Alive." It would have been absolutely THRILLING if they could've included that in the concert DVD. There are also other songs not included that I would've loved to have seen the Girls of ABBA sing live.If you're an ABBA Fan like I am, the DVD is most definitely worth buying and watching over and over again. It is very heart pounding and almost impossible to control yourself from singing along with the Girls.Just enjoy what little of the concert is on the DVD! I surely have! And with any luck, maybe another concert DVD will be released called "More ABBA in Concert"!!