Waterloo uk - Stroud Subscription Rooms

Monday 14th September 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of Waterloo.

It's a testament to the power of ABBA's songs that, more than 30 years since some of them were written, they still have the ability to thrill an audience.

Young and old alike flocked to the Stroud Subscription Rooms on Saturday night for Waterloo, a live tribute show to the Swedish supergroup who sold more than 400 million records and are currently enjoying a revival, thanks to the huge success of the 2008 film Mamma Mia.

By the end, practically everyone, from children as young as six to pensioners of 66, was up on their feet dancing and singing along - although it appeared no-one was brave enough to take up the organisers' invitation to 'come along in your ABBA gear'.

From the opening strains of Waterloo to the final notes of Thank You for the Music, this was a vibrant show packed with all the ABBA favourites, including, of course, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, Knowing Me Knowing You and Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.

There were also some of the lesser known numbers, such as Angel Eyes, So Long (a British chart flop for the group), Tiger and Hole in Your Soul, as well as a charming rendition of I Know Him So Well, the song from the musical Chess which was penned by the ABBA boys with Tim Rice but never performed by ABBA themselves.

Waterloo featured live musicians and superb live singers, as well as impressive lighting and a host of authentic costume changes, to really celebrate and bring the music of ABBA to life.

The show is produced by Mad About Productions Ltd and a spokesman for the company said: “No other ABBA show has this number of six musicians and six singers, making it the largest production of its type in the UK and Europe and the richest and most authentic sounding ABBA show available anywhere.”

There were also lovely renditions of Chiquitita and Fernando, accompanied by a sea of waving glow sticks as the audience swayed and sang along with the music, while my eight-year-old son, a big ABBA fan, said he particularly enjoyed the men's version of Does Your Mother Know?

As someone who saw the original ABBA at Wembley back in the 1970s and was a huge fan, it's interesting to be living the music all over again through my children, but that just shows how enduring the group's songs really are.

Overall this was a great live show and a fun family night out.

Alison Dhonau