ABBA concert in Holstebrohallen in Holstebro, Denmark on January 15th 1975

On January 15th 1975 ABBA played a succesfull concert in Holstebrohallen for 800 people. The concert was organised by Ernst Trillingsgaard. The capacity in Holstebrohallen was 3000 people, but at that time ABBA was almost unkown. 

Ernst Trillingsgaard remember, that Jerry Ritz from ABBA´s record company i Denmark called him, and asked if he should try to get ABBA to Denmark and Ernst Trillingsgaard agreed and booked a concert in Holstebro..

Thomas Johansson from EMA Telstar produced this and all other ABBA tours, and Thomas also accompanied ABBA on several of their early promotion trips.

When Thomas Johansson after the concert in Holstebro called Ernst Trillingsgaard, and asked if he would like to have dinner with ABBA in the Restaurant Laksen, Trillingsgaard refused. He told Thomas Johansson that he was going to have a beer with two journalists from the local press instead. A few months later ABBA was a woldwide success, but at the time for the concert in Holstebro they were unknown, so I concentrated on the local journalists not a dinner with ABBA, says Ernst Trillingsgaard with a smile today.

The review of the concert in the local newspaper the following day was also very positive: "Huge succes for ABBA"

" From their rock songs they played  "Watch Out" and "Rock me", and followed by the more commercial songs as "Ring Ring", "Honey Honey" and ofcourse their huge hit "Waterloo". And that the four swedes are very talented  was confirmed by the songs "Sitting in a palm tree" and "Gonna sing you my love song".

Their performance on the stages was very professional, from smaller dance moves to almost a war dance! The last song in the concert was the new hit "So long", but the concert could not end without a reprise of "Waterloo" and then "So long" one more time!

Hopefully we will see them soon again on the stage in Holstebrohallen".

Just before the concert Agnetha had some problens with her dress, so a staff member from the venue  had to repair it for her, while she was wearing the costume (1).

Background

After a long break and rehearsals, ABBA hit the road again. From January 10 to 22, 1975, they toured Scandinavia, performing in:

Oslo (N) on January 10, 

Stockholm (S) on January 11, 

Lund (S) on January 12, 

Vejle (DK) on January 14, 

Holstebro (DK) on January 15, 

Nykøbing Falster (DK) on January 16, 

Copenhagen (DK) on January 17, 

Gothenburg (S) on January 18, 

Helsinki (FI) on January 20, 

and Umeå (S) on January 22.

An exact setlist for Holstebro is not available but on January 20th 1975 ABBA played these songs at their Helsinki Concert according to this source  here

"Gonna Sing You My Love Song"
"Hasta mañana"
"He Is Your Brother"
"Hey Hey Helen"
"Honey Honey"
"Intermezzo No. 1"
"I've Been Waiting for You"
"King Kong Song"
"Ring Ring"
"Rock'n Roll Band"
"Rock Me"
"Sitting in the Palmtree"
"So Long"
"Watch Out"
"Waterloo"

ABBA in the Danish Charts 1974

Release	Title	Highest Position	Weeks in the Charts
13/04/1974	Waterloo (single)	1	10
20/07/1974	Honey Honey  (single)	10	5
06/04/1974	Waterloo (album)	2	23
20/07/1974	Ring Ring (album)	3	7

The Tour

Sound engineers on the tour included Michael B. Tretow and Claes af Geijerstam; in Holstebro, it was Claes af Geijerstam. The support group and live band were The Beatmakers, consisting of Boris Lindqvist (vocals, guitar, piano, percussion), Caj Högberg (bass), Peter Kott (trumpet), Torsten Dannenberg (saxophone, flute, accordion), Wojciech Ernest (piano, keyboards), and Zbigniew Ryta (drums).

Björn's old friend Hansi Schwarz, of "Hootenanny Singers" fame, served as the tour bus driver.

 Beatmakers: Upper row from left: 

 #1 Boris Lindqvist (vocals, guitar, piano, percussion)

 #2 Torsten Dannenberg (saxophone, flute, accordion)

 #3 Caj Högberg (bass)

Lower row from left: 

 #1 Peter Kott (trumpet)

Sources:

(1) Else Visgaard,interview 17/ 9 2024

Interview with Ernst Trillingsgaard  25/9 2024