The vocalists of ‘ARRIVAL from Sweden,’ the widely known ABBA tribute band, performed at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Feb. 21 (Image courtesy of Facebook).
LOGAN – The ABBA tribute band ARRIVAL from Sweden blew into town on Feb. 21, at about the same time as the first genuine snowstorm of the month.
All that snow probably made the vocalists and musicians from Scandinavia feel right at home. The bad weather had no impact, however, on the sold-out audience that packed the Ellen Eccles Theatre that evening.
In a tribute to one of the most successful glam-rock recording groups of the 1970s, ARRIVAL from Sweden recreated ABBA’s stage show, complete with catchy music, breathtaking vocals, flashy lighting, glittering costumes and even the same cheesy choreography.
The show was a nostalgic blast from the past, from start to finish.
Like the other tribute bands that played for the Cache Valley Center for the Arts this season, ARRIVAL from Sweden drew a throng of baby boomers eager to relive the golden days of their youth.
The audience also included numerous younger members who settled right into the grove, dancing and jiving in their seats.
Cache Valley’s younger set are probably familiar with ABBA’s music after seeing local productions of the juke-box musical Mama Mia! — performed by the Cache Theatre Company and the Lyric Repertory Company, both in 2019 – or the eye-catchingly beautiful 2008 film of the same name.
The show opened with the lovely vocalists substituting for Agnetha Fäiltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing the upbeat “Voulez-Vous,” followed by “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” and “Super Trouper.”
Faced with the challenge of covering at least a portion of original band’s 48 hit singles, the ARRIVAL girls resorted to performing two medleys of ABBA’s lesser known songs, including “Does Your Mother Know” from the score of Mama Mia!
They also sang two of the ABBA’s best known hits – “SOS” and “Fernando” in their native Swedish.
While the female vocalists “changed into something even less comfortable,” the band performed two rousing instrumental numbers composed by Benny Andersson of the original band, giving the musical ensemble an opportunity to share the spotlight.
Following a dramatic solo of “The Winner Takes It All,” ARRIVAL from Sweden launched into “Take A Chance,” “Money Money Money,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” “Lay All Your Love on Me” and many others.
After receiving a well-deserved spontaneous standing ovation from the audience, the band performed the beloved “Mama Mia!” and “Dancing Queen” for their encores.
ARRIVAL from Sweden was founded in 1995 in Gothenberg, Sweden by vocalist Vicky Zetterberg. Since then, the band has become recognized as one of the most popular ABBA tribute bands.
Over its nearly 30-year career, ARRIVAL from Sweden has toured more than 70 countries, including more than 100 successful tours of the United States in the last decade.
Concluding its 2024 line-up of tribute bands, CacheARTS has scheduled a reprise of the Carpenters Platinum (a salute to Karen Carpenter) on Mar. 29 and Fleetwood Visions on Mar. 30 (a salute to Fleetwood Mac).
Tickets for those shows can be purchased online at www.cachearts.org
The Ellen Eccles Theatre is located at 43 South Main Street in downtown Logan.