The Hollywood Palace: More Than A Makeover
Elegant Install at the Hollywood Palace

By Paul Meserve

In Hollywood, California, just north of the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine, The Palace was born on January 24, 1927. Arguably, no other entertainment venue in America serves as the cradle, but also as the longest running home, to the history of performance entertainment. The Palace serves as the epicenter, no seismic puns intended, of every technological advancement in how the world has come to view and enjoy performance entertainment in all its forms.

AN ALL PURPOSE VENUE

In the early years of its 75-year history, legitimate theater and vaudeville of the 1920s quickly made way for the rise of radio in the 1930’s. Renamed the WPA Federal Theatre (Works Progress Administration) in 1935, many CBS Radio Network programs were performed on its stage, including Lucille Ball’s “My Favorite Husband”.

In 1941, the Palace was bestowed with the legendary name of The El Capitan Theatre after the original El Capitan, located on Hollywood Blvd., closed for remodeling and transformation to the Hollywood Paramount.

Photo #2: Kay Neill and The Palace Production Crew

During the 1950’s, the El Capitan became an NBC-TV facility an home to “This Is Your Life”, “The Bob Hope Chesterfield Specials”, “Queen For A Day”, “The Colgate Comedy Hour” and the world’s first telethon. The first west coast performance by the Beatles took place at The Palace before they played the Hollywood Bowl, and through the following decades each ex-Beatle performed on its stage as a solo performer. Renamed The Jerry Lewis Theatre in 1963, it was home to the comedian’s weekly ABC-TV variety series, as well as Judy Garland’s legendary television specials. In 1964, renamed The Hollywood Palace, ABC-TV launched its hit “The Hollywood Palace” series. Through seven successful years, Bing Crosby would host season premiers and a weekly all-star line-up unrivaled by any television presentation before or since.

Throughout the 1970s, the theatre lived on as ABC Television’s home studio for “The Merv Griffin Show” as well as other variety shows featuring Fred Astair, Jimmy Durante and Pearl Bailey. The theater went dark in 1973, when Merv moved to his own studio. In 1978 a Hollywood businessman purchased the property.

RESTORATION & REBIRTH

After five years of planning, restoration and refurbishing, the renamed Palace reopened in 1982 as the quintessential multimedia-driven concert venue and nightclub. Featuring the largest light and sound system in Los Angeles, the historic Palace became the place to see and be seen as the west coast version of New York’s infamous Studio 54.

The 1980s, 90s and the new millennium also established The Palace as the definitive concert venue, being the primary target for new bands.

Photo #3: Midas XL250-XL250/44/4/IP for FOH

In the 1980s it was considered the proverbial ‘front lines’ of yet another British Invasion, hosting the first-ever US performances by The Eurythmics, The Clash, and Duran Duran. It also became the home of HBO, SHOWTIME and Dick Clark’s televised music programs. In the 1990’s through the present day, bands such as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden ‘broke big’, and Nine Inch Nails and The Beastie Boys kicked-off world tours from its stage. It has hosted innumerable movie premier and wrap parties, industrial events and awards shows. Dance nights continue to break in new and evolving international musical talent and influences, all the while serving as a backdrop to over twenty major motion pictures. “She (The Palace) has a historic and spiritual significance just like a living being,” states Kay Neill (see Photo #2), Owner and CEO of Palace Holdings, Inc., the company that owns The Palace.

It may seem unusual to some to refer to a theater, which is essentially concrete and steel, as a ‘being’ in the biological sense of the word.

But to those individuals who have made the theater - specifically, ‘A theater’ - their life’s passion, they would argue their temple to the human spirit’s instinctive need to create, perform and entertain has it’s own personality, voice and soul just like any human being.

The Palace is a museum to the history of American entertainment and Ms. Neill is her curator. The depth of the relationship is found in the loving way Ms. Neill addresses The Palace as either ‘her’ or ‘she’, as if talking about her cherished only child.

Ms. Neill states, “The Palace is the Crown Jewel of entertainment venues in America. It’s an honor to be a part of what this theater represents. Performers don’t play here because it’s a venue on a tour itinerary. Performers play here to become a part of entertainment history.”

THE BIG BUY

Ms. Neill purchased the Palace in 1991 and launched a massive undertaking to reestablish The Palace’s lost, if not ignored, honor and splendor. By the end of 2001, she’d invested over US$2million in multimedia technology.

Included in this purchase was a completely upgraded laser system, intelligent stage lighting and video projection. During the first week of December 2001, a Crest-powered Martin Audio sound system was also added.

Photo #4: Midas Heritage 3000-H3/56/4/IP used for Foldback

Ms. Neill points out, “In the past, the purchasing decisions for high-end equipment were pretty much made on a price-over-performance basis, which is not the way I wanted to represent this beautiful building and all of her potential to the world. When I took over ownership, I made the decision to spare no expense in making her the showcase she deserves to be.” Kevin Kuiper, The Palace’s Production Manager of twenty years, adds, “We’ve been through about six sound systems since I started here in 1982. Many were long-term leases and others were in here on a month-to-month basis.

The last PA was a used proprietary system from a local sound company, first leased and eventually purchased, after it had been out on the road on God-knows-how-many tours. It was big, it was loud, and it wasn’t my first choice because the floor stacks ate up a lot of dance floor and it obstructed fifteen feet of the stage’s width.”

The search for the new sound system began as the stage, new lighting and laser systems were being installed in mid-2000. The Palace caters to standard-style FOH performances during the day and night, as diverse as The Muppets to the Misfits, therefore the system’s performance specs and components had to pacify any major act tour manager and his ‘written-in-stone’ equipment rider.

The Palace also hosts all-night dance events, “the hottest adult after hour event in LA,” states Ms. Neill, until the early morning hours. Since The Palace is open almost every day of the year, the duty cycle of the performance systems can be active for up to sixteen hours per day.

SEEKING THAT PERFECT SOUND

“I traveled to just about every club in the Southland of California listening to sound systems in every kind of room long before I started talking to installers,” states Ms. Neill. “The Palace is a unique room in the respect that it was once a traditional theater with a sloping floor, but long ago the seats were removed and a level, professionally sprung wooden dance floor was installed. There isn’t a room, that I am aware of, that is exactly like The Palace - hence the reason to check out all of the competition to really get a grip on the performance level of the leading systems.”

Photo #5: Martin Wave Front System at Stage Right

Ms. Neill continues, “I made a point of paying closest attention to older theaters that still had the sloping theater-style seats, since they most resembled the characteristics of The Palace. At every club I visited, I was disappointed in some way. Not terribly disappointed, but they just didn’t seem like they were making the most of their rooms by cutting corners on the technology. I found dead spots in every club I visited.” “The Palace’s success through theater, and as a radio and television studio, is because she’s acoustically perfect. You can stand on her stage, talk in a very low voice and project all the way to the back of her 425-seat balcony,” states Ms. Neill.

“Accurate and complete sound saturation that worked with the acoustics of the room was the most important factor in choosing the new sound system. As a club owner, I want everyone to experience and appreciate the same clarity, articulation and power of the music regardless of where they’re standing.

“What it boils down to is people don’t buy tickets to see a band; they buy tickets for an emotional event. People expect a lot more from an event at The Palace, therefore the need to put a lot more into the sound production.”

Months of research resulted in a short list of the leading manufactured speaker systems and the beginning of the in-house research process. Several southern California installation and concert sound companies were asked to submit proposals and provide evaluation systems for a period of ten-days.

A TEAM EFFORT

“I had a lot of help,” Ms. Neill says attributing a lot of credit to her staff, with Production Manager Kevin Kuiper, FOH engineer James Hatz, and Monitor Engineer Keith Lamond. Thumbs up went to the Crest/Martin combination provided by Delicate Productions of Camarillo, California.

Moreover, Ms. Neill continues, “I really appreciate all the great effort from the staffs of the other sound companies. They did their best to show us what they felt was the best sound system for The Palace and I am sure we would have been in good hands with any of them.

Photo #6: Serious FOH Power

“Ultimately, it was Delicate Productions with whom we felt the most comfortable and the one installer who was able to work under a very restrictive time frame to get the system installed and operational.” The Crest-powered Martin evaluation system performed the best and presented the lowest physical profile. Ms. Neill exclaims, “I can now see all of that beautiful proscenium arch!” Another important factor that cinched the deal for this system was Ms. Neill’s side trip to the Martin Audio factory, located in Buckinghamshire, England, during an unrelated business trip to the UK.

“I wanted to be assured from the ‘get-go’ that this system was the best choice,” says Ms. Neill. “You can talk to all of the salesmen in the world and they will tell you exactly what you want to hear. But, when you talk to the people in the factory, who take you through the whole manufacturing process, you get the deepest understanding of the passion and corporate philosophy behind the product.”

DELICATE PRODUCTIONS

In 1980, with years of concert touring experience, partners Smoother Smyth, Stephen Dabbs, Spy Matthews and Gus Thomson co-founded Delicate Productions.

Smoother Smyth, having previously toured with Kiss, The Rolling Stones and Olivia Newton John, joined up with Spy Matthews, Gus Thomson and Stephen Dabbs during the Supertramp Breakfast in America tour in 1979. Spy previously worked in Australia for Artist Concert Tours, Gus with console manufacturer Midas, and Steve Dabbs with Elton John and Fleetwood Mac.

Photo #7: Crest 7001s assigned to Sidefills

At the conclusion of the Supertramp world tour, with the band planning on taking a substantial hiatus, the newly formed partnership quickly made plans to purchase the Supertramp owned audio and lighting assets. The audio inventory included a pair of custom Midas consoles and a very large Martin Audio arena PA system. The Midas-Martin combination has since seen many major developments and remains as the backbone of Delicate’s audio inventory. Spy Matthews returned to his native Australia during 1995, paving the way to bring onboard Steve Gilbard. Steve previously worked for the UK-based live sound giant TASCO out of their L.A office, helping to establish them as a key player in the US audio, lighting and video marketplace.

Since it’s inception, Delicate Productions “naturally evolved” into sound and full lighting and visual production support for corporate, sporting and entertainment industry events, eventually diversifying into installed sound and, thanks to Steve Gilbard’s experience, full service video production.

Delicate Productions maintains a fulltime staff of thirty employees and is considered among Southern California’s leading full-service event production firms. Their tour roster ranges from Barry Manilow to Black Sabbath, movie premier parties from 101 Dalmatians to Working Girl, while systems installations are as diverse as the Twin Lakes Baptist Church in Aptos, to the Pasadena Playhouse.

LEGACY & POWER

Graham Thornton visited the United States from his native England working many major rock tours during the 1970’s, cutting his teeth on Martin and Midas equipment, eventually relocating to Southern California in 1980. Thornton worked with the Southern California office of TASCO, mixing sound for KISS, before joining his fellow TASCO ex-patriots at Delicate Productions in 1985.

Graham began mixing for Delicate’s national tours and gravitated into sound system installation design as the company grew, diversified and “the appeal of life on the road lost its luster,” he quips.

In regards to the Palace installation Thornton emphasizes, “We like to rent and sell what we use, and we’ve used Crest and Martin Audio products for decades. I’ve used every type of amplifier and, over time, my preferences have changed as new loudspeakers were introduced. It’s always been a matter of matching the amp that performs and sounds best with the specific speaker.

Photo #8: BSS Minidrives Applied for Balcony and Sidefills

“As a company, Delicate has been through a whole history of amps, in terms of overall performance, consistency of sound quality, and reliability, regardless of program material. We’ve used Crest amps for more than ten years, and maintain an inventory of over two hundred units to meet demand.” All other companies bidding on The Palace system required ten days for installation, but due to The Palace’s heavy performance schedule, only three days were allowed, one day to remove the old system and two days to install the new.

Graham states, “Our experience as a touring company helps us in many ways. Everything was prepped and wired before hand, since we tend to think in terms of turnkey systems. Racks were built and tested at our facility then delivered to The Palace and just plugged in.”

“The order for the system,” states Graham, “came in only a few weeks before the installation dates, therefore some things were delivered directly to The Palace as the system was going in.”

Ms. Neill states, “Delicate agreed to the installation time frame and gave me a commitment to within one hour of showtime that the system would be up and running, and they met that commitment.”

ARRAYS & DELAYS

The FOH arrays (see Photo #5) consist of six Martin Audio WaveFront W8C Compact Single 12in three-way, mid-high cabinets and three WaveFront W8CS Compact 15in Horn Loaded Bass Cabinets.

The FOH arrays are configured in a three-by-three configuration with a center column of W8CS bass cabinets, flanked by a column of three W8C mid-high, tri-amped cabinets. Each W8CS is driven by one side of a Crest 8001, and three Crest 7001s each drive two left and right W8C mid-high cabinets.

Graham states, “The top row of the arrays is angled up towards the balcony to cover the front section of the balcony and the FOH mix position. The middle row of each array is angled down to cover the back of the theater, and the bottom row is angled down towards the near field.”

Graham adds, “We’ve configured the system to provide optimum pattern coverage and control so that the inner columns of the arrays hit the center of the room and the outer columns cover the outer parts of the room. Side-to-side, the speakers are also wired so the operator has complete control of the different zones.”

Two delay arrays, consisting of two W8C mid-high cabinets and one W8CS bass cabinet, are suspended mid-theater and cover the back section of the 425-seat balcony. Four WT2 two-way loudspeakers, driven by a Crest 7001, are used for front fill for stage performances and the system’s low-end consists of fourteen Martin S218 vented dual 18in subwoofers, driven by seven Crest 9001s.

Stage monitoring consists of six Martin LE12JB low-profile 12in two-way wedges and six Martin LE700A large-format 15in two-way wedges, controlled by six Martin DX-1 Digital Controllers. The wedges are powered by twelve Crest 7001s and low-end drum monitoring is a single WS2A Martin bass cabinet powered by a Crest 8001.

Photo #9: Lighting Control from Avolites Pearl 2000 Desk

Sidefill consists of two flown Martin W8C three-ways, one per side, driven by a total of three Crest 7001s (See Photo #7), and two stage-level S218 vented dual 18in subwoofers, one per side, powered by a single Crest 9001. Graham states that, “A unique aspect of this sound system is its flexibility. To begin with, there is a six-ton behemoth and a one-of-a-kind, custom engineered retractable main stage.” This “Eiffel Tower of All Stages”, as it is locally known, folds flat against the theater’s back wall when needed. (see Photo #10).” Graham adds, “It’s moved by four two-ton electric motors and takes only fifteen minutes to set-up or retract.

“When fully expanded the subwoofers are positioned in front of the stage and the WT2 two-way front-fill speakers are placed along the front lip of the stage. When the stage is retracted for dance and DJ events, the WT2s are removed and the subs are rolled back against the ‘wall’ of the retracted stage.”

“Also,” Graham advises, “System settings are stored for dance output, stage performance output or DJ performance output. During band set changes, the sidefills are shut off for the duration. Resetting the system for each event is done with a three-pedal foot switch located at the monitor console. It’s all modular enough to be wired anywhere through the snake or a mic cable.”

PALACE LIGHTING

Aside from the new sound system, upgrades were made to The Palace’s lighting system, which is run by twenty-year lighting veteran, nine years with The Palace, Jöel Huxtable, described by Ms. Neill as “Having an uncanny ability to paint with light,” and “An artist in the truest sense of the word.”

Recently added to a lighting rig of 350 Par Cans are twenty Studio Spot 250 intelligent lights by High End Systems, and the entire lighting rig is controlled by an Avolites Pearl 2000 control desk. (see Photo #9)

Photo #10: The Smart Stage in Mid-retraction

The Palace hosts a weekly after hours event and, Jöel states, “A good deal of additional Martin lighting is brought in, such as 918s, Mini Macs and Mac 250s, which are rented from several sources. All additional rental lighting is also run off of the Avolites Pearl 2000.” Randy White of The Palace Wizard, a laser lighting production company based in Granada Hills, California, has been running The Palace’s laser light show for fifteen years. Randy’s son, Jeff, joined his father in the business eight years ago and has since been running lasers at The Palace every weekend since the beginning of 2000.

The Palace’s laser light show upgrade consists of a full-color 10watt laser system consisting of an Argon and Krypton blend. The system’s front-end is run by the PC-based Laser Show Designer 2000 software application by Pangolin. The system uses a Cambridge Scanner 6810 for all graphics and before the Scanner is a NEOS Color Crystal that provides one billion user colors.

NO STOPPING NOW

When asked if all the current upgrades will allow Ms. Neill and crew to ‘coast’ for a while and enjoy the spoils of their hard work, she laughs and states, “We easily have about a year and a half of work ahead of us. Right now it’s coming together.”

Photo #11: FOH Processing Racks

Continuing, Ms. Neill says, “The next stage is removing all of the disco-oriented architectural elements that were added in the 1980’s. The plan is to bring her back to the timeless design and beauty of when she was built. The actual restoration of the building has been a big part of the past two years, but there is a long way to go. We maintain a six person, full-time maintenance staff who are all very talented and they have made a big difference in the way the building presents itself. The things that I want done should be complete and the paint should be dry by mid-2003, which is not going to impact our planned 75th Anniversary Celebration.” Ms. Neill concludes, “The primary aspect of The Palace is she is a big part of American entertainment history, on a par with such venues as Radio City Music Hall, The Apollo, and The Fillmore.

“Maintaining the historical significance of The Palace for future generations is going to transcend and supersede all fads and trends. As long as performers and audiences want to be a part of entertainment history The Palace will be the place history will happen.”

January/February 2002 Live Sound International