From Oasis to Kylie Minogue, Massive Attack to New Order, director Baillie Walsh has spent his career working with some of the biggest names in music. His latest project is a little different, not least because his musical collaborators are composed of millions of pixels, recreating the four stars of ABBA in their pomp. “They don’t complain – they’re not saying, ‘Oh, we can only do one performance tonight,’” Walsh laughs of the digital performers.
As director of ABBA Voyage, his task was to dream up a virtual concert experience that recreates the magic of watching the Swedish pop group in their 1970s imperial phase. At its heart are the four all-singing, all-dancing ABBAtars – painstakingly recreated digital renderings of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha FÓltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, created by the special effects whizzes at Industrial Light and Magic.
