ABBA fans have been asked not to wear "culturally insensitive" wigs to the band's ground-breaking concert in London. The UK capital plays host to the critically acclaimed ABBA Voyage - a live concert that uses cutting-edge technology to portray the popular 70s Swedish band as avatars on stage. According to the show's <a href="https://abbavoyage.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>, the spectacular show takes place in a custom-built arena, with the virtual versions of Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid performing a setlist of the band's greatest hits. And, as you'd probably expect from one of the biggest bands in music history, many of the more die-hard ABBA fans enjoy dressing up in sequin jumpsuits and loud 70s attire. <img class="size-large wp-image-1263202673" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2JA1EEC-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: REUTERS / Alamy]] However, the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11902775/Abba-fans-told-not-dress-culturally-insensitive-70s-afro-wigs-attending-ABBA-Voyage.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail</a> has now reported that concertgoers are being asked to abstain from wearing headpieces that many find "culturally insensitive and not appropriate". The publication has shared that ticketholders have been sent an email that reads: "Many of our guests will want to get in the spirit of the show by dressing up for their visit. [But] please do not wear so-called 'Afro' wigs. "These wigs are culturally insensitive and not appropriate to be worn as fancy dress. If any guests are wearing this style of wig they will be respectfully asked to remove them as a condition of entry to the arena." <img class="size-full wp-image-1263202675" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/Screenshot-2023-03-26-at-12.03.50.jpg" alt="" width="712" height="992" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Twitter]] This is certainly not the first time afro wigs have faced criticism. Per <a href="https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local/2018-11-15/afro-wigs-tribute-or-racially-insensitive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tri States Public Radio</a>, some white middle school students in Macomb came under fire for wearing black afro wigs when dressing as the Harlem Globetrotters for a costume party. Speaking in 2018, Byron Oden-Shabazz - who was working to revive Macomb’s chapter of the NAACP - said: "I don’t know one black person who saw that as a tribute." Oden-Shabazz also provided some background as to why a white person sporting the wigs would be offensive, explaining: "When black people started wearing Afros, it was rebellion into the idea of ‘I needed straight hair and light skin to be respected. I needed straight hair because I needed to assimilate to the people in power, so to speak." The response to the news has been divided. One supporter gladly tweeted: "I kind of love that ABBA Voyage said white people better not come in afro wigs". However, others believe the rule is nothing more than "political correctness gone mad", with conservative political commentator Calvin Robinson writing in the Daily Mail: "My afro is not a cultural statement. Being half white English and half Afro-Caribbean, I have naturally thick curly hair. "If someone wanted to wear a wig mimicking my hairstyle, I certainly wouldn’t see it as cultural appropriation. If anything, surely, it would be cultural appreciation." <h6>Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy</h6>

ABBA fans asked not to wear 'culturally insensitive' afro wigs to London show

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