Heritage Live 2023: Björn Again

Heritage Live:

Heritage Live has become one of the most must-see concert series going, and as crowds began to pile into Audley End for the venues first event this year, it was clear why. The huge stage sits picturesquely in front of the stunning Audley End House and Gardens. This, combined with balloon artists, circus acts, funfair rides and the incredible string quartet String Fever created the most brilliantly unique concert experience. Tonight's headline act Björn again are an internationally recognised ABBA tribute act that have been praised by members of ABBA themselves. They have played sold out shows all over the planet and brought the party to Heritage Live. Elsewhere on the line-up were 70's pop sensations The Real Thing, the iconic Boney M featuring original member Maizie Williams, and Saffron Walden's own Miss Disco. Scroll to read our thoughts on each performance and the day as a whole.

Björn Again:

Björn Again have been dubbed the 'Best ABBA Show in the World, and after playing over 5,500 shows across 75 countries, combined with widespread praise from members of ABBA themselves, it is clear why. Opening with 'Waterloo' Björn Again immediately proved to all those in attendance why they receive so much praise. The band sounded incredible, the live vocals were spot-on to the original, and the energy and choreography made it feel like you could be watching the real ABBA

Their perfectly crafted setlist perfectly guided the audience through waves of high energy intertwined with slower more emotional moments. Songs like 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)', 'Super Trouper', and 'Voulez-vous' provided those high energy moments where every single person in attendance was dancing, jumping, and having the times of their lives without any care in the world. It was musical escapism carried out to perfection.

ABBA's slower and more emotional songs played a key part in the concert too, being most focused on during an acoustic section consisting of 'The Name of the Game', 'I Have a Dream' and 'Chiquita'. The vocals for this section were stunning, bringing Audley End into full voice, combined with a sea of phone lights and hands in the air. The poignancy of this emotional singalong was allowed to sit briefly in the minds of the audience, before the most brilliant cover of Van Halen's Jump' skyrocketed the energy levels. This was maintained until the end of the concert with mega-hits like 'Money, Money, Money' and 'Take a Chance on Me' being played, the latter of which saw 'Benny' hilariously appearing on stage dressed as a rapper to finish the song.

The main set closed with the timeless classic 'Does Your Mother Know', before an encore which featured some of the biggest songs of all time including 'Dancing Queen' and 'Thank You for the Music' After seeing this performance, "the Best ABBA Show in the World" almost sells Björn Again short. They were the definition of excellence

The Real Thing:

The Real Thing's live band, consisting of John Chapman, Sam Edwards, Stuart Ansell, Jon Bower and Danny Rose, took to the stage to perform an instrumental introduction, which sent "boogie fever" across Audley End. However, as vocalists and original members Chris Amoo and Dave Smith took to the stage to begin 'Love's Such a Wonderful Thing' the energy was somehow pushed even higher. The band's 1977 hit had everyone in the crowd dancing with the biggest grins on their face.

'It's the Real Thing' provided what felt like a theme song for the band, rhythmically repeating "It's The Real Thing" whilst introducing themselves and their songs in a tune that has become such an earworm it is still yet to leave my mind. Chris Amoo then spoke to the audience introducing a hit "from 1978, or 1979, I can't remember, Who Cares". The "hit" was 1978's 'Whenever You Want My Love' which kept the dancing going, but the one thing everyone wanted was a big singalong.

Cometh the hour, cometh the song. The crowd's sing-along wishes were met with one of the bands biggest hits 'Can't Get By Without You'. An extended performance meant there were a plethora of breakdowns and singalong sections for the audience to really become part of the performance. One mega-hit was followed by another as the band performed their biggest single 'You to Me Are Everything'. This timeless classic is taken to a whole new level when performed live, as thousands in attendance provide the most stunning background vocals. 

The Real Thing's set was be drawing to an end, but there was still time for one more dance anthem to be played, this time it was 'Can You Feel the Force'. This ended the bands original material for the set, but a medley of Ladies' Night and 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' to close the set meant all in attendance could share one more sing along with the Liverpudlian legends.

Boney M:

Boney M, with original member Maizie Williams, took to the stage at Audley end, and wowed the audience with a 45-minute set packed full of disco brilliance. The four-piece opened their set with classic song 'Sunny', which seemed almost ironic for the overcast day it had become, yet within the first few minutes of this song starting a huge burst of sun appeared over Audley End House, and all felt even more positive at Heritage Live.

This positivity carried on throughout the set, being pushed even higher by Boney M classics 'Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday' and 'Daddy Cool', both of which received huge receptions from the crowd, in what may have been the loudest audience reactions across the entire day. Maizie Williams is no doubt an absolute star, but the current line-up she has selected for this version of Boney M is stellar throughout and few songs proved this more than 'Ma Baker'

'Brown Girl in the Ring' was next on the setlist, a song that admittedly felt somewhat problematic to sing along to, but listening to Boney M perform it provided yet another opportunity to get the dancing feet moving. A sensational cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'No Woman, No Cry' kept the crowd pleasantly entertained, before one of the band's biggest and most timeless songs Rasputin' took centre stage. A crowd full of huge smiles, loud singalongs and incredible attempts at Russian dancing was created as everyone lapped up this musical brilliance

'Rivers of Babylon' was Boney M's final song, and arguably their most iconic. A song that has defined the band for decades, yet still sounded incredibly fresh live. This ended the most brilliant set that felt more like a party than a concert throughout in the best possible way.

Miss Disco: 

How do you get a field of camp chairs up moving? Well, it turns out all you need is Saffron Walden's own Miss Disco, a 7-piece disco cover band that instantly had Audley End up dancing. Taking to the main stage with her signature pink afro, backed by the band and their disco ball helmets, lead singer Susan Pinky led the band into an upbeat rendition of 'Young Hearts Run Free' instantly setting the tone for the evening.

This was followed by the Jackson 5's 'Blame it on the Boogie', a song that could get even the most stubborn person up dancing. Keyboard player Marcus Tinkler then took centre stage to lead a medley of Earth, Wind & Fire's classics 'September' and 'Boogie Wonderland'. Susan Pinky then retook the lead vocals for an incredible cover of Sister Sledge's 'We're Lost in Music', before introducing the "Horny Horns" who continued the dancing fever with a horn-backed version of 'Stayin Alive'. Next up was another ultimate singalong in the form of another Sister Sledge cover, this time being 'We Are Family. The crowd lapped up this song, singing back every word like their lives depended on it, which continued through an impeccable cover of Whitney Houston's 'I'm Every Woman'.

The set began drawing to its close as Miss Disco mastered their way through yet another top-tier dance track, this time it was Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky'. This was a set where so much focus was on the fun dance- encouraging aspect, that you almost lose track of just how talented the musicians or stage really are, however as the band started final song 'I Will Survive', their musical talent was on full display. Susan Pinky opened and closed the song with the most incredible high notes that the most established vocals in the world would be proud of. This combined with the incredible musical ability across the rest of Miss Disco throughout the song meant this was one more big-hitter in a set full of smash hits.