Photo: Private
Despite a somewhat cluttered sound, Abba Knights delivers exactly what the audience wants.
Who: Abba Knights
What: Concert
Where: Salt
When: Friday, August 16.
The lights go out, and there’s a buzz in the audience at Salt this evening. Black and white horses run across a flower meadow on the screen in front of us. The cover band Abba Knights, a boy band of nine, comes out to wild cheers from the crowd. They flirt with the audience just long enough for it to feel extra good when drummer Jon “Kanon” Øverdahl kicks off the groove. And it lands perfectly. The audience dances from the start.. Voulez-vouz, aha! This group has energy, there’s no doubt about it. Both on stage and on the dance floor. The sound pumps through the venue.
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During the next song, I think that there might be almost too much sound. The soundscape is murky, the vocals are too low. Abba Knights has nine members on stage, and unfortunately, some get a bit drowned out. The atmosphere is good, but sometimes I wonder if some of them are just there for the vibe and not for the music. It doesn’t really matter to the audience; they love it. Especially during the hits. The atmosphere is electric then. The wooden floor sways. Those who aren’t dancing drink beer and sing along to the choruses. Mamma Mia leading into Summer Night City works very well; the energy from the first transitions nicely into the second. That’s when the atmosphere in the venue is at its best. When there’s too long between the hits, it gets tougher; some of the energy wanes then.
The band delivers riff after riff, keeps the pedal flat throughout the evening
Drummer Øverdahl and vocalist Johan Hveem Maurud clearly stand out. They drive the whole show. Maurud sweats, roars, flirts with the audience. He brings the crowd in between dance hits. His crystal-clear voice cuts through, despite the sound issues. The falsetto is incredibly strong, but one of his problems—and the band’s as a whole—is that Abba also had some powerful female vocalists. Abba Knights has only one male vocalist. He is exceptionally good, but he can’t compensate for the variety in the original band. They do miss some of the heights, where the pitch in some songs is set for a female voice. Maurud gives it his all, but it only comes close to a gold medal.
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One of the reasons that Abba is as big as they are, is all the fantastic little details in the music. The interplay between the drums and the bassist, the details in the piano. The catchy riffs played on different instruments. The vocalists responding and singing over each other. Anyone who has ever tried to play Abba knows that it is much more difficult than one might initially think. Abba Knights captures many details, but not all. The interplay is good, but it lacks compared to the original. That is, admittedly, a difficult task.
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But perhaps that is also not to be expected. The audience wants to dance, drink beer, and listen to good music. They want energy from the stage. They get that, with interest. The band delivers riff after riff, keeps the pedal flat throughout the evening. It’s clear they are having fun on stage. So it’s fine that the soundscape is murky at times. This crew knows disco. The wooden floor at Salt felt that this Friday evening.