AFTER 19 months in lockdown, the people of York were more than ready to become Dancing Queens again.
And a great time was had by all as Abba tribute band, Thank You For The Music, rocked through the Swedish superstars' greatest hits last night at York Barbican.
Bursting onto stage, dressed in retro 70s outfits, to the sounds of Summer Night City, the crowd roared their appreciation.
And there was no hanging around to bring out the big guns, song two was Dancing Queen, with the instruction for everyone to get on to their feet.
We duly obliged, grooving in the aisles and stairwells, with the obligatory hands in the air, waving back and forth in time to the beat.
With Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) to follow, we hardly caught our breath.
What followed was a two-hour Abba fest, treating us to the band's best-loved songs, from ballads such as Chiquitita; Fernando; One of Us, and The Winner Takes It All, to up-tempo numbers like Money, Money, Money; Super Trouper; Voulez Vous, and Mamma Mia.
With an encore of Waterloo (can you believe it is 47 years since Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest with that one!) and a final rendition of Dancing Queen, the crowds left on a high.
As an Abba tribute band, Thank You For The Music, were a delight. The two female singers were excellent, confidently pulling off the harmonies from the Abba songbook, dancing in time and speaking in fake-Swedish accents between tracks - hugely entertaining. 'Bjorn' and 'Benny' kept the momentum going too - and duetted on Does Your Mother Know while 'Agnetha' and 'Frida' slipped off for a costume change.
Almost half a century since they first burst into our lives, our love affair with Abba is as passionate as ever. The real band have released new songs and are staging a virtual comeback show in London with computerised versions of their younger selves, the so-called Abba-tars.
Given we are unlikely to ever see the real Abba again on stage - and certainly not the Abba of the 1970s or 1980s - tribute bands offer fans a unique experience.
Thank You For The Music certainly did that last night.
And the Dancing Queens loved every minute of it!
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