ABBA are good, right?

[the science eel]

so true, it'll be The Beatles, Bowie etc next this is the next generation cash cow

Not sure about those two specific artists (Beatles copyrights are impossible to get around and exorbitant if you DO, Bowie left strict instructions about how his legacy should be handled) but I definitely agree with your general point. I mean, there's enormous amounts of money to be made from this. All that is required is permission, access.

[SweetPomPom]

Not sure about those two specific artists (Beatles copyrights are impossible to get around and exorbitant if you DO, Bowie left strict instructions about how his legacy should be handled) but I definitely agree with your general point. I mean, there's enormous amounts of money to be made from this. All that is required is permission, access.

I want to see bands replacing individual members with holograms. Everyone getting scanned 'just in case'.
You could get your own avatar and be in the band via AR.

[non capisco]

Hologram Ringo goes wrong and is stuck playing 'Drumming Is My Madness' over and over again. Technicians attempt to rectify the problem against a tsunami of boos. One bloke going mental at the front loving it.

[Shaky]

Haven't read through the thread but I'm a bit confused about this avatar malarky - are the vocals all backing tracks by the current ABBA members? Old live vocals? The members hidden backstage singing?

[daf]

Yes - ABBA vocals are archive - probably the studio ones. There may be some mix tweaking (I'm guessing removing some overdubs?) to make them blend in better with the live band.

The ten-piece live band (including backing vocalist) perform on one side of the stage 'under' these, so it's a bit like Karaoke in reverse - with the vocals being on tape rather than the backing music.

There is also some between-song cheesy banter, which may either be taken from live shows, or possibly newly recorded. Either way, they're not done off the cuff 'behind the curtain' as they wouldn't be able to get the ABBAtars to do the mouth movements convincingly in real time.

[Dr Rock]

Sod paying to see that.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

Bowie left strict instructions about how his legacy should be handled

curious about this!

[TheMonk]

Five star reviews seem to be the go. Bizarre.

[buzby]

The thing that fools the senses seems to be that the lights in the venue will sweep across the audience and  also appear to interact with the ABBAtars in real time, casting CGI shadows behind them.

That's something not possible for the Pepper's Ghost type of illusion like the Whitney Houston one  - which is essentially a 2D image with it's own light source.

The CG ABBA are displayed on large, hi-res LED displays, rather than being front-projected onto an angled semi-reflective screen Pepper's Ghost style. It's the same technology used for in-camera 'virtual set' CG backgrounds used used by TV and film productions like The Mandalorian. I

The idea is that just like any other arena concert, where you can only see the band if you are right down the front, most of the audience will only see what's being shown on the three large video screens, one at the rear and two either side if the stage, showing 'virtual camera' alternate angles of what is displayed on the main band screen.


It was ILM who did the motion capture, modelling and animation - given ILM previous attempts at revivng dead actors/de-aging, they probably would have been better asking MPC (who won an Oscar for their virtual Sean Young in BR2049)

It's a piece of piss to use DMX-controlled lighting and video cues to 'interact' with the CG visuals when the whole show is running off a sync track and confined to a purpose-built venue where you can set the angles of the lights up perfectly and never have to worry about having to move them.

[SweetPomPom]

Saw this today, when it all clicks it's incredible. The transition between the first and second number is a genuine moment.
The things that take you out of it are the tech advances that haven't crossed over yet - they sometimes perform in infinite space rather than a stage. Surround sound is used a lot when an actual gig couldn't handle it. But when it's good it's pretty convincing.
Also, they're not 'on' all the time. Apparently, there are issues with the whole thing overheating so some numbers are much simpler projections which don't feature our heroes - Dancing Queen is just a 1974 montage.

[thugler]

Seeing the teaser thing today and peoples reactions has driven me into despair.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Are the albums good or are they really just a singles band?

[DrGreggles]

The later albums are good, the early ones have plenty of filler.