Why the club's customized system is the best in town
Los Angeles is many things - one of the world's most ethnically diverse cities, the globe's entertainment-media mecca, a geographic wonder of mountains and sea, a youth culture spigot of surf and street - but clubbing capital it is not. When it comes to nightlife, you can travel to New York, London, Miami, or even San Diego and find more quantity and quality. You can partly blame Hollywood for that. Industry haunts are the stuff of exclusivity, surface, and transience - red carpets, tealight candles, pop DJs, cheap interiors, and even cheaper P.A. components.
For nearly three years, Avalon Hollywood has been the area's outpost for genuine club-heads, people used to diverse crowds, solid underground music, and high-quality frequencies. It's the only venue in Los Angeles that can be mentioned in the same breath as New York's Crobar, Miami's Mansion, or even London's Fabric - serious adult playgrounds with the proper tools to rock your world. Perhaps it's why the 1,400-capacity Avalon was the first L.A. venue to really attract world-class DJ residencies from such overseas spinners as Sasha, Ferry Corsten, and Danny Howells. In a word, it's the sound.
"Sound-wise, it's up there with the best," says England's Sasha, who, on June 24, will record an unprecedented Instant Live mix-CD at the club, which will available for purchase after the gig.
"Avalon is one of the premier venues in North America and one of my favorite places to play."
"Avalon's System is clear as crystal and makes even bad [music] productions sound great," adds trance star Ferry Corsten, an Avalon resident who has an album, L.E.F. (Loud Electronic Ferocious), due August 8. "It's an amazing system."
Just as chef-owners are what separate fine dining establishments from gastronomic poseur fests, Avalon co-owner John Lyons is a sound designer who put his blueprints to the test. The venue's Eastern Audio Works speakers bear Avalon's branding because Lyons designed them specifically to work in dance clubs. EAW Avalon speakers also grace Tao and Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Ruby Skye in San Francisco, Fur in Washington, D.C., and, of course, Avalon clubs in Boston and New York. At the heart of Avalon Hollywood's sound are sixteen DCS2 subwoofers sitting low along the dance floor and six DC1 loudspeakers hung above it. (Separate EAW speakers are moved into place for live shows.) The result is rumble and roll with no pain.
"I believe that certain frequencies have a physical effect on the body - they can make you nauseous or fatigued," says Lyons, 50. "I always want to build systems that sound loud but that aren't fatiguing. You want to be able to have a conversation on the dance floor."
Lyons explains that many club systems have "long throw" sound, projecting waves far and loud, concert-style. He realized this didn't jibe with a captive audience on the dance floor. "You can do serious damage to someone if their head is near the speaker," he says.
His showcase main room at Avalon has little direct lambasting of a customer's ear. His speakers don't throw out so far, giving more of a "near field" effect. "I wanted to have it work like a waterfall," Lyons says.
Additionally, he did a good amount of acoustical remodeling to the 1927 building that used to be the Palace, including spraying three-inch-thick layers of K13 absorbing cellulose high along back walls and stage walls. Special DJs get special production. New York's Danny Tenaglia recently spun atop a larger-than-life boombox, on a stage decorated with mock subway cars. Dutch trance king Tiesto was outfitted with a "turbo" foot pedal that allowed him to boost the bass at key moments. Deep Dish played beneath an artist's rendering of Family Guy cartoon character Stewie mixing on two turntables. The result is an unprecedented experience for Los Angeles. Competition - Circus Disco, with an EAW Avalon system, and the Vanguard, with a British Funktion One rig - isn't in the same league. And you can forget about those hip-hop-posturing industry haunts down Hollywood Boulevard. They're not in the same universe, sonically.
"It seems like they build places they don't expect to be around for long," Lyons says of social Hollywood. "For me, I think the music is the reason people are here 99 percent of the time. You're selling alcohol and music. If you don't have cold beer, you're doing something wrong. Likewise, the music's gotta be right. It's not that complicated."
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