ABBAs successful avatar show in London offers a glimpse at a daring new direction for live music
Summary
"Other than the team involved, no one really knew how they would integrate an avatar-based performance," Sarah Cox, director of live event technical consultancy Neutral Human, told CNBC. But emulating Voyages model — which sees digital replicas of the four band members perform classic hits and newer numbers for 90 minutes, while also interacting with each other and speaking to the audience between songs — will be no easy task. A decade ago, a Coachella performance featuring an apparent hologram of Tupac Shakur impressed audiences and hinted at alternative realitys potential in live shows, with the artists likeness digitally recreated without using archive footage. Bjorn Ulvaeus himself previously told CNBC he has concerns about the misuse of the technology to create nefarious "deep fakes" which will be "indistinguishable from the real thing going forward." ABBA is a rare proposition as a band with a large catalogue of hits, a multi-generational worldwide fanbase, and a full set of members who are on-board with the show — but who have not toured together for 40 years.