THE
SHOWTHE
SHOW
Although the gallery shows the full theatre show, ABBA 2 are available to play in a variety of formats
to suit any venue from the smallest club to stadiums
Basic 4 piece
6/7 piece with drums and bass
full 10 piece band with backing vocals
Also backdrop filming can be supplied by PROSTAGE
ANNI-FRID
is really TINA WILLIAMS. Tina has toured with
other ABBA tribute shows in the UK and in EUROPE, including ABBA GOLD and
ABBA VISION. She has been a singer with many bands over the years and the
deep rich tones of her voice are exactly like Anni-frid's, which means that
although she loves to sing jazz, ABBA suits her well. She has also been a member
of STEPPING STONE THEATRE COMPANYand appeared in many TV
programmes and adverts throughout the years. She is also a studio session singer and is a member of QUUBA.
AGNETHA
is really LORRAINE
THORNE who is an accomplished singer/songwriter in her own right, as well as being a member of the band QUUBA and NO
HAT MOON. She has appeared regularly on various programmes on S4C and
HTV and several times on SONGS OF PRAISE on BBC 1, and SUNDAY MORNING on ANGLIA
TV. She has also won several song-writing prizes such as S4C's Song For Wales
Competition to the Pan Celtic Folk Festival in Ireland, and a prestigious prize
in the UNISONG International Song Contest in 1999. More recently she has
also been a session musician for STEVE BALSAMO and ROSIE RIBBONS.
She is also a broadcaster with BBC RADIO WALES and has had her own show
called THE MESSAGE as well as occasionally producing PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
scripts for BBC RADIO 2
BENNY
is really COLIN
EVANS who although trained as a concert pianist, decided to concentrate on
composition. He has a keen interest in various musical genres and started
the crossover group OSIAN with Paul Philippart and Lorraine King. They
produced a unique Musical ‘DYLAN’ based on the life of Dylan Thomas
in 2001 and the show has had rave reviews from Dylan's daughter Aeronwy.
BJORN
is
really PETER LLOYD and is a top seasoned performer on the jazz scene in
Wales. After playing with bands too
numerous to mention over the years, and touring the UK with BUCKS FIZZ, THE
PLATTERS, CANNON AND BALL AND ROSE-MARIE, to name but a few! He has also
recently been the lead guitarist THE MOJO SOUL BAND. In his spare time he
enjoys writing jazz pieces. He can often be seen 'tinkling away' in the dressing
rooms. He works extremely well with Colin on stage and the two can often be seen
'sparring' musically which all adds to the overall excitement of the show.
THE MUSICIANS
PETER KING
plays acoustic guitar and sings backing vocals. He started his career by
recording and then touring Europe with BONNIE TYLER and then working with
country sensation DIGBY RICHARDS. Forming the vocal harmony group NO
HAT MOON who had a few chart hits in the eighties, he was also a noted
session musician used by THE BEE GEES, ERIC CLAPTON, SIR LES PATTERSON
and MAX BOYCE. More recently working with ROSIE RIBBONS and STEVE
BALSAMO. He runs a professional recording studio where ABBA 2 record
their albums of ABBA music as well as their own music under the group name
of QUUBA. He and the other musicians also record various theme music
for the BBC and HTV.
JONATHON LEWIS
plays bass guitar and also sings backing vocals. Jonathon also runs his own
professional recording studio and is heavily into his own writing programme with
his wife Nicola. Together they are making waves on the Gospel scene in the UK
with their new debut album ‘TODAY’S THE DAY’. Jonathon has worked
with PEOPLE'S PRAISE touring Europe and is also a member of QUUBA.
He has also done session work for DYLAN, and MAX BOYCE and NIGHTSHIFT.
PAUL
SMITH is one of the finest session drummers
in the UK. Jazz, however, is his first love, and has played with names
such as MARK NIGHTINGALE and LAWRENCE COTTLE. He is a regular player on
various music shows on the BBC and HTV and has worked with DAVID
SOUL, BONNIE TYLER, LEO SAYER, TOYAH WILCOX to name just a few. He is often
hired to work with the BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES. Most recently he
has been touring theatres with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and playing in various shows, including Mark Thomas's
prestigious ABBAMANIA. Paul is also MAX
BOYCE's drummer and has toured the world with him. He is also a member of QUUBA.
JAYNE STILLMAN, GEMMA ROWLANDS and
TRACEY MANN complete the line-up as the gorgeous backing vocalists who
add a full concert style to the show. Each is an actress and singer in their own
right.
In November 2002, Tina Williams, who had been in various ABBA tribute bands throughout the country including ABBA GOLD decided that she would set up her own band together with guitarist Peter Lloyd, with whom she had worked for many years in jazz clubs nationwide. An advert in several newspapers including 'The Stage' brought many would-be singers for auditions, but no-one special enough to provide what Tina was looking for. Almost at the point of giving up, a telephone call from singer/songwriter Lorraine
Thorne who after many years of performing as a singer/songwriter in her own projects,
sensed that performing in an ABBA tribute band in this particular line-up would
provide a 'dream team'.
They arranged to meet the next day at Peter King's studio in Swansea and as soon as they saw each other, they
realized that the right height, age and facial features meant it was looking promising. Lorraine suggested that they record a demo of Waterloo together simply to check out the voices. It was at this point that Lorraine
realized that this band could possibly become something more than initially
they all thought. Tina's well rounded, slightly operatic tones and her own emotional pop voice, well honed on her own career, blended together as good as the real thing and it wasn't very long before others were asking if their recording was the real thing!
Lorraine then introduced Colin Evans as a possible Benny character. She had worked with him in producing the much acclaimed musical 'DYLAN' in 2001 and thought that this project might suit his style of playing. What they didn't bargain for was the way that Colin not only played similarly to Benny, but also looks like him when encouraged to grow a beard!
Peter Lloyd is a fine musician also and he and Colin immediately 'hit it off' because of their passion for jazz music and virtuoso playing. They are both composers in their own right and strangely enough, a relationship was developing between them that was incredibly reminiscent of Benny and Bjorn's. They are also now collaborating on a new musical project and appreciate each others great skill.
So, there they were. Sitting on a potential product that was truly a tribute. The addition of Peter King on vocals and guitars brings a depth to their performance and together with Jonathon Lewis on Bass and vocals and
Paul Smith on drums. The backing vocalists are also singers in their own right and add to the already accurate sound.
They immediately set about
devising a strategy to bring a new style tribute band to the scene featuring
musicians who are incredible in their own right, and producing the closest sound to the original supergroup that they could. This then, began to fulfill Tina's original dream.
In their preparation for their show, they took great care in being as musically accurate as possible which has paid off because people are sitting up and taking notice of their undoubted skill in portraying the real thing. The whole performance is run in a true concert style, with attention to detail shining
through, and plenty of adlibbing and fun without taking away from the delightful
songs. The emphasis is on a wonderful evening's entertainment.
The reason for their success is obvious. No-one mimes, these are seriously good musicians who could play anything they choose. Colin and Peter's (Benny & Bjorn) influences are classical, folk and jazz, and they also are heavily into their own writing
programmes. Theatres such as The Grand
Theatre Swansea, have had sell-out audiences for their show, so if you are a true ABBA fan, we know that you will enjoy
their performance, because as well as being very close to the original sound,
they also provide lots of fun as well.