Concert Review Adelaide, Australian tour 1977

Adelaide Advertiser, March 9, 1977
 

    Terrific. Abba-solutely the finest staged pop show in the world. Flaming red-haired Frida is a real rager, blonde Agnetha a stunner, and the whole heaving Abba machire behind, above and on stage is nothing short of brilliant.
But strangely, unaccountably. the 20,000 fans sharing the beautifully mild night at Football Park didn't seem to be falling about with hysteria.  Not like the telly, eh? Can't just sit back and watch 'em belt them out between
commercials all pre-packed, plastic and sterile.
    Still, for me an Abba-basher from way back - it was an exciting surprise. Here was the Swedish phenomenon in the flesh, at last having to justify its appeal as the biggest thing since the Beatles. And, if only for sheer effect, they went a good deal of the way last night in proving their popular worth.
    This show is the result of a year's planning, six months' rehearsing and the work of the largest entourage to cross Australia.  The finished article, though strung together by bits of you've seen-it-all-before, is quite simply magnificent. Between two huge stacks of speakers, which they rightly call their wall of sound, Abba swirls and swings aboard the biggest, deepest stage thepromoters have had to build. Looming high above the dazzling white set is an enormous pillow-like canopy, flown in especially from Sweden. Below, the show gallops on as Abba bounds from hit to hit.  Initially, from where I was sitting on the lawn area, the sound was tinny and thin, especially on "I Am a Tiger, "SOS" and "Waterloo.
    The group seemed cold, and wooden, each taking a turn to mouth a platitude or two, and then on to the next number. But once the four - Agnetha Faltskog, Frida Lyngstad, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - and the backing group got warm, the performance skyrocketed in appeal. Whether clawing their way through "I Am a Tiger" or playing coy school girls in  "When I Kissed the Teacher", Agnetha and Frida are the ones the binoculars follow. Frida, especially, in her sexy shorts, hardly stopped dancing during the two-hour set and positively stole the show with her solo on "Why Did it Have to Be Me." And the hits tumbled on..."Fernando" -  complete with fireside lighting and stars, "Mamma Mia", "Rock Me" and on to something new, a mini-rock opera. Tee-hee. Abba attempts rock opera but no, they pulled it off with real rocky style. Called "The Girl With the Golden Hair", it's the heart~tugging tale of naive Goldilocks who finds stardom at the hands of an unscrupulous manager. Corny, eh? The execution wasn't.  Punchy, fast, and from a better spot in the stands, it sounded absolutely superb. Tops for the night was the finale, a rousing rendition of rocker "So Long," then after a round of salutory applause, into a bobby-dazzling encore of "Dancing Queen" complete with orchestra, brass and band.
    All that was left was to take the kids and go home, but wait, what's this? Ye gods, a fireworks display! Well, there was something, to celebrate - Abba's Arrival as live performers.