Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg in peak shape
Tommy Körberg and Helen live at The Garden Association in Gothenburg. Photo & © Anders Deros
Aftonbladet 190726
By: JENS PETERSON
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Benny Andersson’s Orchestra
The Garden Association, Gothenburg.
Audience: 4 612
Duration: Four hours
GOTHENBURG. Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg are in sensationally good shape. BAO has some surprises in its unique mix on this summer’s tour. Like a couple of more forgotten ABBA songs.
And when Helen Sjöholm does You Are My Man as a tribute to Benny Andersson, the Garden Association explodes both on and next to the dance floor.
The orchestra also makes an irresistibly intense version of On and on and on. After four hours of concert, they put in an extra speed with the voices. Impressive.
The finale of the first half is fantastic when the addictive new Om du var jag pass over to He is your brother from ABBA’s first album and Lovers (live a little longer) from the disco year 1979 (…)
It may be the tropical heat as it approaches midnight in Gothenburg that makes you think of New Orleans. But also the musical mix from BAO. The evening starts with Calle Jakobsson’s tuba in Glasgow boogie and then the hours are dancing forward with many different stops. Much sounds familiar from the orchestra’s previous tours, but here are also new and old elements. Both covers and their own songs.
Benny Andersson has always had open ears and in his music you can hear impressions from many directions. Often there is a melancholy with passages of folk music. As in the melancholy beautiful Jag hör, which inspired Björn Ulvaeus to a poignant lyrics about death. Tommy Körberg makes it very moving. And fantastic Saknadens rum with Helen Sjöholm (…)
We also end up in the border regions of Mexico with the festive trumpets in a tequila spirited version of ABBA’s Put on your white sombrero.
Kalle Moraeus, among other things, excels with Bach on banjo, his parade number O sole mio and a hard rock guitar solo.
The evening is almost perfect (…)
There is nothing else that sounds and mix like Benny Andersson’s Orchestra.
Don’t miss it.
(The entire review is not reproduced for copyright reasons)