ROCKERS Dave Grohl, Lionel Ritchie, Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart rate them, and they’ve played over 5,000 shows in 70 countries.
It’s little wonder then Björn Again has a cult following.
Björn has put on satirical ABBA shows for 21 years and is coming to the capital. Member Frida Longstokin (who plays ABBA member Frida Lyngstad) can’t wait.
“I love a good Wellington coffee,” she enthuses. “Last time we came the airlines lost my luggage, so I had to go shopping to replace my clothes. The shops are great, and I still remember Madame Fancy Pants.”
Longstokin, whose birth name Helen is “a distant memory”, says being with Björn Again has been the chance of a lifetime.
“When we’re on stage we see the whole audience in costume, including children,” she says. “When I think we’ve done everything, something new comes along. Last year we played in South America, and sung our songs in Spanish. We also went to India and played in Mumbai at a gala ball. The stadium was full of 40,000 people screaming in Indian, and we had Bollywood dancing behind us. It’s been a wild ride.”
Björn Again has also attracted the attention of the big names. They’ve been enlisted to play for people like Cher, Shania Twain, Cliff Richard and even Bill Gates. Former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl has also tracked them down.
“He asked us to play at the Reading Festival (in England). We’d had moments in our shows where the boys act like rock gods and sing (Nirvana’s) Smells Like Teen Spirit. We were nervous and weren’t going to play that song at the festival, but Dave said ‘you have to do it, I will pay you’ and took out his wallet,” Longstokin laughs.
She’s also had her fair share of crazed fans, from the weird email-senders, to fans who believe she’s left secret personal messages to them in her merchandise autographs.
Björn Again also has extremely dedicated fans, including one man called Dave Nayler, who has followed them throughout the world.
Longstokin says if you look at any videos recorded at shows, bets are on Naylor will be at the front of the crowd, rocking to ABBA.
“He always wears a top that says Bjorn’s Dad. If I ever forget any dance moves, I look at Dave and he helps me out,” she laughs. “We also have two girls who come to all the shows and even do the same costume changes as us between intervals. Sometimes, I don’t do the normal changes, just to throw them.”
Longstokin loves that audiences throughout the world, old and young, get into the ABBA spirit and dress up.
“We get all ages, more in the past few years because of the movie Mamma Mia. It’s great because nobody looks like they’ve been dragged to the show,” she says, and adds, “Well, I have sometimes seen the boyfriend standing there with his arms crossed, but within 15 minutes he will be tapping his feet and bobbing his head.”
Björn Again, 8pm, Town Hall, May 15.