By Laura Stovel
The Performance Arts Centre was rocking on Saturday night to the music of ARRIVAL, an ABBA Tribute Band. The theatre was around two-thirds full with audience members from five to 80-plus standing, dancing and clapping to favorite tunes from the famous Swedish band.
ABBA formed in Sweden in the early 1970s and rose to superstardom in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The band disbanded in 1982 after the marriages between the performers fell apart. Since then ABBA has inspired several tribute bands, a musical and the movie Mama Mia.
ARRIVAL’s lead singers, Wendy Gorrie (playing Agnetha Fältskog) and Tracy Masson (playing Anni-Frid Lyngstad) sound uncannily like the women whose songs they are covering. Keyboardist Bob Van Velzen (covering Benny Andersson) was a great ham and fun to watch, especially given his close resemblance to Andersson.
At the end of the show, during the second encore, Gorrie and Masson brought two children who had been dancing in the front row of the theatre, up on stage. That will be a show they will never forget.
