The EastEnders Theme. Yes, you read that right. On April 12th, the holographic avatars of ABBA's golden era threw that British soap opera earworm into their setlist at the ABBA Arena, sandwiched between "Hole in Your Soul" and "SOS" like it belonged there all along. If that doesn't sum up the beautiful absurdity of ABBA Voyage, nothing does.
This isn't your typical comeback tour—it's something far stranger and more compelling. Four Swedish pop legends, forever frozen at their 1979 peak, backed by a live 10-piece band while their digital selves dance through choreography that Wayne McGregor designed for bodies that don't age, don't tire, and apparently don't give a damn about conventional setlist logic.
## What the Recent Shows Reveal
Those April performances at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park showed exactly what makes this residency work. "The Visitors" as an opener is a masterstroke—that haunting, paranoid masterpiece from their final album sets the tone for an evening where the past and present collide in ways that shouldn't make sense but absolutely do.
The setlists have been remarkably consistent, anchored by the holy trinity of "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and "Mamma Mia." But it's the deeper cuts that reveal the real intelligence behind this production. "Hole in Your Soul" appeared in both recent shows, a track that casual fans might not recognize but longtime devotees know as one of their most emotionally raw moments. When holograms deliver lines like "there's a hole in your soul, you can't fill it with sex or dope or dreams," something genuinely unsettling happens in that arena.
The EastEnders Theme might be the most punk rock thing ABBA never did.
## The Technology Serves the Music
Produced by Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson with Johan Renck as co-executive producer, this isn't a tech demo disguised as a concert. The avatars, designed to capture ABBA at their visual peak, move with McGregor's distinctive choreographic language while Baillie Walsh's direction keeps the focus exactly where it should be: on songs that have outlived most of the bands that tried to copy them.
The live band element proves crucial. When "Fernando" or "Chiquitita" builds to its emotional peak, real musicians are breathing life into arrangements that the original quartet recorded decades ago. It's a hybrid that shouldn't work—part greatest hits revue, part technological marvel, part séance.
## Why London, Why Now
The ABBA Arena wasn't just built for this residency—it was designed around it. Every sightline, every acoustic detail, every lighting rig serves the specific needs of a show where the stars exist only as light and code. With over 400 dates scheduled and tickets moving faster than "Dancing Queen" climbed the charts, it's clear that audiences are hungry for this particular kind of impossible experience.
## The Verdict on Virtual Stardom
With only 335 Last.fm listeners, ABBA Voyage exists in a curious space—massively popular in the flesh (or pixel), barely registered in the streaming economy. But that's exactly what makes this residency so fascinating. It's not about discovering new music; it's about experiencing familiar songs in a completely unfamiliar context.
When "Does Your Mother Know" closed out that April 5th show, audiences weren't just hearing a classic ABBA track—they were witnessing the future of how we'll experience the past. The real ABBA retired in 1982, but these digital ghosts might just outlive us all.
Reserve your seat for a show that redefines what a concert can be—and don't be surprised if they throw the EastEnders Theme at you when you least expect it.