THE story that BJORN AGAIN spins to the media about how they formed might be ludicrous, but there is nothing false about the success of this ABBA tribute show over the past decade.
Playing October 25 at the Newcastle Workers Club, Bjorn Again is arguably the world's most successful ABBA tribute band.
This year the band performed to an audience of 9500 in Glasgow alone, with a concert and light show that rivals anything the original Swedish super group ever produced.
Their following has been huge in England since 1989, and has grown to include Holland, Switzerland and Ireland. The band has also toured the US, Canada, Japan and China.
Members of Bjorn Again, originally from Melbourne, claim to have 'surfaced in 1989 after their helicopter and a giant glittery platform shoe from outer space collided'.
Keyboard player BJORN VOLVO-US claims in a completely deadpan, false Swedish accent that the incident left the band with 'almost total' amnesia.
'We can't really remember anything apart from the giant shoe,' he said.
'When we came around we were singing the songs already, and we can't remember before that.
'We have a vague recollection of doing a PUNCH & JUDY show or maybe we were painters and decorators.'
Members have adopted pseudonyms AGNETHA FALSTART, FRIDA LONGSTOKIN and BENNY ANDERWEAR and assume accents and personalities on stage and in interviews.
Bjorn, speaking from England last week, confirmed that the amnesia brought with it many of the personality traits of the original members of Abba.
'To be quite honest, when we're on tour, we can't leave the hotel room because we are frightened that we're so talented it might upset some people,' he said.
Other similarities with the original super group extend to lighting, costuming, instrumentation and choreography.
'It gets more spectacular every year, and the glitter gets more glittery,' Bjorn said.
'We end up playing more notes every night, so two years ago they lasted an hour and now they last about four and a half. TE
|
