“How does it feel to have seen the future?”

So requested the girl behind the money register as I picked out an Abba Voyage commemorative T-shirt. “That’s the future of entertainment,” she stated of the present I’d simply seen, her face all mystic and awestruck. “I guess so,” I replied as I handed over my card. She was in all probability proper, however I felt much less ecstatic than rueful.

Don’t misunderstand me: Abba Voyage, the dwell area occasion at present occupying Pudding Mill Lane on the ends of east London, is nothing in need of a miracle. In a stunning technological regeneration, the Swedish supergroup has been reanimated, returned to 1977, and reborn as extraordinary “Abba-tars”. As a magic trick, the entire spectacle is totally dazzling. And though the figures have the occasional jolting syncopation of Sims characters (and the band’s voices and bodily gestures are modelled on band members now of their seventies), the voyage is an eye-rubbing marvel.

Joining the viewers in a lusty rendition of “Fernando” on a moist Monday night time, I felt overwhelmed with happiness and nostalgia. I embraced the hen-night vitality, danced within the aisles and channelled my internal Agnetha. My daughter, an Abba superfan, went hoarse from singing her lungs out. Chugging dwelling on the Docklands Light Railway, I puzzled if one can OD on serotonin.

Who wants precise our bodies on a stage when you’ll be able to construct a convincing simulacrum?

Have I seen the way forward for leisure, nonetheless? I quite hope I haven’t. Apparently music executives the world over at the moment are planning holographic extravaganzas, and at upwards of £100 a ticket, the Abba Voyage enterprise mannequin will probably be wildly addictive. I can solely think about the 40mn Licks we’d see from the Rolling Stones sooner or later. Not not like the 3D mania that possessed filmmakers about 10 years in the past, the idea of dwell efficiency is about to enter a brand new period.

As with so many issues in our lives now, that is the age of deep-fake leisure. Following the movie trade’s acquiescence to the Marvel universe, and ubiquity of the gaming aesthetic, it was solely a matter of time earlier than even dwell efficiency turned topic to techno manipulation. Who wants precise our bodies on a stage when you’ll be able to construct a convincing simulacrum? Why trouble wrecking your vocal cords over the course of a punishing residency when you’ll be able to simply hit play on a recording?

Harder to duplicate although would be the temper of euphoria that solely an Abba fan brings with them. I think about the joy for musical holograms will possible burn vibrant however will rapidly fall out of favour. What stays extra everlasting, nonetheless, is how blurred our cultural actuality is turning into. We are cautious of how truthful our information may be (witness the misreporting over the missile strike this week in Poland). But deep-fake leisure has now wiggled into each aspect of tradition.

Whether CGI, blue display, holographic or just pure fabrication, the boundaries between what’s actual or imagined have gotten muddled within the chopped salad of leisure. It’s particularly pernicious in programmes that current occasions as being factual historical past. The ninetieth sequence of The Crown arrived final week together with a volley of complaints in regards to the sequence’ wildly fictitious diversions. Former prime minister John Major has vehemently denied having met King Charles to debate the then prince’s succession frustrations. (He appeared an important deal much less involved by the casting of Jonny Lee Miller, who has lent that greyest of political leaders a disconcertingly horny charisma). At this level within the Netflix drama, it appears quite pointless to bleat about misrepresentation. But it’s dismaying to understand that audiences care much less and fewer for the reality of their fiction.

We appear to be caught in a cycle that locations extraordinary worth in making issues “look” genuine. Whether it’s Dominic West dressing up in the correct of tweeds, or Abba created in lasers, so long as every thing appears the half, we appear much less involved by the substance. On TikTook, I watch compare-and-contrast movies in which you’ll watch the dramatic restagings of The Crown (and different “true stories”) subsequent to movies of up to date dwell footage. The impersonations, the wardrobes and intonation are so good that you just scarcely know which is the actual one. Entertainment has change into a weird hybrid through which the hole between digital and actual has shrunk to a hair’s width.

But whereas many at the moment are exploring the bounds of what may be finished to bend an viewers’s notion, there’s additionally a rising contingent who nonetheless crave the corporeal and actual.

As I write, I’m sitting in a presale queue within the hope of snagging a ticket for Blur, who will reunite for a single live performance at Wembley Stadium subsequent summer season. The band final performed a full set collectively in 2015, and for years a reunion has appeared unimaginable. Pulp have additionally introduced a string of dates after almost a decade of not enjoying collectively. That the bands have abruptly introduced dates subsequent 12 months has set one million Brit-pop pulses aflutter. To see Damon, Alex, Graham and Dave on a stage once more? That actually can be a miracle.

jo.ellison@ft.com