Harvey Goldsmith has backed The Beatles to follow in ABBA’s footsteps and launch an avatar show.
The Swedish supergroup made a sensational return in 2021 with ‘Voyage’ – their first studio album in 40 years – and accompanying live show.
‘ABBA Voyage’ sees the group represented as digital avatars, recreating the band in their 30s, and Goldsmith – who helped organise Live Aid with Sir Bob Geldof – believes the Fab Four will be next to launch their own show.
“The ABBA thing is brilliant but it costs a million dollars a minute to make the footage and to sync it,” he said.
“The process is simple but the syncing costs a fortune. I think we will see more acts do it, like The Beatles.”
Speaking on the Rockonteurs podcast, he added: “We are at a fork in the road as rock ’n’ roll as we all know it is not really going the way it should be. The big dinosaur acts will not be around. What we have now is an instant music age.”
‘ABBA Voyage’ takes place at the specially-built ABBA Arena in Stratford, east London and will continue to play through 2023.
The venue offers a 360-degree immersive experience, and speaking to RETROPOP’s, producer Ludvig Andersson suggests they’re working on creating similar arenas around the world.
“The biggest dream is to stay in London and we build another one somewhere else,” he says. “Where that would be – I’d like to go places that are maybe not the obvious ones. It would be nice to take it to places that aren’t always visited by the big bands.
“The dream would be to have one somewhere in South America, one somewhere in Southeast Asia, one in North America. Who knows? But that’s the plan and we’re working on that already.”
READ MORE: ‘ABBA Voyage’ producers reveal plans to build new arenas, tease changes to groundbreaking show