Hollywood Palladium

The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an 11,200 square foot (1040 m²) dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.

History

The Los Angeles Times publisher Norman Chandler funded the construction of the art deco Hollywood Palladium at a cost of $1.6 million in 1940. It was built where the original Paramount lot once stood by film producer Maurice Cohen and is located between Argyle and El Centro avenues. The style dance hall was designed by Gordon Kaufmann, architect of the Greystone Mansion, the Los Angeles Times building and the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia. He was also the architect for the Hoover Dam and early Caltech dorms.

The theater opened October 31, 1940 with a concert by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. It had six bars serving liquor and two more serving soft drinks and a $1 cover charge and a $3 charge for dinner.

Over the years, it has hosted the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Toyah, Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Fugazi, The Cure, Bad Religion, Skrewdriver, The Ramones, Faces, Bjork, The Strokes, Modest Mouse, El Tri, the Pixies, Portishead and Sublime with Rome.

During WWII, the Palladium hosted radio broadcasts featuring Betty Grable greeting servicemens' song requests. Big Band acts began losing popularity in the 1950s, causing the Palladium to hold charity balls, political events, auto shows, and rock concerts. In 1961, it became the home of the long-running Lawrence Welk Show.

Pop Expo '69, referred to as a 'teenage fair,' was a youth-oriented event held from 3/28/69 to 4/6/69 at the Palladium, and included performances by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the MC5. Beginning in the 1980s and 90s, punk rock, rap and heavy metal concerts started to be booked at the venue. Several white power disturbances resulted, eventually leading to the Palladium closing for eight weeks, starting in February 1993.

In 1964 it was announced that none of the jazz bands scheduled were to be paid and a riot ensued after the show was cancelled. In 1973 Stevie Wonder performed with Taj Mahal in what was advertised as an "Afrocentric concert" to benefit African refugees.

Since 1985 the theater has been owned by Palladium Investors Ltd., a privately held group. In 2007 the owners agreed to a long-term lease to operate, manage and exclusively book the Hollywood Palladium with Live Nation, a Los Angeles-based company. Curfews were implemented in 1993 and a because of a brawl a few nights prior a Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch show was called off. It was also used for Hollywood celebrity parties.

Sublime will play their first reunion show at the Palladium on April 20, 2010, under the name Sublime with Rome.

Renovation and reopening

The Palladium reopened with a Jay-Z concert on October 15, 2008 after a year long, multi-million dollar renovation by Live Nation. The renovation included an overhaul of the venue's interior and exterior, a new dance floor, expanded concessions, upgraded restrooms and improvements to the stage infrastructure. Jay-Z performed for nearly an hour-and-half, backed by an eight-piece band and DJ AM, who played his first show after surviving a plane crash in South Carolina. The Hollywood Palladium was also used as the memorial service site for DJ AM on September 3, 2009.

For the 2008-2009 season a yearlong table for four cost $30,000.

Popular culture

The Hollywood Palladium has been featured in many movies and tv shows over the years. Some of these are:

  • The Day of the Locust (1975)
  • Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979)
  • 1941 (1979)
  • The final concert scene in The Blues Brothers depicted as 'Palace Hotel Ballroom' (The exterior was actually the South Shore Country Club in Chicago, IL) (1980).
  • Richard Pryor performed two dates in December 1981 and was filmed for the theatrical release Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip in March 1982.
  • The scene in Almost Famous where Penny Lane dances to the Cat Stevens song "The Wind".
  • Keith Richards released a CD and DVD of his solo concert Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988.
  • The Palladium served as the location for the Sci-fi convention in Galaxy Quest (1999)
  • The Palladium played the exterior of the fictional Studio 60 on the Aaron Sorkin television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
  • The television show Adam-12, episode "Something Worth Dying For (Part 2)" (1975)
  • The Grateful Dead have released several CDs that featured Music recorded at the Hollywood Palladium on August 6, 1971: Dick's Picks Vol. 35; Fallout From The Phil Zone; Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 3 (Bonus Material)
  • The punk band Bad Religion recorded Live at the Palladium in 2006, a collection from their two days of performances.
  • Skrewdriver filmed the video for the song White Power in the parking lot.

In politics

On November 18, 1961, President John F. Kennedy took the occasion of a Democratic Party dinner at the Hollywood Palladium to speak out against ultra-conservative organizations.

In February 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. was honored at the Palladium by city officials recognizing his Nobel Peace Prize. A bomb threat was called in for the event, frightening the attendees. Earlier in the day, LA Police had found 1400 pounds of explosives in a Los Angeles apartment. []

References

External links

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LAist
1 August 2014
The neon lights and marquee at the Hollywood Palladium are a mainstay of some of the town's best music. From Jay Z to Arcade Fire, this art deco venue has hosted some heavy hitters.
Brian Tran
12 November 2014
My favorite venue! I've seen a variety of music genre shows here and I always have the best time. Easy access to upstairs outside patio. Any spot in the venue is a good place to watch any show!
PCL Construction
18 January 2013
This 4,000-seat Hollywood icon was in need a little lift. PCL came in to improve rigging capabilities by cutting two of the truss chords and raising them for lighting and camera access.
Adrian Phillips
17 April 2015
Skip going to the bar in the foyer & head straight to the bars to the left or right of the stage. Saw The Replacements and Erasure here, usually a great viewing angle from nearly everywhere.
Peter J. Malandrinos
17 May 2017
This location has everything very friendly staff I accidentally dropped a beer and they helped me thank you again I will be back
Shane Dee F3rgusson
27 April 2013
go see live music here. the acoustics in nothing short of amazing. definately in the top 3 of best sound systems and accoustics packages in a music venue
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20,624 people have been here
Map
6215 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, USA Get directions
Fri-Sat 6:00 PM–1:00 AM
Sun 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Mon None
Tue 7:00 PM–10:00 PM
Wed 6:00 PM–11:00 PM

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