Swede Dreamz ABBA Tribute - Celebrating Twenty Fabbatastic Years
Published on 13 September 2024
Celebrating twenty fabbatastic years as one of the UK's leading ABBA tribute shows.
Boxing Day 2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of Swede Dreamz ABBA tribute band … and what a fabbatastic twenty years it has been.
What we put together on Boxing Day 2004 in Keswick, Cumbria was only ever supposed to be a one-off tongue-in-cheek one-hour ABBA sketch show. However, it didn't quite go according to plan and the show developed into what we are today.
Twenty years later and, looking back, we've travelled the length and breadth of the UK taking our shows to Wick in the far north of Scotland all the way down to Truro in deepest Cornwall, three visits to Russia (two shows in Moscow and a show in Sochi), three visits to Dubai and even an exclusive show in the grounds of Windsor Castle in August 2017 which attracted the attention of the worlds media! We've shared the stage with stars of the Eurovision Song Contest at Eurovision Reunited at The Sage in Gateshead in 2012 and the numerous Cambridge May Ball events will stay with us for a long time. The sight and sound of 1,000+ university students singing along to ABBA's Dancing Queen and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! at 3am on a Wednesday morning well and truly imprinted in our minds! We've appeared in various ABBA TV documentaries and even BBC's Happy Valley with the delightful Sarah Lancashire (opening scenes of series two episode five if you want to check us out). Then there's IKEA's annual Crayfish Parties at their Gateshead, Warrington, Sheffield and Lakeside stores, two exclusive events for Vue Cinema for the launch of Mamma Mia The Movie, a open-air show in the heart of Manchester in mid December for easyJet to celebrate the launch of flights between Manchester and Gothenburg in Sweden and Nudefest, held at a top secret location in rural Somerset. We actually turned down a slot on BBC One's The One Show due the band appearing at Nudefest, something which was subsequently broadcasted to the nation that very same evening!
We wouldn't be where we are today without the loyal support of our regular clients including Warner Leisure Hotels, The River Rooms in Stourbridge and the Cairndale Hotel in Dumfries who have booked the show numerous times each and every year throughout the years. A huge thank you to all our past and present clients, many of whom have become personal friends, for your continued support over the past twenty years. It really is very much appreciated.
As our Swede Dreamz ABBA tribute shows grew in popularity, we were encouraged to look at the UK theatre market and, in 2014, we finally launched Thank ABBA For The Music, our full-scale seven piece theatre production and sister show to our four-piece Swede Dreamz ABBA show. Our theatre show rapidly grew in strength and is now firmly established as the UK's leading and most authentic ABBA tribute show. The show now plays 75+ dates annually to sell-out audiences around the UK. Visit www.thankabbaforthemusic.co,uk for further details.
In 2019 Swede Dreamz ABBA tribute band was voted Best Tribute - North of England winners at the prestigious Event Entertainment Awards 2019. Presented by Book Entertainment, the Event Entertainment Awards recognises the very best in the event entertainment industry across the UK. As an added bonus, our seven-piece Thank ABBA For The Music UK theatre show came a very close second and was highly commended in the same category.
Of course, none of this would have been remotely possible without the unwavering dedication and mutual commitment of our past and present cast and band members, many of whom have been with us for many years and have become loyal friends and adopted family members. We've had many ups and downs along the way (thankfully a whole lot more ups than downs) and a number of unexpected hurdles to overcome, sometimes at very short notice but none of which stopped a show from going ahead as planned. Such is the dedication of the team. We've learnt from mistakes and we've always come out the other side much stronger and much, much wiser!
Looking ahead, Swede Dreamz ABBA tribute band continues into 2025 and beyond and is still leading the way as one of the UK's most authentic ABBA shows. A big thank you to fans of the show. We look forward to seeing you at one of our shows soon.
Love and hugs from everyone associated with Swede Dreamz ABBA tribute band
xx
