You’d be hard-pressed to find a more authentic homage to the 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA than ABBA – The Concert, live onstage Sunday at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center.
Christian Fast, the band’s lead guitarist and background vocalist, enjoys the accolades and explains their affinity with the world’s greatest pop band.
“We are all from Sweden, except original ABBA bass player Mike Watson, who was born in England but moved to Sweden in the mid-’60s and has been a Swedish citizen for many years,” he said. “Everyone in the band lives in Stockholm, Sweden.”
In addition to Fast, the other key performers are Sandra Villain, a singer in the style of the original Agnetha Faltskog and Matilda Lindell singing as ABBA’s Frida Lyngstad. Martin Hakansson is behind the keyboards as the original Benny Andersson, while Patrik Lundstrom plays guitar and sings in the Bjorn Ulvaeus role. Five additional background players travel with the group, and two guest performers, drummer Roger Palm and bass guitarist Mike Watson, were original ABBA members.
| Onstage |
| ABBA – The Concert |
| Where: Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna |
| When: 8 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: $38 in-house, $25 lawn; 877-965-3872; wolftrap.org |
The group’s high-octane performance showcases ABBA’s hit songs including “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo” and “Mamma Mia!” There is a set list of songs structured into the show to accommodate wardrobe changes marking certain periods in ABBA’s career. Their clothes, Fast points out, are exact copies of ABBA’s original stage outfits.
Fast is also quick to point out there are absolutely no backtracks used during their concerts, which continue to garner praise as the “Best ABBA since ABBA”.
“We’ve had people coming up to us after the show being a bit disappointed that we used backtracks instead of playing live,” he said. “But that is really the best compliment one can get because our ambition has always been to come as close to the original music ABBA created in the studio but doing it live!”
The current tour has the group zigzagging all over the country and enjoying every moment of it.
“We absolutely love touring in America because USA is the home of today’s popular music,” Fast remarked. “Blues, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll came from America, so you guys have a long and strong tradition for popular music, which also makes American audiences the best to play for.”
