To think it's depressing that ABBA are making their avatars look like their younger selves

[Godwitz]

I may have completely misunderstood in which case I will be happy to be corrected.

Abba have written and recorded new music for the first time in decades. They won't be performing live instead avatars which will resemble their younger selves will be performing. No doubt it will be brilliantly done but would it really be so repulsive to watch people in their 70s perform pop songs?

Why can't the avatars resemble Agnetha and Annifrid as the 70 somethings they are now?

@SirChenjins

I am being completely thick here…is it an actual concert with avatars? Ie do you have to go to London to see them on stage in avatar form? Or do you watch it on your screen at home?

This is what I was wondering too. Are people really going to pay to go and see these Avatars perform?? What a way of making a quick buck though if you're an ageing rock star! Sell out tour while you sit at home.

Perhaps we all need an avatar to go to work on our behalf!

Now that is a very good idea! I could fix a permanent smile on my avatar’s face and no-one would see me rolling my eyes inwardly

The Independent says “Instead of original members Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid embarking on a world tour, they will instead send digital avatars of themselves to perform to millions of fans around the globe” - how do they do that unless the millions of fans around the globe come to London?

@SirChenjins

I am being completely thick here…is it an actual concert with avatars? Ie do you have to go to London to see them on stage in avatar form? Or do you watch it on your screen at home?

I don’t know about this particular concert but this is an example of what I imagine it to be:

So it will be an actual concert at a physical venue in London - but with a virtual ABBA on stage?

Yes, a physical concert in London with a real, live orchestra playing but Abba will appear as their "abbatars" only so their performance is all pre-recorded.

I guess people will want to see it for the same reasons people visit the cinema instead of watching films on Netflix at home? The whole atmosphere around it and being with others.

And as for OP's original question, I think the whole thing is carefully planned and the fact they appear in some way ageless is part of it. One of the new songs even has lyrics that talk about being "now and then combined" and not the same person as before. So it's them and not them all at the same time, kind of without being linked to a time or space.

Ahh right - I thought perhaps it was a streamed concert that you paid to view and watched on your screen somewhere. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.

Their brand, their product, is who they were in 1970s ("pretty people"). Why wouldn't they shape & craft the product how they want it to be.

Only important question is, are any of the new songs any good? Or is this just another way to cash in on their legacy.

It's complete nostalgia. I wasn't even a teen when they were touring. I think recreating that 70s look will be amazing and I'm hoping it becomes a permanent "residency" so I can get myself a satin jumpsuit and join the rest of the fans in costume.

@lljkk

Their brand, their product, is who they were in 1970s ("pretty people"). Why wouldn't they shape & craft the product how they want it to be.

Only important question is, are any of the new songs any good? Or is this just another way to cash in on their legacy.

The two they've released are very ABBA vibe. "Don't Shut Me Down" holds its own I think.

The use of motion capture is very exciting.
Andy serkis in LOTR etc was an amazing feat but technology has progressed even further now. The Abbatars will move in the same way as the individuals and of course have the exact sound.
The only think I'm wondering about is if they will build in differences between the performances?

I'd rather remember the vibrant young people singing than the old codgers croaking but @BigFatLiar it is their current voices and moves…just with a young avatar.

@Godwitz

Can't see the issue at all. EVERYONE presents themselves on facebook, twitter, instagram etc as someone who looks younger/thinner/more polished and shiny. I am 53, and look 39 on my twitter photo, and anything between 47 and 57 in real life. (Depending on my mood/how much make up I have on.)

Almost NO-ONE posts pictures of themselves how they look in real life. Everyone has make up on, and their hair done, and/or uses filters, (and photoshop to airbrush out moles/ blemishes/ lines/ wrinkles etc.)

And many people use clever angles to hide their double chin, and even thinify themselves and make their arms and waist and thighs more slender, and to take out bingo wings and turkey neck... Even the 'no makeup selfies' from several years back had filters on.

IDGAF to be honest, if the abbatars make them look 40-45. As I said, almost everyone presents a fake look online

good points, MyPatronus. tbh, I won't use filters so I just don't post many pics of myself !!

I think it would be much more heartening to see them as they are now, still singing . Singing is not only for the young!

[quote MyPatronusIsACat]@Godwitz

Can't see the issue at all. EVERYONE presents themselves on facebook, twitter, instagram etc as someone who looks younger/thinner/more polished and shiny. I am 53, and look 39 on my twitter photo, and anything between 47 and 57 in real life. (Depending on my mood/how much make up I have on.)

Almost NO-ONE posts pictures of themselves how they look in real life. Everyone has make up on, and their hair done, and/or uses filters, (and photoshop to airbrush out moles/ blemishes/ lines/ wrinkles etc.)

And many people use clever angles to hide their double chin, and even thinify themselves and make their arms and waist and thighs more slender, and to take out bingo wings and turkey neck... Even the 'no makeup selfies' from several years back had filters on.

IDGAF to be honest, if the abbatars make them look 40-45. As I said, almost everyone presents a fake look online[/quote]
I don’t do this. I am mid fifties and never use a filter, I really don’t see the point.
I would far rather people thought I looked nice as my aged self !

The issue for many fans will be that much of the excitement of a live show is the audience/performer interaction. The chit-chat from the stage, the shouting out for songs, maybe the band altering the set list on the fly to suit the mood, the idea that the fans are getting a unique performance that will be subtly different night to night, venue to venue. The audience earning an encore, perhaps.
Will they somehow program all that into the algorithm for the show?
And real ABBA fans will be disappointed if they don't bother creating avatars for all the band, not just the front four, especially for the late Ola Brunkert and of course Rutger Gunnarsson too.

The Stones were always ugly, even when they were young they were a bunch of munters, so it doesn't matter that they're now old and ugly.

I guess now only Mick and Keith are left from the original line up they will probably call it a day after the current tour.

It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I hated the film Mamma Mia so what do I know 🤷‍♀️

@Godwitz I also hated the MM film, mainly because I couldn't stand hearing the songs being murdered by actors who (mostly) couldn't sing.

Personally I think Abba have left it too late for a reunion tour. Their looks have faded and their voices are probably a bit below par, so they've gone down the high tech route to save their dignity, but it won't be a proper concert experience for the fans. I'm a huge fan of their music and songwriting talent, but not interested in watching a contrived image of how they used to look 40 years ago - I'd rather watch original footage from their heyday.

Benny tours with his band, which includes a very talented woman who sings very much like the two Abba women. A single was released a few years back, which could easily pass for an Abba song. I think that lady could easily hold her own on stage, and do justice to the new Abba songs.

PS: The song was called "Story of a Heart", it came out in 2009 and Steps also did a cover version.

I agree most of the Stones were not good-looking, but Mick wasn't ugly, and Brian Jones was a handsome boy.

That’s how people remember them.