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Name your top 5 venues on the west coast
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
I figure it's been a while since we've had a good discussion piece on TA so i figured I'd ask the question (that has been asked many times):
What's your favorite venue (top 5) on the west coast (club, underground, festival)? And why?
1. Circus LA- It's my old stomp'n ground. Yes, the sound sucks, the production stinks but hey... you can't beat the vibe at that place.
2. 1015 (circa 1998-2002) SF - Place changed my life when i first started clubbing. Got to see some the of the greatest headliners and local dj's perform. Loved the venue b/c it had this cool dark, underground feel to it. Especially when they had the basement too.
3. King King LA - Still one of my favorites. What club allows in-and-outs in Los Angeles? The best part of the party is car-barring it out in the parking lot with all the homies.
4. Rubyskye SF - I came to love RS with my recent move back up to SF/Bay Area. It was my hangout spot. Crowd on certain nights may have ben meh... but I did enjoy all the staff that worked there. A very family like organization. Not to mention a lot of free booze :) And the occasional good dj. Again: INs and OUTs are a plus :D
5. NOS - Only been there a couple of times, but I must say, I've been really enjoying it more and more. Really dig the open layout. Ideal location for a massive (which I'm not a fan of). Even better if you have VIP or appropriate credentials.
just bored at work guys :) |
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| turpentine |
cool idea, mine would be..
1. Marquee - everything about this place is pretty on point
2. Encore Beach - nothing crazy about the venue but i've had some epic times here and in general just love pool parties
4. Ruby Skye - mostly cause of the headliners they bring in
3. Avalon - same reason as ruby
5. Haze - yeah kind of top40ish but had some great times here as well
mind you i've only been on the west coast since November so i still have a lot to check out :cool: |
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| DJ Taj |
1. The Endup - Outdoor patio w/ waterfall & sliding glass doors leading to dancefloor, wicked diverse musically knowledgeable crowd & perfect sound for size of venue.
2. 1015 - cause its 1015
3. Ruby Skye - Large, Beautiful, glamourous venue!
4. Circus - Massive space, Outdoor patio with fooooooooood! :)
5. Avalon - Large, Beautiful, glamourous venue!
;) |
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| DjWoody |
Ha! I'm gonna be a little biased too.
THE MAYAN, Los Angeles (EDM Nights)
On non-edm nights, the mayan is kinda scary! lol. But when Digweed is in town, it completely transforms it self into a hidden gem that needs some polishing. The Mayan is really awesome for EDM. It's spacious, it's dark, and the staff is really friendly. One thing that they seem to get right and other clubs (hint hint, Avalon), don't get, is NO LINE ISSUES!!! Even when The Mayan sells outs, the line move quickly. They don't bull and never hold the line. I love the fact they set up a table outside with multiple scan stations so you can pick up your ticket. Than once at the front door, they have multiple staff searching. They don't hold the line at all.
The Mayan sells really strong drinks. Yeah, it don't take much to get drunk there. They also sell potato chips and snacks. So if it's 3am and you're hungry, you can get a snack! The crazy hot dog guy outside is funny as hell. He used to let you set your own price on the food. If you told him you only had $1, he'll let you take the hot dog and if you were really lucky, he'll give you the drink. Ahh I miss the Mayan.
On the other hand, the Mayan really needs some house cleaning. It's DIRTY and it can really use some graffitti removal. The basement can be a really cool lounge, but it looks more like a waiting room for the restrooms. They also need to hide the trash cans on the patio. lol And last, they need a new Funktion 1 sound system in there QUICK! Hopefully with Belasco opening right next door, they get their act together and do some maintenance on the place.
My friend is the resident DJ and he told me they did some upgrades recently. They also added an LED wall that cover the entire wall behind the stage. Sadly enough, because of it, they moved the DJ booth to the second floor. I'm sure Digweed will still be on the stage below.
CIRCUS, Hollywood (Spundae Days)- The vibe was amazing, plus what other LA club let locals take over? Thanks to that, I got a chance to rock all 3 rooms there while Spundae was still doing it. Circus is also the hub for old school LA TA's. Every weekend it was like a big TA meet up. We were a huge family of friends who had one thing in common... Passion for dance music.
XALOS, Anaheim (Saturday Nights) - Again, a little biased here since it's been my residency for the last 6 years. Xalos is like the Circus of the latin scene. Everyone knows each other and the vibe is really awesome. It's the only club I've ever spun at where owners, managers and promoters don't tell the DJ's what to play. They leave the music up to us. On a typical night you can expect to hear everything from some sick underground, to some spanish rock, to Elvis to Adele. Xalos has that genuine party feel where you can just let loose, get drunk, and dance your ass off every week.
Another thing I really like is the staff. We all been there for years and we all know each other. Every Christmas the owner throws us an employee christmas party. He brings in staff from other clubs so that none of us has to work. He raffles big screen tv's, blu-ray players and lots of alcohol. lol And to top it off, he hires this lady to make Pozole, enchiladas, mexican bread, and other typical mexican christmas food. It's a good thing working there and the pay is really good!
HEAT, Anaheim (EDM Nights)
I always heard horror stories about Heat, but I never had any issues there. The venue is extremely nice, very posh, but the crowd is not my favorite. But, I've been to some amazing EDM parties there. They have CHRYO!!! Too bad it completely caters to the bottle service crowd. I need to open up a club that offers NO BOTTLE SERVICE and it's focused on the music! haha I'll probably go broke quick! lol
AVALON, Hollywood
What can I say, it's Avalon. |
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| DaveT |
1. Ten15 -- in its heyday. Place would still have so much potential all around if they just did the main room proper. (Balcony = fail. Adding extra lights = not the way to go). They modernized the rest of the club (well front room and downstairs at least, upstairs was always a bit bleh feeling), but failed horribly on the most important room of all. Of course, they throw events right now that cater to a more mass market and they do well on those nights, but those crowds probably don't understand the differences between good clubs and great clubs.
2. Circus Disco. Again, in it's heyday when it didn't feel like a complete dump.
3. Mighty (after they installed a new sound system). Love that place on the right night. Great sound. Great vibe. Just needs better A/C.
4. Mezzanine, when it first opened. I loved the old makeshift DJ booth on the side wall. Made it feel like a big warehouse party, and the place sounded amazing when its Funktion One system was tuned. Too bad it vibrated uncontrollable and DJs hated it. Also needs better A/C
5. Ruby Skye, post new sound system and post spundae's entrance. I used to hate RS, with a passion. Because of the crowd (club tried to be very VIP-esque when it opened) and that sound system it used to have. It was gawd awful. They fixed the sound with the EAW Avalon system years back, but the crowd was still meh 90% of the time. When Spundae started at Ruby, it was still meh for awhile but you could see the crowd change on Friday nights, though you still have those meg nghts. Saturday nights is still meh more often.
Ruby is lacking right now though. It really needs to replace the projection system with a LED curtain or something. They re-did the DJ booth to give the club more of a big-room feel (a good thing and a bad thing as it pulled the DJ further away from the crowd and made the viewing angle up front a little harsh) and they occasionally add lights (usually in a smart way), but that projection system just makes the place feel a little more outdated. Feels like a broken record saying this as I've been saying it for a long time. Armin mentioned the same thing when he played in SF saying Ruby should put an LED up and it would make the place f'n amazing. It could use a tad more enhanced lighting, too. But the projection screen is its biggest issue right now.
End Up is way up there, but more of a hangout place for me in the past than a place to really go nuts dancing. Avalon in LA would be up there, but the vibe has sucked most times I've been there. Vanguard was disappointing overall the times I visited. Place just had emotion to it. I LOVE Mayan in LA, but haven't been there in a long time so not sure how it is when events are there these days.
DT |
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| modthispny |
| enjoyed reading your in depth reviews |
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| Nerologic |
Rain Las Vegas Hands down, bar-none the BEST clubbers club on the west coast. The layout caters to the party people and NOT the VIP bottle service. It's so much fun when its packed, but kinda sad when the club isn't so packed. But the place is HUGE so you need a decent size crowd to pack the house. The lights are okay, the sound is good, the flame thrower is awesome, the acrobatics is also awesome. And the dance floor is HUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The only TRUE clubbers club on the west coast.
Vanguard Los Angeles - Club Deep Those Sunday nights were EPIC. The vibes were always great. Good dancers, good vibes, good deep house made for epic nights at Vanguard.
The End Up San Fran The 2 times I was there I loved the vibe. People dancing, good tunes bumping all night long until Saturday or Sunday morning. One of the best EDM vibes I have experienced anywhere. Venue isn't the greatest, but the EDM loving crowd makes up for what the venue lacks.
Avalon Los Angeles Of course just like everyone else mentioned, the place is huge and the talent they bring in is always top notch along with the sound. Some of the most fun I ever had was 5/6 years ago at the early Erick Morillo shows there. The first time Steve Angello and Ingrosso played there. Seeing Sander K wayy back then. THE SPIDER ROOM!!! Being up there during sunrise, the little room with everyone just lounging until the sun came up and started to come in the little window/doors that faced the street. So many epic nights of partying ended up there sitting down just winding down. Sucks that they never open it up anymore, but it was such an awesome/cracked out vibe at 8/9/10 am on a Sunday morning.
Marquee Las Vegas Just like everyone mentioned...the lights, visuals, the talent, the decor, the multi-levels. It's one of the top notch clubs in Vegas, but unfortunately caters to the VIP crowd. And that means a SMALL dance-floor and sometimes expensive cover to get in. But everything else is good, the sound is good the DJ's LOVE that place making it a good club.
Notables:
BETA Denver Heard only good things about this place, I plan on checking it out sometime this year.
TAO Las Vegas So many EPIC Morillo nights there the past 5 years I have to give it a mention.
Ruby Sky San Fran Just like everyone mentioned its another great spot in SF.
Sadly...this whole time writing I tried hard to think of a good place in San Diego that was worthy to mention. But I have yet to think of one. All the ones that existed and or are on going are no where near any of the venues that I have listed or everyone else listed. As I think about this while typing, makes me realize why I rarely party in San Diego... |
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| DjWoody |
| XS, Las Vegas (EDC After Party).... Get rid of the douche crowd and this venue is amazing! It's beautiful, awesome sound, pool, lots of fresh air coming from the outside, awesome visuals. It's just amazing! The crowd it attracts is the only downside. |
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| mar46017 |
Playhouse in LA. (Friday nights)
Marquee, XS, Surrender, Encore Beach Club in Vegas. |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| quote: | Originally posted by mar46017
Playhouse in LA. (Friday nights)
Marquee, XS, Surrender, Encore Beach Club in Vegas. |
why? |
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| bigperf |
1. 1015- thanks to all the SFTA's! Got to see a ton of great shows and hang out up close with the DJ's. Thanks Taj!
2. Ruby skye- love the venue, in and outs FTMFW!!! I could walk my girl back to our room for her to use the restroom and it was faster than having to wait in ruby's line!
3. On broadway event center- Thats right, i threw sd in there. Back when eventvibe used to do the main room on fri/sat, it was perfect because most of my friends in sd were all about hip hop, so they would go downstairs and id check my fave dj's like robbie,fedde, eddie etc upstairs :D
4.Trinity nightclub- Used to frequent Seattle a bit. This was the "new club" in town and they would bring in headliner dj's(without LA covers) and again there were multiple rooms.
5.Wavehouse San Diego partying on the beach during the summer. HUGE venue, cant think of a bigger outdoor spot in SF/LA/SD.
Oh yes, i forgot LA. My venue will be Tommy's! the place you stop off for a burger on your way to San Diego/San Francisco :D |
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| kevin shawn |
I've got to hit the fire button a few times at Rain what an experience when that place is packed. A friend of mine told me that they were getting ready to change formats soon. Not sure how true that is.
My clubbing experience consists mostly of Vegas events but I have made it out a few times since moving to LA :p
1 - ICE Las Vegas - I was there from the day that place opened to the last night it operated. What a vibe that place could bring! Off the strip venue that really jump started the Vegas EDM intrest. I was booked to play the last month with a friend but we had bought all of our stuff to go to Nocturnal at the NOS center with a large group so, we had to skip out. Seeing Deep Dish open for Tiesto and dancing till 9am was the highlight of my clubbing career so far. Now you couldn't pay me to see him. Farasheed was the man back in the day and the owner was this little short 70 year old man who would be rolling balls every weekend. Coolest light guy on the planet who now works at Marquee.
2 - Circus Disco - My first club I went to in LA and I saw George Acosta, back in the spundae days. It was dirty and kinda ghetto but the vibe was absolutely amazing!! Came back to see a few different DJs when I lived in Vegas it was always a good time making the road trip from vegas. 4 or 5 years later I got to open for Gareth Emery and Tom Colontino alongside my good friend bringing it all full circle :)
3 - Exchange LA - This venue has yet to really prove itself after it's recent grand opening but as far as looks and sound to me it's top notch. Historical venue in DTLA with funktion 1 and that upstairs VIP room just screams stippers and cocaine. Last few times I have gone the sound has been a little hot but when it's on point it's amazing. Friday EDM nights have been hit or miss but, solid venue I feel.
4 - Empire Ballroom Las Vegas - Now closed down but this used to be the after hours spot in Vegas. The very first nightclub I ever got to play, in that little back room :) The vibe that place had going at 6am when a good DJ was on was unbelievable. Multi level huuuuge venue. And the patio! Small but it would go off! Like 100 people up there all hands in the air dancing to some house. Good times. It was really fun until they started to tell everyone to play more electro. All electro house, all the time yuck.
5 - NOS event center - My first massive was here and I was like wtf carnival rides? Amazing experiences here with some of my best friends at EDC and Nocturnal, never been to a MM or TAO event there. The year they dropped daisies out of the helicopter was amazing! More than a few times the VIP open bar got to me and I blacked out though always a good time from what I can remember lol. Parking was always a bitch. |
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