In Concert [Bonus Tracks]

ABBA

Overview

"This concert film, shot when ABBA were at the height of their popularity, gets a long-overdue reissue on DVD, with plenty of bells and whistles included. ABBA: In Concert has been transferred to disc in the full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The audio is presented in three formats -- Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1. The songs and interviews are in English, with optional subtitles in English, French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. Bonus materials include three additional music videos, interviews with the director of the film and the promoter of ABBA's concert tour, a gallery of photos from the group's 1979 tour program, and a trailer for the ABBA-themed musical +Mamma Mia!."

Product Details

Release Date:	06/08/2004
UPC:	0044006564791
Original Release:	2004
Source:	POLYDOR / UMGD
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	28,936

Special Features

Bonus tracks: "The Way Old Friends Do," previously unreleased on DVD, intorduced by Agnetha and Björn; "I Have a Dream," unedited live version; "Thank You for the Music," previously unreleased performance from the tour, never broadcast; Interview with director Urban Lasson; Interview with promoter and tour producer Thomas Johansson; Tour souvenir programme picture gallery; Mamma Mia! trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

ABBA	Primary Artist,Performer
Agnetha Fältskog	Performer
Benny Andersson	Performer
Björn Ulvaeus	Performer
Anni-Frid Lyngstad	Performer

Technical Credits

Stig Anderson	Composer
Anni-Frid Lyngstad	Composer
Agnetha Faeltskog	Composer
Benny Andersson	Composer
Bjoern Ulvaeus	Composer

Editorial Reviews

ABBA undertook only their second international tour in the late summer of 1979, first playing North America and then in Europe during September, October, and November. They took along a film crew, and the result was a TV special, ABBA in Concert, eventually released as a home video on VHS tape. This DVD edition adds some bonus material, but the bulk of it is still the original video as released commercially, with a running time of 51:28. The first 11 of those minutes are taken up with footage shot on tour (but not on-stage) in North America, a collage of hotel and airplane shots of the bandmembers, under which snippets of their music are played. The song list shows "Waterloo," "Eagle," and "Take a Chance on Me," but none of these songs are heard in their entirety, and excerpts from others are heard as well. The remaining 40 minutes are taken up by concert footage shot at the Wembley Arena in London as ABBA plays nine songs, all of them taken from their fourth, fifth, and sixth albums, Arrival, ABBA -- The Album, and Voulez-Vous. Much of this music is set to a disco beat, the exceptions being the ballads "Chiquitita" and "I Have a Dream," the latter accompanied by a children's choir, whose rehearsal is intercut with the performance. The DVD includes three bonus tracks: "The Way Old Friends Do" was part of the film when it was shown on TV, but eliminated from the home video; there is a version of "I Have a Dream" without the rehearsal; and in the only instance of actual newly released musical material, a performance of "Thank You for the Music" has been assembled from some surviving footage. But the lengthiest bonuses are a 21-minute interview with ABBA's tour producer and a 15-minute interview with the film's director, both newly recorded. One might have hoped for more. Apparently, the group's entire two-hour concert was filmed, and it would have been nice to have had that instead of just repeating the home video with a few extras. (The apparent difficulty in putting together footage for "Thank You for the Music," however, suggests that much of the film may not exist anymore.) At the show, for example, group member Agnetha Faeltskog played and sang her unreleased composition "I'm Still Alive"; it's still unreleased. ABBA in Concert gives viewers a sense of what an ABBA concert was like. Maybe someday they'll get to see a complete show. ~ William Ruhlmann