Photo courtesy of www.abbamania.ca

By Beverley E. Park

For one afternoon in Bakersfield, an audience at the Rabobank Theater was transported back to the 1970s. We could have easily closed our eyes and envisioned being in Europe as the original ABBA group made “Dancing Queen” a song that will live on forever, generation to generation. The inter-generational audience at the April 25 show of ABBA Mania showed the enthusiasm and excitement that I remember from years back. In fact, two of my teenage granddaughters were enjoying the show as much as their mom and I were.

ABBA Mania is an internationally touring show that recreates “one of the world’s finest pop groups in a live stage performance,” according to their website, www.abbamania.com. The Bakersfield Community Concert Association brought the performance here as its finale to the 2009-2010 season.

The ABBA story actually began in 1966 when Bjorn Ulvaeus of the Hootenanny Singers, a popular folk music group, and Benny Anderson, a keyboard player for one of Sweeden’s ‘60s pop groups, met. They formed a team and wrote their first song later that year and by the end of the decade they had established themselves as successful composers. Spring of 1969 saw both young men meeting their life partners who not only became their fiancées but also the other half of the original ABBA.

At first, the four members collaborated musically mainly by contributing songs, instrumental backing, production work or backing vocals to the recordings they each made as solo or duo acts.  In 1970, the attractive sound of their four voices combined gave them the idea to enter a contest with one of their songs. They failed with this first attempt, but not being a group who gave up easily they tried again and in the spring of 1972 they recorded their first medium-sized hit in Sweden. This gave them just enough encouragement to push on, placing third with ‘Ring Ring’ in the Eurovision Song Contest.  In several other European countries they became a hit.  “Waterloo” was their next hit. In 1974 ABBA as we came to know and love them was officially born and recognized by the international juries.

Classic single releases such as “Fernando” and “Dancing Queen” topped the charts all over the world.In April 1977, “Dancing Queen” became ABBA’s only U.S. No. 1 hit and still remains a U.S. show stopper to this day.

Thus, when the group ABBA Mania opened the evening with “Dancing Queen,” the cheers and whistles let them know we were ready for a great evening. Hailing from Canada and not Europe, this talented group of nine moved us smoothly into “Mamma Mia” and “Take A Chance.”

Lead vocalists Michelle Truman and Monica Tietz had the ABBA sound we all remembered. Nick Pattison, who is actually from England but now calls Canada home, gave the electric guitar a workout. He was the lead male vocalist and was quite a showman in his own subtle way. On keyboard, Mathew Whale vocalized as backup. The other five members were all excellent entertainers and musicians.

The audience clapped, waved and sang along with the group as we enjoyed “Does Your Mother Know?,” “Gimme, Gimme” and 20 more ABBA hits.  “Chiquitta,” “Super Trooper,” “Eagle” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You” involved several men from the audience who were more than willing to join the lovely ladies as they sang and danced along. (Of course, one must keep in mind, there is just a slight generation gap between the young group now and the fans from the ‘60s and ‘70s era and even some whose children were ABBA fans back then).

The pre-show entertainment was provided by Frontier High School Jazz Ensemble as part of the Community Concert Youth Outreach Program. The band enthusiastically joined the ABBA Mania group on stage for the encore of “Dancing Queen” and from the dance movements of this talented group of music students, they were also enjoying themselves.

The 2010-2011 season of the Bakersfield Community Concert Association starts in September with a variety show by the multi-talented Lowe Family. The new season promises to be just as exciting and entertaining as the last. The membership campaign is open now and season tickets can be purchased from  any volunteer or by going to the website www.bakersfieldcca.org. Season tickets are $60 for adults, $30 for college students and $20 for youth. For more information, call 661-205-8522 or email communityconcert@yahoo.com.