Avril Lavigne’s “The Best Damn Thing” Tour is All Sennheiser
Wedemark, Germany — June 2008: Sennheiser microphones have become a
familiar sight on the numerous concert and television performances by
Canadian punk-pop princess Avril Lavigne. Over the last couple of years, she
has seldom been seen without her custom-painted, day-glo pink evolution
wireless vocal mic. Lavigne has kicked things up a notch on her current tour,
taking four rhinestone-encrusted Sennheiser handheld RF microphones, along
with a stage full of Sennheiser and Neumann backline microphones, on a jaunt
that will take her around the world for much of the rest of the year.
Avril Lavigne has been using a Sennheiser SKM 935 G2 vocal mic paired with
an EM 550 G2 receiver since the start of her previous tour, according to Jim
Yakabuski, who has been mixing front-of-house since her very first tour, and
got her started using Sennheiser microphones. “Everything is sounding great
and the RF quality is fantastic. We haven’t had any problems with RF. Her
vocal mic really does sound great,” he says.
On this tour, in support of 2007’s “The Best Damn Thing” album, in place of a
day-glo pink version of the mic, says Yakabuski, “She’s gone a step further
and has bejeweled four of them.” The same designer who recently created the
individualized mics for the Spice Girls customized the mics, which are black,
silver, pink and a combination pink and silver. “She switches out the four
different color combinations throughout the night,” he says.
According to Yakabuski, “The dynamic 935 handheld offers a performance that
is better suited to Lavigne’s vocals than the model she was previously using.
The 935 is much easier to handle in terms of ambient levels on stage. It rejects a
lot more of the band and has a smoother response across the board. It’s a
natural sounding mic, and the top-end isn’t accentuated.”
The FOH engineer deploys wired e 935 dynamic microphones for the five
members of Lavigne’s backing band — comprised of two guitarists, a keyboard
player, bass player and drummer — as well as two dancers, who all supply
background vocals. He uses e 906 mics on the guitar and bass amps. “That
has worked out really nice. The 906 is a nice, warm guitar mic,” says Yaka-
buski. An e 901 is positioned inside and an e 602 outside the kick drum, with
e 908s on the toms and e 905s on the snare drums. The hi-hat and ride
cymbals are close-miked with Neumann KM 184 condensers and a pair of
large-diaphragm Neumann TLM 103s are suspended overhead.
“I think having the large-capsule TLM 103 condenser mic really makes a
difference to give our drummer the overall picture,” says monitor mixer Matt
Peskie, who generates feeds to Sennheiser ew 300 G2 IEMs for the band —
the drummer and keyboard player are on hardwired systems — and singers, as
well as three backline technicians and the monitor tech. “The drummer really
doesn’t like a direct sound, so he predominantly takes overheads and we fill in
a few things with the direct mics.” Peskie also creates side fill mixes for an
additional four dancers. Lavigne displays her multi-instrumental talents during
the live show, performing at an acoustic piano and behind the drums. “The drum
kit has an e 905 on the snare, an e 901 on the kick and a pair of KM 184s on
overheads,” shares Peskie.
Supported by Sennheiser’s Global Relations department, the tour will play
throughout the U.S. and Canada, then visit twenty countries in Europe during
June and July, and return to the States and Canada before moving on to
Japan in September.
The Sennheiser Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. A family firm established in 1945 and based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, the company recorded sales of over 356 million euros in 2006, 82% of which was generated abroad. Sennheiser employs over 1,800 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. The Group has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as through trading partners in other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwick-lungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).
You can find out the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting www.sennheiser.com or by contacting: Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG Press Office • Edelgard Marquardt Greg Beebe Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark Director Global Relations Tel: +49 (5130) 600-329 Tel: +1 (860) 581-8052 Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]
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