Auditorium Seating at the ABBA Arena
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The seated Blocks, A to K, with no Block I. The venue calls this the Auditorium and the tickets call it Blocks, and both are right.
It is in two parts. A shallow front section, Blocks A to E, rings the Dance Floor and sits raised above it. Behind that runs a wide aisle, and behind the aisle the main stands, Blocks F to K, raked steeply upwards. C is the centre Block of the front gallery, H the centre Block of the grandstand.
Where to sit
The centre Blocks, C and H, are the best seats in the building and are priced accordingly. Everything curves round from there, the hologram illusion is at its most convincing, and from the middle of the grandstand you also read the lighting design properly.
For value, take the Blocks towards the edges and then move a few seats inward within them. Not the outermost seats and not the expensive centre: that strip is where the price drops away faster than the view does.
The side Blocks have a clear view. What you give up is being square on to it: you are not quite getting the same version of the illusion.
Nothing above you, and the trade-off is distance
There is no tier over the grandstand, and that's the joy of a custom-built venue. Nothing takes the top off the stage from any seat here, and there are no restricted-view seats.
What you pay for that is angle to the stage and distance from it. The back rows of the centre Blocks are around thirty metres from the stage, which is a proper concert distance rather than a theatre one. It is also the seat that shows off the design best, so the far end of the grandstand is not the consolation prize it would be in a West End house.
Can you see when everyone stands up?
Yes. The Dance Floor is on its feet all evening and plenty of people in the Blocks get up too. The rake handles it, and we have sat up there and watched the whole thing over a standing crowd without trouble. The front gallery is the same answer: it is raised well above the people standing on the floor, not level with them.
Comfort
Wide, padded seats with cup-holders in the armrests, throughout. Legroom is decent in the grandstand, where the first row has open space in front of it, and it is fine in the front gallery unless you are tall, where the front row is the tightest of the three.
A staircase reaches the far end of the front gallery Blocks, so you can get to an end seat without shuffling past everybody already in the row.
Getting to your Block
Everybody enters through the central foyer doors. Blocks A, B, F and G are on the left as you face the stage, D, E, J and K on the right, and C and H are centre and can be reached from either side. Bars and food are on the concourse, outside the arena, so plan the drink before you go in rather than at the interval, because there is no interval.
Auditorium FAQs
Which are the best seats at the ABBA Arena?
The centre Blocks, C in the front gallery and H in the grandstand, and they cost the most. If you want the best of it for less, take one of the edge Blocks and book a few seats in from the outside rather than right on the end.
Can you see over the standing crowd from the back Blocks?
Yes. The grandstand is steeply raked and it copes when people in front of you are on their feet. Plenty of the audience dances in the seated Blocks, so expect it, and expect to see over it.