Voulez Vous at the Apollo Theatre, November 1999

ABBA ‘tributing’ (i.e. using their success to your own ends) is all the rage – when Denise van Outen, B*Witched and Westlife start getting in on the act you know things have gone way too far. How long is it before there’s an ‘ABBAtastic!’ Christmas special featuring Charlie Dimmock & Alan Titchmarsh singing ‘Does your Mother Hoe?’ with the cast of Emmerdale following on with ‘The Hay Before You Came’?!?! Enough, you would cry - if it were any other group. But let’s face it, because it’s the divine ABBA, the nation is hooked and I’m a card-carrying addict.

There are two major advantages that Voulez Vous have over (the slightly more famous) Bjorn Again. They make a bit more of an effort over mixing their selection – still nothing outwith ABBA Gold & More ABBA Gold, but a half and half mixture rather than a reliance on the better known hits. They also make much more of an effort over the costumes. While Bjorn Again are happy with 3 or 4 costume changes, Voulez Vous change every second song, and put more theatrics into the performance – Money, Money, Money was accompanied by the requisite hats and overcoats, and wads of cash (actually leaflets about their website) were hurled into the audience. Head over Heels warranted full 20’s flapper costumes. Some of the outfits were less successful – patchwork ponchos for Eagle and very strange gold lame duvets for Lay all your Love on Me – were possibly ill-advised, but congratulations on the effort. Slightly more of that effort could have been put into singing in tune (this is where Bjorn Again play their trump card) as some of the vocal arrangements, such as in Fernando, were really rather dire. There also could have been a bit more on stage – moving lights can only cover so much. Did anyone mind? Not a bit. Indeed, half a dozen individuals clearly thought they were supposed to be recording Supermarket Sweep and proceeded to go ‘wild in the aisles for half an hour’, long before anyone else was on their feet.

Well, OK, so maybe they’re not quite as good as Bjorn Again, but they’re still well above your average rip-off merchant and a good (if cheesy) evening is always guaranteed. Tremendous fun.

Adrian Healey