The Rave / Eagles Club

It has been a long labor of love to restore a building of inestimable architectural, historical, and musical importance to its former glory, increasing its potential even further as a landmark venue for the city and a home for real milestones in decades of music. The Rave/Eagles Club is housed in a fascinating 1920s building that has paced the course of international music culture and clubbing. The building was constructed over two years, beginning in 1925, but the Eagles departed in 1983, and now that space is also part of what is officially called "The Rave/Eagles Club." Many of the unique details that once defined the building are still evident in the various spaces in use, which include four stages that collectively host more than 200 concerts annually—a who's who of diverse artists, including Bob Dylan, Slayer, T-Pain, Jack White, Florence and the Machine, Lainey Wilson, and many others. In total, it's a 180,000-square-foot, seven-level facility comprised of eight independent clubs ranging from 400 to 4,000 in capacity.

Today, the hall is glowing with new attractions and improvements that make it captivating, far beyond its indefatigable retro charm. Indeed, the ownership recently focused on two important ballrooms, initiating a project that resulted in installing two new VIO Series resident PAs. The work was carried out by Audio Biz and supported by Jem Productions, which worked closely with the venue's resident production and technical crew: co-owner Joe Balestrieri, production manager Amanda Tullis, and assistant production manager/audio manager Jeff Claveau. The project involved replacing pre-existing audio systems in the 1,800-capacity Rave Hall as well as the 4,000-capacity Eagles Ballroom with new VIO arrays.

Claveau provides an overview of the systems in both main spaces: "In the Rave Hall, we have seven VIO L1610 modules per side for mains, six VIO S218 subs per side for mains, and four VIO L208s as front fills." As for the Eagles Ballroom: "Per side, as mains, we have eight VIO L212s, eight VIO L1610s for out fills, 10 VIO S218 subs ground-stacked, and five VIO L1610s for front fills." For stage monitors in both spaces, there are eight VIO W15T wedges, four VIO S118 subs, four VIO C12 tops as side fills, and a VIO S118 drum sub." Both PAs are monitored and controlled with native Aurora Net software. 
The final result is a success, as Claveau confidently declares: "Since we installed the VIO rig, I've even had customers come up to me and ask what we did, because it doesn't sound like the Eagles Ballroom anymore, in a good way."

Among the qualities the property liked about the PA, owner Joe Balestrieri underlines: "Beyond the absolute clarity of audio, we appreciated the access to the local rep, Audio Biz, a large network of dBTech users like JEM Productions, dB's tech support, and the company's overall responsiveness. dB was more cooperative, easier to deal with, and local—so if we needed something, we could get service. With the acoustical improvements and the new sound system, I can say that the sound in The Rave Hall and Eagles Ballroom is spectacular, equal to anybody's."