Popular ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again have performed a gig for Russian leader Vladimir Putin – and have claimed that they had to keep the whole thing quiet for fear of ruining the former KGB officer’s hard man image.
The Press Association reports that Mr Putin apparently danced and shouted "bravo" after the performance by the group, who were flown to Moscow and paid £20,000 for the show.
Bjorn Again founder Rod Stephen said "We got the call to go out there about a year ago and I thought it was a prank. I remember someone on the line saying ‘hello this is the Moscow Kremlin’ – I told him to pull the other one."
Stephen says that Putin especially enjoyed the renditions of ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Souper Trouper’ as he watched the concert through a lace curtain in the company of a "glamourous" woman.
However Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, denied Mr Putin had attended the concert. Here’s hoping the Kremlin don’t send Bjorn Again a letter telling them off. The Quietus knows all too well what happens when you do that. Ahem.
