6^th of April 2024, a special day

For an ABBA fan, it was extremely difficult to stay home on a day as special as the 6^th of April 2024.

I decided to spend the day in Stockholm, where many activities were planned to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the victory the iconic "Waterloo" victory at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

The day began with the “Piano Moment”, a new version of “Waterloo” orchestrated by Benny, echoing across cities worldwide on a remotely controlled piano.

In Stockholm, the meeting took place at 10:00h in the morning at the NK department store in the city centre.

 

It was quite brief, and because the store staff took too long in opening the doors, we arrived in front of the piano just as it began to play.

 

Oficial videos

 

For the event’s occasion, they also placed a replica of the costumes from the 1974 performance of “Waterloo.”

 

In addition, they were selling all kinds of objects specially designed by Polar for the anniversary. 

I bought for myself a “Waterloo” vest with the matching cap and the vinyl record.

At exactly 12 hours and 15 minutes, we were at the royal palace where the changing of the guard at the “Waterloo” crossing was scheduled to take place. 

However, the changeover lasted 30 minutes, with the band playing melodies unfamiliar to me. Only at the end, the band played an ABBA medley before leaving.

At 4:00 p.m., the city of Stockholm organized an ABBA sing-along with the group Waterloo in Kungsträdgården.

Helga was also there, although unfortunately I couldn't see her.

Obviously, it started with the song of the day.

Despite the chill weather, camaraderie warmed up the air. Totally opposite to the frosty reception that the Swedish victory met in 1974.

 

All enthusiasts sang united in harmonious celebration, facilitated by a giant screen projecting the lyrics and a QR to see the same lyrics on the smartphones.

It was a 60-minute concert, which allowed me time to attend the remaining events.

The security agents were very attentive... to the show.

  

The ABBA Museum had also organized activities all afternoon. However, as we had other priorities, we arrived at half past five, just in time to see the second appearance of the Museum's choir.

 

The choir was also there to promote their new CD, which was released on the same day.

If you are interested, you can listen to the CD on Spotify.

Ingmarie made the introductions first. Next, we heard the first song: “I Still Have Faith In You”, which does not appear on the CD.

They also performed "Don't Shut Me Down" and "On And On And On" among other songs from the CD.

 

They sounded much better than the album I had listened to on Spotify that morning. One day, I would like to see the choir in a good concert hall with better audio and visibility conditions. They're as good as the best cover bands.

Everyone who came to the Museum that day received an anniversary badge.

I couldn't help but buy two souvenirs in the museum store.

At half past seven we had to be in Cirkus, which, fortunately for us, was practically in front of the museum. In Cirkus took place the event that convinced me to go to Stockholm: the live recording of the “En Fest För ABBA” program featuring Swedish artists performing ABBA's greatest hits.

The program has been widely advertised in the media.

 
 

At the beginning, they started giving us instructions on what we should do at certain times. Among other things, we had to shout our joy for being there, turn on the lights on our cell phones at the right times and sometimes repeat the presenter's words. A very well executed and coordinated job by all participants.

Just before the broadcast began, the Kings entered through a thunderous applause, moment where I took advantage of to take a selfie with them. Although, well, technically they weren't exactly behind me.

Unfortunately, ABBA was not there, instead they installed some mannequins of them on top of one of the entrances.

I feel it’s a pity that ABBA’s members (except Görel, who was there), ignored such an important event, especially with the presence of the Swedish Kings.

However, what they did do was to record a message which was transmitted at the beginning of the program.

As the show began, the cameras started spinning everywhere around us. There were two cameras moving, one flying above us and another one on the shoulder of a cameraman walking across the stage.

Although several internationally renowned artists had been announced, such as those from SVT's “Thank You For The Music” video, at the end, there was only local artists who performed ABBA’s songs presented by Oscar Zia.

However, this did not affect the quality of the performances at all. Some arrangements were surprising and modern. The only thing I didn't really like was the performance of “The Winner Takes It All”, a version performed by a man, which is curious, since it was a woman who performed “Does Your Mother Know”. I did like this second version.

Anecdotes and stories about the group were interspersed between the songs. They appeared on two screens placed on the sides of the stage, with English subtitles.

A contest was organized on the program with two candidates, who were none other than Jane Henry and Gordon White, well known in the Fanclub (Jane makes her ABBA costumes herself and was present at the ABBAday as Agnetha).

The Kings stood up twice: the first time at half past nine, the exact time when ABBA won the contest in 1974. The entire orchestra and all the participants sang enthusiast the song together with the audience. The second time was when the same orchestra performed “Dancing Queen.” Obviously, I didn't need to record anything since the SVT did it for me, but at that moment, I took out my camera to record the Kings dancing their song.

I really enjoyed both the concert and the programme, and I will be delighted to see it again in a few days on television.

The program on SVTPlay

After so many hours on my feet, I was happy to return to the hotel to rest a little bit before returning home the following day.

Unfortunately, the press's post-event critique was not very kind with the artists.

                                                                                Tanks to Monique for the translation

In short, the day went very well. I was in the company of two old friends, and I also met fellow enthusiasts that I already knew from the ABBAday in Roosendaal last month. 

Now I have time to rest until my next ABBA event, which, coincidentally, is again a concert by the group Waterloo, although this time is in Brussels, the city of my childhood.