ABBA Voyage Show - a Trip to London

We’ve been to London to see ABBA Voyage, a digital, virtual performance by ABBA looking exactly as they did in the 1970s. It was strange seeing holograms of the four ABBA members on stage looking so young. At the end of the show they made an ‘appearance’… or rather a virtual appearance, looking like they do today. It was all very moving. 

Throughout the show they were accompanied by an extremely talented live band and an rather lively light show. The light show was so lively in fact, that I had to close my eyes for part of it as the strobe effect was too much for my ‘elderly’ eyes to cope with. There was plenty of singing along to songs we all knew and we even joined in with the arm waving.

The Arena was well organised and very welcoming from the minute we arrived. The photo on the right shows the brightly lit entrance:

Photography was, understandably, strictly forbidden once the show began but I managed to take one of the packed Arena before it started to try and give you a feel for the atmosphere:

We went down to London by train. This was not without its stresses. We ground to a halt somewhere near Harpenden and there we stayed for forty minutes. It would seem that someone had stolen leads from the signals on the track. It was a good job we’d given ourselves plenty of time.

We really splashed out on the day taking a taxi from St Pancras all the way to the Arena and back again after the show. It was a long (and expensive) drive but fascinating. It’s one thing seeing the names of places from the Monopoly Board on underground station signs. It’s quite another seeing them in real life. Being driven through the East End of London had an additional frisson for me. My Mum was born and grew up there and we drove along roads that she used to talk about.

Before getting the train home we treated ourselves to posh fish and chips in Searcys restaurant at St Pancras Station. An excellent end to a great day. Must admit though, it did knock me out just a bit. It took a few days of dossing in front of my iPad for me to recover.

Good Grief! The Comedian's a Bear!

I was listening to an old radio programme this week, Word of Mouth from February 2024. They were talking about things that families say, snippets and phrases that become original family sayings. I tried in vain to think of something original that my own family have created but ours all seem to be cliché phrases like, 'It's a bit black over Bill's mother's.' I'd love to know the derivation of that, who Bill is and why his mum always has storm clouds over her house. After much thought I came up with a few that I thought were originals but which turn out to be well-known phrases.

My mother-in-law was forever suspicious of new technology and her stock line was, 'We're getting far too clever by half.' She'd shake her head and fold her arms as she said it. She died many years ago but whenever we hear of a new technological development we chorus the words, 'We're getting far too clever.' Who knows, maybe we are getting far too clever.

When I was a child my mum would always say, 'It'll end in tears.' whenever I was too silly. Again, it's not original but I often hear her voice in my head, even now, if I get the giggles. That's rather sad but I know that Mum would never have meant to impose such a forever reaction on me.

I like to think that a phrase adopted by my son and myself is fairly original, even if we did copy it from a television show. The title of this blog may give you a clue. We were fanatical Muppet viewers and every time anyone said... and still to this day says... 'Good grief!' My son, me and family chant in chorus, 'The comedian's a bear. No he's a-not he's a-wearing a neck-a-tie!'

This is my only contribution to clichéd sayings. It's not very highbrow but it makes us laugh every time we say it and no, it doesn't end in tears. For those who have never seen the Muppets, it's a Fozzie the Bear joke. He was and still is my favourite Muppet character.

For those who are still wondering what on earth I'm talking about, here is the excerpt. It makes me laugh every time. Enjoy:    Muppet Show excerpt