Arrival from Sweden is coming to Rahway, NJ's Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 8:00pm. Founded in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Arrival from Sweden is one of the world's most popular ABBA tribute bands and the only group that has ever been given a previously unreleased song directly from ABBA to record.
Spotlight Central recently spoke with two of the current members of the group — Veronika Eriksson and Madelene Johansson — about their musical upbringing, being a part of Arrival from Sweden, and the band’s upcoming concert at UCPAC.
Were either of you born into a musical family?
Veronika: My family was always very interested in musical theater and culture and classical music but nobody played a musical instrument.
Madelene: It was actually the same for me. My mom sang in a choir — I sang in the children’s choir in church — but my parents didn’t play any instruments; they just liked music.
Did either of you play any instruments as kids?
Madelene: I played violin and classical piano in music school.
Veronica: I played classical piano, too.
What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up? Did either of you listen to ABBA?
Veronika: A lot of ABBA for me! I remember having all the CDs and I thought my mom looked so much like Frida — [laughs] I used to look at Frida’s picture and see my mom — but I also listened to a lot of musical theater and we went to a lot of operas and I listened to pop, too, as Cher was very big in our household.
Madelene: Yeah, my mom listened to ABBA and she had a lot of CDs so I always listened to “On and On and On” by ABBA — that was my mom’s favorite ABBA song. Then, during the ‘90s when we grew up, there was a Swedish band called the A*Teens who played all the ABBA songs but in a modern pop way, so I was listening to them but, also, to all the music of the ‘90s like the pop groups and boy bands.
As members of Arrival from Sweden, do you have any favorite ABBA songs that you like to perform?
Veronika: I love performing “Money Money” because I think it’s such a fun song to sing with an audience. And then, of course, on “Dancing Queen,” everybody gets up and dances and that’s always so much fun. But when it comes to listening, when I hear “Lay All Your Love on Me” by ABBA, I always think, “This is such a great song!”
Madelene: I love to sing “The Winner Takes It All” — it has a special place in my heart because I can really relate to the lyrics — and I also like to sing “So Long” and “As Good as New,” as well.
How do you like touring with Arrival from Sweden and, in particular, how do you enjoy performing in America?
Veronika: The audience here is amazing — you always get such a good response! When we’re in the USA we notice that everybody loves music and everybody always has a good time. In Sweden, the people are, maybe, a little more low-key but, here, you can see in everybody’s eyes that they’re happy and they want to be here and they love the music.
Madelene: Exactly what Veronika said. The people here are different compared to the Swedish audience and this country is so beautiful, too, so we love getting to see the whole country!
Arrival from Sweden is going to be performing on May 16 at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) in Rahway, NJ. What can audiences expect to experience at this show?
Veronika: They’re going to experience all the songs they’ll want to sing along to! The band is fantastic, the singers are great — we have a three-person choir — and they’ll really get the full ABBA experience with all the songs and the harmonies and all the different instruments.
Madelene: And, also, there are the fantastic costumes! All the clothes are replicas of ABBA’s so we look the part; we fix our hair and do our make-up to be as close to ABBA as possible.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to fans of ABBA or to music fans who might be interested in attending your concert at UCPAC?
Veronika: I think there’s something for everybody because ABBA has such a broad appeal — you can say it’s pop or pop-rock, but all the songs are so different that everybody can find something they want. Like “Fernando” is one thing, and then we have “Eagle,” and there are rock solos so people who love to rock and roll have something, and we have “Dancing Queen” for people who love pop and disco.
So there’s really something for everybody and the music is timeless — children love it, teenagers love it, all the people who watched the Mama Mia movies or saw the musical love it, and fans who grew up with it love it — so it really doesn’t have an age limit. When you see children singing along and somebody’s grandma singing along, you just see everybody enjoying the music.
Madelene: Yes! The people are gonna walk in but they will be dancing out!
Arrival from Sweden comes to Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), 1601 Irving Street in Rahway, NJ on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $45, $67, and $87 and can be purchased at https://ucpac.org.
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