Avalon Keeps Old-Hollywood Details, but Adds a New EDM Vibe
The Avalon is a California historical landmark located by the classic intersection of Hollywood and Vine, in Los Angeles. Since it’s inception in 1927 as the Hollywood Playhouse, the venue has played host to everyone from the Beatles in 1964 to being the home of DJ Sasha’s first West Coast residency.
Under various names, the site has been used as a live playhouse, radio studio, and TV studio. From 1964 to 1970, it was home to the ABC variety show, The Hollywood Palace, featuring such acts such as the Rolling Stones and the Jackson 5. But by the late 1970’s, the space had been transformed into a mega dance club, which featured the largest light and sound system in Los Angeles. Over the years, it still continued to showcase live concerts, including grunge and alternative music bands in the 1990s. The Ramones are said to have played their last live show at this venue.
Also in the 1990’s, the club started hosting DJ night programs. Since 2002, it has held fast to the name Avalon Hollywood, and its focus on EDM music has made for many a packed house every week as the popularity of that genre has grown. Many of the latest top DJs perform there, such as Skrillex, Tiësto, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia and countless others.
Balancing Old and New
The club is owned by John Lyons, a legend on the nightclub scene dating back to his days at NYC’s Studio 54 in the 1970’s. He has been involved in many club installs in recent years including XS and Light in Las Vegas. In the last year or so he has overseen a large revamping of his own historic venue. Unlike the mega clubs sprouting up in other downtown areas, Lyons tried to keep the unique Hollywood details such as the original ceiling art intact. Careful to pay attention to the original ornate design of the theater, Lyons overhauled the floors, bathrooms, walls and finally the technology. His sound system boasts 40-inch subwoofers and he has lined the walls of the theater with more than 150 video tiles to submerge the brain in sensory overload at times.
Having become a beacon for electronic music, the club recently felt the need to overhaul their existing lighting system to bring it up to date. Rather than scrap the existing production elements, House LD Richie Worboys decided to add additional American DJ products to the already existing products they have utilized since their original remodel in 2003. Richie is a partner in John Lyons Systems, which looks after club installations. He originally started working with Lyons at the Avalon nightclub in Boston more than 10 years ago.
Richie’s original ADJ lightshow made the most of 16 Vizi Beam 5Rs, which he used due to their extreme reliability, high-octane performance and low maintenance. Wanting to add visual excitement to the club, this install helped make the Avalon Hollywood an appealing venue for EDM performances. Last year, accompanying eight Vizi Beam Hybrid 2R and 28 Event Bar DMXs, he added three new 3 Sixty 2Rs to the mix, impressed by the unit’s versatile 360-degree movement and unique “light saber” beam effects.
Keeping it Fresh
For his most recent update to the Avalon Hollywood lightshow, Richie chose to use a combination of Vizi Beam 5RXs, Inno Color Beam Z7s and Crazy 8s, enabling him to create a range of new looks and ensure that each experience at the Avalon is a unique one, even for returning customers. I spoke with Richie about mixing up the looks at the club. “I never like to let the look of the club get stale. We move gear around the facility and mix it up often so the returning customers get a fresh look. We have new truss and motors on the proscenium stage; which allow us to move rigging points and bypass the theater’s old fly rail system. Our company is in the process of looking into adding a new system of truss and variable speed motors to be utilized on the dance floor system.”
I inquired why, outside of a few Elation products, his light rig consists primarily of ADJ products. “They just work constantly. For instance, I put some different ADJ products in a club about 18 months ago, and we have not touched a single fixture since. They just are so reliable and cost efficient that I see no reason to spec other gear for what I need.” So why did he choose these new models of their product? “I wanted to add to my arsenal, you know? Get some more horsepower in the space. And I think the timing just happened to be perfect,” Richie tells us. “When a fixture that you already love gets better and costs less, you can’t really go wrong. We put eight Vizi Beam 5RXs in the Avalon and the only issue I had was that they made everything else look a little dull! They’re the brightest light beam I think I’ve ever seen in this range of fixtures— very intense.”
This intensity is no doubt down to the improved optics, motorized focus and glass lens, which helps to offer a sharper, brighter output — as Richie also noted: “We compared the new one to the old one and even without any haze you could see how strong the beam was. The glass optics makes it look way more intense, with a higher contrast.”
As well as the new Vizi Beam 5RX fixtures, Richie also added four Crazy 8s to his new collection! Fitted with two independently tilting bars, each housing four 8W white LEDs, the Crazy 8 offers manic movement and intense pulse and strobe effects, which Richie uses to bring the Avalon to life from the middle of the room.
“I wasn’t expecting to enjoy them as much as I do,” Richie says. “I didn’t know if four would be enough because of the massive ceiling in the middle of the room. But yeah, those things are great. I’m a big fan of the white beam fixture. The Crazy 8 is perfect for the middle of the room and it augments the 3 Sixtys still in the rig.” Richie’s final addition to the new rig was the Inno Color Beam Z7s, with their seven extremely bright 10W quad-LED source and flexible movement.
The LD notes that the club still has an Avo Pearl console they wheel out for live acts and guest LD’s, but he prefers to run his light show off of a PC running software called ShowCAD Artist. This program allows for 128 universes of DMX and some intricate programming of special effects. To get the most out of his light beams, Richie has turned to Look Solutions Unique 2.1 hazers to create the atmosphere necessary for his club. They have been functioning steadily and proven to be low maintenance.
The Avalon also features a 270° surround of video through the use of more than 150 6mm video tiles. A separate PC that runs Resolume software feeds them media content. Worboys points out that, at times, either system can trigger the other so they work perfectly in sync to submerge the audience in an overload of sensory stimulation.
Besides his love for all things ADJ, Richie utilizes a plethora of LED toys to add to the mix. LED globes on strings, LED tubes as well as various 5R and 15R LED fixtures are utilized in the venue. After 10 years at the Avalon, Richie is still happy to work the dance nights and provide the stimulating looks for the crowd.
