Since 1988, Bjorn Again has been performing all the biggest and best ABBA hits in a highly-entertaining world-class show that is critically acclaimed, endorsed by ABBA, praised by the world’s biggest rock stars and adored by fans worldwide.
ALIA caught up with their sound engineer Danny Olesh at Sydney’s State Theatre where he used the standard rig that JPJ Audio has installed as “it works well, sounds good and I’m happy using it”.
The system comprised 22 x L-Acoustics dV-DOSC and 8 x L-Acoustics dV-SUB flown with 2 x L-Acoustics 108P, 2 x L-Acoustics 115XT Hi Q and 4 x L-Acoustics SB218 on stage. Amps were two racks each with 4 x LA8s.
For FOH control, Danny used an Avid Venue Profile console/Stage Rack/ Local IO and a couple of Dolby Lake DLP8D8 Mesa EQ.
“I can still run most of the Waves plugins I like using specifically C6, H-Delay, SSL comp, doublers, de-esser, different reverb flavours and the Q10,” he added. “I set up a monitor rig we carry around for Bjorn Again consisting of a Presonus DL32R as the main monitor mixer. Some would think it’s an odd selection, but to be honest, I wanted something small and light enough, with 32 inputs and 16 outputs, that we can easily fly around and this was the best solution for Bjorn Again. It totals 6Kg in a 2U rack.”
As Danny often tours without his own FOH console he needed to restrict the channel count to 32 as often that’s the maximum inputs many theatres have. Consequently, he has collected a full bingo card of show files for pretty much all consoles.
“I have not had a chance on an SSL as yet!” he said. “I have favourites but it’s a fun challenge to make the show sound great on any console and any PA.”
They carry their microphone setup to keep monitors consistent so that sound-check is limited to checking the lines and not re-tuning the whole system each time.
Kick Beta 91A
Snare SE V Beat
HH SE SE7
R1 SE VBeat
R2 -3 SE VBeat (often use a splitter in larger venues when the kit grows)
Floor 1-2 SE V Beat
Overheads LR SE7
Bass KT DN 100 DI – Via EW-D wireless
Keys L-R KT DN 100 DI
Guitar LR direct out from a Helix
Acoustic Guitar via a Baggs Para Acoustic DI (best DI for an acoustic guitar)
Bass on a SE V7
Keys and guitar on Beta58
Frida and Agnetha are on the new Sennheiser EW-D wireless system with V7 Capsules which Danny uses for most female vocalists he works with.
“We then have the following 10 outputs from an audio interface via a MAC running Q-LAB and LOGIC,” explained Danny. “Vision content which is now a big part of the show comes from there as well via a Decimator. Click monitor mix (a mix of the tracks for easy use in the monitors, especially in festivals where you have no time to set things up and we may use a different monitor console), then IPAD click and track (only for emergency backup) and six more tracks running various percussive sounds, brass, strings, synth bass etc. depending on the song.”
IEMs are still the Sennheiser G3s and the drummer uses a Thumper seat. Monitors are mixed by Sam Keast with hardly any monitors on stage to keep it as clean as possible.
“It’s an ABBA rock show, in reality, it’s not the usual ABBA, it’s on steroids!” he remarked. “The first set is more subdued but the second set needs to ROCK. It also depends on the crowd, the age group can vary greatly for this show.
“Obviously, the vocal sound comes first, it’s a blended sound and I add more vocal doubling and effects to achieve this as well as grouping. It’s knowing the songs inside out that help you to achieve this. Knowing what each of the musicians plays and what the backing tracks are doing. Massive amount of cue points to remember for this show to make it sound as it should.”
Danny says the biggest challenge at the State Theatre gig was load in and out adding that The State Theatre is not an easy place to get gear in and out.
“The gigs were amazing, it’s so much fun mixing this show when you have a venue full of punters going nuts to ABBA songs!” concluded Danny.
