Swedish singer and entertainer Matilda Lindell is celebrating her 18th year on stage in spandex, sequins and flowing fringe.
She’s the lead vocalist portraying her tribute to original pop phenom counterpart Agnetha Fältskog while starring with her performing mates in “ABBA The Concert,” ranked as one of the world’s most successful and acclaimed ABBA tribute tours.
“ABBA The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA” has Lindell headed for Gary headlining with her group for one exclusive 7 p.m. concert at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana’s Live Venue mainstage.
“I can’t really say I can recall my last time flying into Chicago to perform, so I know it’s been quite some time,” Lindell said, speaking from New York Saturday during a phone interview after arriving from “over the pond.”
“But anytime we get to the U.S., it’s exciting because the ABBA audiences are so different. Your audiences really celebrate the music when hearing it in concert even more than Swedish audiences, who seem to celebrate it more internally.”
Formed in 1999 and featuring an all-Swedish cast, “ABBA The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA” has had various members come and go since Lindell joined the group at age 26 and proved her vocal ability to portray either of the female leads as needed. Paired with some of the musicians from the original ABBA, which skyrocketed with a list of late ’70s song hits, today Lindell most often tours with Elisabet Karlsson or Mia Ternström, contrasted with male vocalist Martin Håkansson as the Benny Andersson role on keyboards and musical direction, and Matte Andersson in the guise of Björn Ulvaeus on guitar.
The 90-minute concert will include all the superstar hits from ABBA, including “Mamma Mia,” “S.O.S,” “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes All,” “Waterloo,” “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” and “Dancing Queen,” among others.
“When we do the number ‘Waterloo,’ we always get some extra attention from the audience because of our costumes,” Lindell said.
“Just like the original ABBA, we wear the now iconic painted cat costumes, just as they did for the ‘Waterloo’ number, and ours were even created by the same original designer.”
Lindell said ABBA’s painted cat design costumes are now both lore and wardrobe pop culture history, as originally dreamed up and created by the original ABBA costume designer Owe Sandström especially for promo photos and concert performances for the band’s breakthrough 1974 Eurovision launch with “Waterloo,” as part of a European tour titled “Made in Sweden for Export.” She said Owe was commissioned “to design a look distinctively Swedish, yet not traditional folklore.”
If the tale (or tail) is true to lore, Lindell said the cat design idea came to Owe while he was sitting in his kitchen with singers Frida and Agnetha, and, unexpectedly, Owe’s Burmese cat jumped onto the table to bond with Agnetha.
“All of our costumes are true to form, including the original fabrics and the long fringe and flared pant legs, making all of them heavy and hot to wear under stage lighting,” Lindell said.
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“But it’s not about the comfort. It’s about the authenticity.”
Today, the original ABBA members have retired from performing, as Björn Ulvaeus is 81 and former wife and singing partner Agnetha Fältskog is 76, while Benny Anderson is 79 and his former spouse and singing mate Anni-Frid Lyngstad is 80.
Lindell’s career started in her teens, in front of audiences since age 16 when she was cast on the Swedish soap opera “Tre kronor” for three seasons.
“I loved doing television and being in front of the cameras and the entire process,” Lindell said.
“I love my touring life, but I’d also love doing television and films once again too. I just love the life of a performer.”
What Lindell doesn’t care for much while performing live in concerts at venues around the world is the uncertain forecast of possible fog and haze on stage.
“Every venue is different, so we don’t really stipulate it in our contract, but natural stage fog is always preferred rather than theatrical stage haze because of our throats and singing vocals,” Lindell said.
“With every venue, we’re not always sure what to expect until we arrive, and we want to give audiences a full experience, so we know they love the stage haze with the lighting and other effects. But sometimes, it can even be hard to see across the stage with all that haze. It’s another reason we are fortunate to be wearing our shiny, bright stage costumes.”
Tickets for “ABBA the Concert: A Tribute to ABBA” start at $33.15, and the show is all reserved seating and for audiences ages 21 and older. Call 219-228-2383 or visit www.hardrockcasinonorthernindiana.com.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and weekly radio host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected].