Promotion

ABBAWORLD at Earl's Court, London

publication date: Feb 24, 2010
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author/source: Sian Minett
Abbaworld 1Arriving early, we didn't have to queue. We registered our tickets in order to access the interactive parts of the exhibition and were handed headsets that provided an audio guide to the 25 different rooms. The first housed photos and information about the early lives of Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid.

As we progressed through the exhibition we passed through rooms filled with their amazing stage costumes; mock-ups of the chalet by the Swedish lake where they used to go to write and their recording studio. Their numerous gold discs and other music awards for their (almost) 400 million records sold, as well as loads of items of memorabilia such as instruments; gig tickets; record sleeves and cassette boxes were on display, which really took me back! Most rooms had either footage from concerts or videos; promotional materials or both old and newly recorded interviews charting the lifespan of ABBA.

Tabitha (11) thought that ABBAWORLD was fantastic. Her favourite part was "Perform with ABBA", where you get on stagewith 3D holographic illusions of the band. Claudia (16) also liked the interactive parts of the exhibition best and had great fun with the ABBA quizzes that test your knowledge of the band.

Abbaworld 2The corridor to and from the exhibition is lined with dance mats and booths where you can either belt out your favourite ABBA hit - Sing Star style - and receive a percentage mark for accuracy, or where you can record your memories to view later on the interactive website. We got competitive seeing who could get the highest score for singing Mamma Mia:me, in case you're interested, but I guess I've had more practice over the years! This was definitely my favourite part of the exhibition!

You can take the Tretow MIX Challenge – mixing songs and re-creating the ABBA sound – and have lots of opportunities to sing along and dance with ABBA, or see yourself in an ABBA video! What is really good is that all the interactive activities are recorded on the entrance ticket, and you can view them online at www.abbaworld.com

Whilst I also had a great time, I found that the music from one room could be heard in another so there was often a jarring clash of two or more songs playing simultaneously which quickly became irritating. Similarly, I thought that the introductory film by Jonas Åkerlund to get you "into the ABBA mood" was a grating montage of too short music clips and images. That said, we had a really fun day out out and I would recommend ABBAWORLD to anyone who loves the music of ABBA and who is prepared to let their hair down and sing their heart out!

Short break specialist Superbreak (www.superbreak.com) offer packages that combine overnight accommodation with tickets to Abbaworld. Prices start from £252 for a family of four include one night at the four star Novotel Hammersmith in a family room with breakfast for everyone and a ticket to AbbaWorld. Valid in March and April at weekends.