While it might not have been the concert tour or new album that many ABBA fans, rather vainly it should be aided, hope for, the fact that all four members of the legendary Swedish fans were on stage together this week in Stockholm is a cause for celebration.
According to The Guardian, they were gathered together to attend the opening party for an ABBA-themed restaurant called Mamma Mia! The Party located near the highly-successful ABBA: The Museum.
The restaurant, notes the newspaper, recalls the look and feel of the locales used by the band in their musical, Mamma Mia!:
“Housed in Stockholm’s Tyrol restaurant, Mamma Mia! The Party is based on the Greek taverna in the musical. As well as Mediterranean food, it offers entertainment including – so the website says – ‘daredevil stunts, Greek Gods, flirty waiters, and perhaps a zorba and an ouzo or two’.”
The reunion, limited though it night have been in purpose, nevertheless stoked the fires of hope, with many asking if this could signal more comings-together in the future, say for the Eurovision Song Contest this year which Sweden is hosting in Stockholm.
Benny quickly put paid to any idea there might be more the reunion that simply good old publicity, with Björn adding, again according to The Guardian, that “We are here to party”.
Even though Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad didn’t specifically rule out recording together when The Guardian interviewed them in 2014 in the anniversary year of their triumphant Eurovision win in 1974, the odds of anything other this reunion occurring are quite possibly slim to none.
Still a fan boy of longstanding can hope can’t he? So pass me some dolmades and a jug of ouzo and let’s party on while hope springs eternal. Mamma Mia! indeed.
- On a personal note, this is my 2000th post for this blog and I am beyond happy that ABBA ended up occupying the hallowed slot. It seems fitting given how much they have meant to me over the years.
