ARRIVAL from Sweden at the Strathmore

They look like the real deal! Image found here

I grew up listening to ABBA's Gold album of greatest hits. My mom grew up with their music, and she shared it with me. I saw that ARRIVAL from Sweden was going to perform at the Strathmore, but I didn't buy tickets until just a few days before the show. I'm so glad that my mom could come with me!

The group was performing along with the National Philharmonic, so that was pretty cool (I especially liked seeing Piotr Gajewski in a light blue suit as opposed to his usual tux.). All of the musicians, both in the orchestra and the band, were very impressive. And Vicky Zetterberg and Jenny Gustafsson, who perform as Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) and Agnetha Faltskog respectively, can certainly sing. I wasn't sure what to think about their costumes at first, but when they said they were based on real outfits ABBA wore in the 1970's, then it made sense. The energy was low in the venue at first (especially when they were talking about the divorces of the real ABBA couples), but once the band encouraged the audience to get up and dance, then it was more fun. And the crowd went wild when they came on stage wearing Nationals jerseys and sang Baby Shark!

Here are some of my favorite ABBA songs:

Dancing Queen

Mamma Mia

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

The Winner Takes It All

Super Trouper

SOS

Waterloo (They won a competition singing this song, and that's what put them on a the map.)

Take a Chance on Me

Fernando (This song was in Swedish on a solo album, but then the group covered it in English.)

Money, Money, Money

Thank You for the Music

Chiquitita

They were just so talented! I love this music!