Hammersmith Palais – UK
20/10/2006
With the notable exception of the Beatles, there have been few important British bands that haven’t played at The Hammersmith Palais. A home for 70s punk rock, 80s ska and 90s dance, the Palais has been the launching pad for the UK careers of everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Strokes.
The Palais’ distinctively wide auditorium and flanking gallery bars have been up dated with a rolling pattern of refurbishment and renovation over the years. But this has not effaced from it’s walls and stage the historic feel of a performance venue that has rocked, danced and rolled since 1918. The venue is intrinsic to the history of live music in the UK: The Clash paid a backhanded compliment to the venue in the song ‘(White Man) in Hammersmith Smith’, whilst Slipknot paid their own tribute to the venue, almost burning it down during a Kerrang awards ceremony.
However, when Bar Vest’s tenure began in 1999, the venue’s traditional live agenda was ditched. The Palais was branded as a Po Na Na and traded purely in events and dance music. In 2002 Barvest decided to resume the live agenda recovering the venue’s public perception as a rock n’ roll and reinstating the Hammersmith Palais handle.
The Palais has resumed its glory years, but Barvest’s ambitions have not stopped there. A sound installation has been carried out by Mark Metcalf and Blue Box Audio to unite the venue’s live, event-based and dance agenda through one very serious sounding – and looking – Funktion One system.
The Palais has now entered a new era of scheduling, simultaneously jockeying for trade with Shepherd’s Bush, Ministry of Sound and the Astoria, and establishing its future success as an attractive and flexible space for promoters, corporate hire and touring acts.
Mark Metcalf enjoyed a hands-on Involvement with getting the sound system right, talking the requirements through with both Po Na Na’s Dave Gaydon, venue Manager Matt Talbot, and founder of Schooldisco.com Bobby Sanchez.
After auditioning the Funktion One system, Mark Metcalf of Blue Box Audio created a flexible Funktion One dance arrangement which can be easily dismantled and reconfigured to cater for the various roles of the venue. David Bruml of Funktion One explains the specially formulated Dance Stacks, four of which loom imposingly at each corner of the venue.
“The Funktion One Dance Stacks are a state-of-the-art series of sonically and visually imposing loudspeaker systems designed specifically for the club-world. Different combinations of Dance Stack components can be combined to facilitate precise specifications and control of bass content and mid-high dispersion. The rear stacks at The Palais include Double Infrahorns for thick and luxurious super-low bass, twin F218s for tight and well defined bass punch. Upper-bass and low0mid speed comes from the DS15 horn-loaded 15” device. The DS210 supplied mid-range and high frequency power and definition to match the exceptional low-end combination. The front stacks comprise four F-218s, 1x DS15 and the new DS310 triple-head to meet the Palais’ wide dispersion requirement. The purity of the Funktion One design approach completely avoids the usual pitfall of system EQ with its associated phase problems. This purity leads to incredible transient delivery which combined with the sheer physicality and lack of distortion of these systems provides club-goers with totally involving and pain-free musical experiences.”
As well as the Dance Stacks on the main floor, a set of Funktion One Res 4s provide side fills in the VIP bar, supported by F-218 bass enclosures. Meanwhile the gallery bar has taken ownership of a set of F88 units and F-118 bass units. However, the focus of the refit has been placed firmly on the Dance Stacks, explains Metcalf.
“The Dance Stacks are dance orientated in design, but work exceptionally well for live. The sound delivered is flat and clean with no EQ required, and lends itself perfectly to the transition between club night and live music. We’ve gigged the set-up already with different acts: Katie Melleur, the Dandy Warhols, and a few reggae acts. Katie Melleur’s agent said it was one of the best sounds he’d heard.”
test for the first outing of the new A6 amplifiers driving the self-powered F218A bass enclosures. The amps passed the test without fault and giving probably the best sound ever to the F218s with new levels of power and control.
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