Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1491336
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2023 UCW 13 The music of ABBA comes to the Crown by HANNAH LEE COVER ABBA is a household name, and for a good reason. With over 400 million records sold, and with the help of the musical "Mamma Mia," ABBA was and still is one of the greatest pop groups of all time. And while the band itself is not touring anytime soon, a tribute band from Sweden will be making their first stop in the United States here in Fayetteville. Direct from Sweden, e Music of ABBA takes nine of the best-performing ABBA tribute musicians and puts them together to have an all-star tribute cast. Todd Bartleson, the Senior Vice President for MPI Talent Agency, told Up & Coming Weekly that the show is 100 percent live and will be different from other tribute shows and productions since they want to continue producing these shows with familiar faces year after year. "It's a fairly new show, but I was booking another show for 14 years and I'm just creating a different show with a different cast. at other show got too watered down with different cast members and stuff they put in. So I'll try to get more consistency with the show," Bartleson said. e previous show, "ARRIVAL from Sweden," sold out many venues since 2007. Members of the group have worked with the original band members of ABBA and have been cited as the closest live band to ABBA. is new tribute band will be made up of a majority of Swedes, with a few American perform- ers as well. ere will be solos, musical numbers and a complete live band with backup singers, all of which Bartleson says ensures an extra dimension unheard of in most similar productions. e show will feature the big- gest hits of ABBA that trended the charts here in the U.S., such as 'Waterloo,' 'Mamma Mia,' 'Super Trouper,' and many more. e group will not be performing any of the new ABBA songs from 2021's album, "Voyager." Bartleson says that tribute bands are one of the best ways to experience the music of ABBA since it is fully live and ABBA doesn't tour anymore. "For the most part, tribute bands have taken off in the last ten years. Before that, people didn't really want to go see trib- utes. ey wanted to go see the real deal," Bartleson said. e band has been touring Eu- rope for the last few months and will be stopping in Fayetteville as part of their debut in the United States. eir next stop will be in Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. e show is not tailored to just ABBA fans but to music lovers of all ages. "It's a family show [so] they can bring the kids. It's for all ages from, you know, younger kids all the way to teenagers. It's very family-oriented," Bartleson said. "Everyone knows the songs. So every song is a hit. So it just builds and builds and builds and builds to the very end. When they do 'e Dancing Queen,' the people just go nuts. It's a really good, well-paced all-ages show for sure." Tickets, which range from $38 to $78, are available at www.crown- complexnc.com/events/detail/ direct-from-sweden-the-music- of-abba. However, Bartleson says that tickets are starting to sell out, so he recommends buying them sooner rather than later. e show will be on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Crown eatre. e show will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be roughly 90 minutes. It is part of Community Concerts, a local non-profit whose goal is to bring the finest in top-notch entertainment to Fayetteville. Direct from Sweden-e Music of ABBA, will be the second to last concert of the 87th Season of Community Concerts. For more information about Community Concerts, go to www.community- concerts.com/. HANNAH LEE, Assistant Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200.