Thoughts on Virtual ABBA Tour

(This is mostly a rant about how the news seems to be messing up their reports on the virtual ABBA thing, but they're my thoughts so I'm sharing them.)

So a lot of news has been coming out about the Digital ABBA thing that was released late last year I believe.  It's going to be a live show with a live band and stuff, but with ABBA as virtual avatars or holograms or something like that.  The show seems very promising to me and I couldn't be more excited!  Also my theory about them using audio from the 1977 tour seems to be correct, so I'm quite happy about that. I'm a bit sad that there probably won't be a way of holding the member's hands like ABBA had done while performing live (reaching down and holding fans' hands, etc), but nevertheless, I think this is one of the best things that has been released so far and it gives fans of the later generation, like me, a chance to see ABBA "performing" live.

One thing that has me very confused and a little bit annoyed is the news reports that keep on giving misleading information, like "ABBA gets together for a reunion tour" and "ABBA are reuniting in 2018", etc.  In all the videos and articles I've read about this, it seems quite apparent that ABBA are not reuniting. They're just being put in digital form to give a recreation of an ABBA concert.  The four members are not getting back together and reuniting the band to perform in front of a live audience.  It's all virtual. There's a difference here and for some reason news sites don't get that.  But whatever, at least the news is being shared and is causing a lot of hype.

Another thing I find a bit interesting is when reports say that the ABBA members haven't worked together since they broke up in 1982.  Though they never publicly performed as ABBA ever again, there are numerous occasions where the four have sang together.  We mustn't forget the performance of the song Tivedshambo in 1986.  That was 4 years after the band broke up.  They were all working and singing together then, am I right?  At private parties throughout the years, the ABBA members have been reported to have performed a song or two, very much like what happened at Bjorn and Benny's private party last year.  The only reason why Agnetha and Frida's recent performance seems so special is because someone managed to record it and put it up for everyone else, which we're all grateful for. :) 

In one of the news articles I read, it said about Agnetha and Frida's performance of "The Way Old Friends Do" isn't considered a reunion to real ABBA fans.  As I've mentioned in a lot of posts, my definition of an ABBA reunion is where the ABBA members all get together at some place and stand close to each other, unlike the way it was at the Mamma Mia! movie premiere where the members were all standing at quite a distance from each other.  they don't even have to sing, they just need to be together all at the same time and next to each other.  And that happened already, twice: In January 2016 at the Mamma Mia! the Party opening and at Bjorn and Benny's party.  So I'm satisfied and definitely consider Agnetha and Frida's performance a reunion.

Despite all the negative points I brought up (which are mostly about the news and not about the actual digital tour), I'm very excited for the Virtual ABBA tour in 2019 and can't wait to hear more news about it!  And I hope, hope, hope, that I will be able to witness ABBA's holographic forms performing 'live' with my own eyes. :D