LOSER'S LOUNGE: BEFORE, DURING, AFTER, AND AFTER AFTER. A funny thing happened on the way to the Loser's Lounge ABBA tribute Friday evening: A bunch of people dispersed soap bubbles around Astor Place. It turned out to be "interactive public art" by newmindspace, which also pulled off the Union Square Pillow Fight. You can see what it's all about via Gothamist and newmindspace.

One surprise at the concert was the inclusion of "One Night in Bangkok," which was performed by Nick Danger. I hadn't realized that ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson had written it with Tim Rice.



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Over the course of the evening, some of my favorite moments came from the backup singers. It was good to see and hear Sean Altman back again ("Suzy Hangaround") along with Connie Petruk ("Dancing Queen") and especially Jennifer Karr ("The Winner Takes It All").

Afterwards we played the Loser's Lounge suggestion game. Our two top picks: Squeeze and Eighties pop (such as Duran Duran). And there's always that tantalizing "female vocalists of the 1960s" possibility. Petula Clark...Lulu...Dionne Warwick...Aretha Franklin...France Gall....

France who?



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Then some of us traipsed over to Silver Spurs, where one of our party ordered a vanilla egg cream. Just the right color for a post-ABBA drink! Today, Gothamist posted this item about egg creams. And here's Barry Popik sharing a reminiscence about a very early egg cream.

What's that, you say? You want to know the next Loser's Lounge show? I hear it's a rematch of The Smiths vs. The Cure--at the Bowery Ballroom!

You can browse through past Loser's Lounge programs here.