ABBA: European & Australian Tour, ABBA: The Movie at ABBAsite. also known as ABBA: Live In Australia - 1977 and ABBA: Live 77, was the second concert tour by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Primarily visiting Europe and Australia during 1977, the tour supported the group's fourth studio album, Arrival (1976), and later their compilation Greatest Hits (1975-1976). The tour opened in Oslo, Norway, on 28 January 1977, and closed with two shows on 12 March 1977 in Perth, Australia, having performed 28 shows in 18 cities across 8 countries. It was ABBA's first international concert tour, and was documented on the concert film ABBA: The Movie (1977), filmed during the concerts in Australia.
Set list
"Tiger" (with helicopter sound effect introduction) "That's Me" "Waterloo" "SOS" "Sitting In The Palmtree" "Money, Money, Money" "He Is Your Brother" "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" "Dum Dum Diddle" "When I Kissed The Teacher" "Knowing Me, Knowing You" "Rock Me" "I Am An A" "I've Been Waiting For You" "Mamma Mia" "Fernando" "Why Did It Have to Be Me" "Intermezzo No. 1" (Instrumental interlude) The Girl With The Golden Hair - a mini musical - "Thank You for the Music" "I Wonder (Departure)" "I'm A Marionette" "Get On The Carousel" "So Long" Encore "Dancing Queen" "Thank You for the Music" (reprise)
Notes "So Long" was not performed at all European concerts. It was also not performed at the first Sydney concert on 3 March. Some Australian outdoor concerts replaced the helicopter introduction with a longer intro of "Tiger". At the first concert in Oslo on 28 January, ABBA performed the first verse of the song "Vi har ei tulle med öyne blå" acapella, in honor of the Norwegian royal couple, who was in the audience. Norwegian Crownprincess Sonja recorded this song in 1976. At the 5 and 6 March concerts in Melbourne, some songs were not performed due to band member Björn Ulvaeus not feeling fit. These are possibly: "Sitting In The Palmtree", "Rock Me" and "So Long". "Fernando" was performed after the mini-musical.
Tour dates Date City Country VenueTotal Attendance / Total CapacityReferences Europe January 28, 1977 OsloNorway Ekeberg Idrettshall6,000 / 6,000 January 29, 1977GothenburgSwedenScandinavium10,0000 / 10,0000 January 30, 197710,0000 / 10,0000 January 31, 1977CopenhagenDenmarkBrøndby Hallen4,500 / 4,500 February 1, 19774,500 / 4,500 February 2, 1977 BerlinGermany Deutschlandhallesold out February 3, 1977 Cologne Sporthallesold out February 4, 1977 Amsterdam The Netherlands Jaap Edenhal4,000 / 4,000 February 5, 1977 Deurne, Antwerp Belgium Arenahal— February 6, 1977 EssenGermany Grugahalle— February 7, 1977 Hannover Eilenriedehallesold out February 8, 1977 Hamburg Congress Center Hamburgsold out February 10, 1977 BirminghamEngland Birmingham Odeon2,500 / 2,500 February 11, 1977 Manchester Free Trade Hall— February 12, 1977 Glasgow Scotland Apollo Theatre— February 14, 1977 (18:00) London England Royal Albert Hall5,600 / 5,600 February 14, 1977 (21:00)5,600 / 5,600 Australia March 3, 1977SydneyAustraliaSydney Showground20,000 / 20,000 March 4, 1977 March 5, 1977MelbourneSidney Myer Music Bowl14,500 / 14,500 March 6, 1977 (14:30)14,500 / 14,500 March 6, 1977 (20:30)14,500 / 14,500 March 8, 1977 Adelaide West Lakes Football Stadium 21,000 / 21,000 March 10, 1977 (18:00)PerthPerth Entertainment Centre8,000 / 8,000 March 10, 1977 (21:00)8,000 / 8,000 March 11, 19778,000 / 8,000 March 12, 1977 (18:00)8,000 / 8,000 March 12, 1977 (21:00)8,000 / 8,000
Broadcasts and recordings
One of the concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 February was recorded on behalf of Atlantic Records.Palm, Carl Magnus (2017): ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions. . A 15-minute excerpt of this recording was said to get a digital release along with 2014's Live at Wembley Arena, but it ultimately was not.
"I Wonder (Departure)" (possibly recorded at the show in Sydney on 4 March) was released on 17 October 1977 as the B-side to "The Name Of The Game". This version featured heavy overdubs, and replaced the saxophone solo with a piano solo by Benny Andersson.
Excerpts of "Fernando" (Melbourne, 5 March), "Rock Me" (Sydney, 4 March), "Why Did It Have To Be Me" (Sydney, 3 March), "Money, Money, Money" (Sydney, 4 March) and "Waterloo" (Sydney, 4 March) were released on a promotional flexi-disc for Jultidningsförlaget.
"Fernando" and "Money, Money, Money" were released in 1986 on the live album ABBA Live.
Concert footage from the Australian leg of the tour was featured in the 1977 film ABBA: The Movie. It contains excerpts from: "He Is Your Brother" and "Why Did It Have To Be Me" (Sydney, 3 March), "Waterloo", "Money, Money, Money", "Rock Me" and "Intermezzo No. 1" (Sydney, 4 March), "Fernando" (Melbourne, 5 March), "Tiger", "SOS", "When I Kissed The Teacher", "I've Been Waiting For You", "Get On The Carousel" and "So Long" (Adelaide, 8 March). The dates for "Mamma Mia" and "I'm A Marionette" are unknown. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" from the 8 March Adelaide concert was also mixed for possible inclusion in the movie, but was ultimately not used.
Personnel ABBA Agnetha Fältskog – lead vocals Benny Andersson – piano, synthesizer, accordion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "I Am An A" Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, background vocals, lead vocals on "Sitting In The Palmtree", "Rock Me", "I Am An A" and "Why Did It Have To Be Me" Anni-Frid Lyngstad – lead vocals
The band Ola Brunkert – drums, percussion Malando Gassama – drums, percussion Anders Eljas – keyboards Wojciech Ernest – keyboards Rutger Gunnarson – bass guitar Lars O. Karlsson – saxophone, flute Ulf Andersson – saxophone, flute Finn Sjöberg – guitars Lasse Wellander – guitars Lena Andersson – backing vocals Lena-Maria Gårdenäs-Lawton – backing vocals Maritza Horn – backing vocals Francis Matthews – narrator "The Girl With The Golden Hair"
Management and technicians Claes Af Geijerstam – sound engineer Stikkan Anderson – manager Görel Johnsen – assistant to Stikkan Anderson Ingmarie Nilsson – wardrobe & make-up (Australia)
References