On a latest Friday evening, the French disco band L’Impératrice took the stage on the Shrine Expo Corridor, framed in a twig of giant LED panels. 5 thousand followers, decked out in silver lamé and fishnet tops, packed the ground for 2 hours of zesty, bilingual membership music.
The USC-adjacent venue is a long-standing, standard spot for such concert events. However on that Friday, maybe followers observed the combo was a bit crisper, the stage a bit extra decked out, and the air con absolutely pumping. Possibly they wandered downstairs into a brand new VIP bar, constructed to match the venue’s dreamy Moroccan motifs. The members of L’Impératrice absolutely appreciated their new dressing room, adorned with wavy, ‘70s-style furniture with a shower bigger than many Parisian apartments.
For the last year, L.A. concert promoter Goldenvoice has quietly but thoroughly upgraded the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall to more modern and luxurious standards. It’s a welcome refresh for the landmark venue’s impending a hundredth anniversary subsequent 12 months.
It’s additionally preparation to maintain the advanced on the A-list of native live performance halls, amid different enormous latest investments in L.A. stay venues.
“We need to celebrate the Shrine even more,” mentioned Melissa Ormond, Goldenvoice and AEG Festivals’ chief working officer. “Venues come and go, but this is an institution on the L.A. scene. It would be impossible to build this now. There’s a reason it’s been around for a hundred years.”
The chandelier on the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Instances)
The Shrine is, if something, underrated in L.A. leisure lore. Opened in 1926 by the Al Malaikah Shriners (a part of a fraternal Masonic group that also owns the advanced), the venue has hosted many incarnations of the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. Ray Charles and the Grateful Useless recorded stay albums there. The debut of the shackled ape in “King Kong” and scenes from two “A Star Is Born” movies had been shot inside.
Its straightforward to see why — the Shrine’s regal desert murals, undulating wooden balconies and ornate chandeliers make for a charming place to play and see stay music. The twin rooms supply each a proper sit-down viewers and a packed membership flooring (an out of doors configuration opens up much more choices).
Goldenvoice took over the Shrine’s reserving and operations in late 2012. Extra lately, the house hosted lengthy runs from acts like Billie Eilish and Fred Once more… simply as they crested into stadium-size superstars (the latter performed a formidable nine-night stand in 2023, earlier than promoting out the Coliseum down the road final 12 months).
A adorned aisle seat on the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Instances)
“I’m from L.A. and I remember coming into the Auditorium and Expo Hall and seeing Jamie xx play here 10 years ago,” mentioned Spencer Knox, the Shrine’s assistant basic supervisor, resting within the seats on a tour of the empty Auditorium. “That was a core memory and a gateway to live concerts for me. To be part of it now and see how it works, it’s awesome.”
There have been spots the place the 100-year-old house confirmed its age, or may benefit from modern structural upgrades. From 2023 till the top of final 12 months, Goldenvoice put $2 million into new acoustic baffling and a modular P.A. system for the venues — key for the sorts of bass-throttling membership music which have discovered a favourite residence there. New flooring and overhead lighting rigging enable for a lot of extra stage-placement and manufacturing choices, like in-the-round concert events within the Expo Corridor. And anybody who sweated to LCD Soundsystem’s four-night Shrine residency final 12 months might recognize the frosty new HVAC setup.
“Late last year we had a gaming event, and the production folks that came in, they were like, ‘Wow, we’re so happy with everything that you did. I was a little hesitant because it was hard to film in the room. Now, I’m really excited to be back’,” mentioned Jennie Perkins, the Shrine’s basic supervisor. “Hearing that was very validating, because sometimes you don’t realize something until it’s different. Every time a guest comes back, it’s like the room has been transformed.”
Though most followers won’t ever see the glistening wood-paneled dressing rooms for artists (extra of a backstage condominium, actually), they may make it into the brand new downstairs speakeasy, a moody den of wrought-iron filigrees that was once the altering room for refrain dancers at awards reveals of yore.
The French disco band L’Imperatrice performs within the Expo Corridor on the Shrine Auditorium on Feb. 7.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Instances)
“Before, it was just a room, it was super loud and no one could really talk to the agents and you couldn’t have a vibe where it was elevated and felt special,” Knox mentioned. “We needed that. There’s so much room to play with down here now.”
The Shrine’s upgrades, nevertheless, are simply the most recent salvo within the post-pandemic rush to revamp stay music in L.A. The Intuit Dome in Inglewood and YouTube Theater close to SoFi Stadium are comparatively brand-new complexes with comparable capacities to what the Shrine can supply partly or complete.
Late final 12 months, Goldenvoice and AEG competitor Stay Nation introduced a $525-million plan for venue upgrades, with a lot of the work changing common seats to VIP areas. Chief Govt Michael Rapino mentioned that income for Stay Nation’s VIP golf equipment grew 19% throughout the third quarter of 2024.
At the same time as followers lament broadly excessive live performance ticket costs, many are prepared to pay much more for elite hospitality, or at the very least a extra comfy show-going expertise. “That’s in response to what fans are telling us,” Ormond mentioned. “We want to keep general admission tickets accessible, but there is an audience that wants more.”
The outside of the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Instances)
What the Shrine lacks in utterly new buildings, nevertheless, it makes up for in flexibility and aesthetics, in a transit-friendly neighborhood being remodeled by Olympics-prep developments in Expo Park and the close by Lucas Museum of Narrative Artwork.
“This helps us cultivate talent,” Ormond mentioned. “L.A. is our home and a great concert market where artists are demanding options at every level. It’s complimentary programming to our festivals like Coachella. It helps with the biggest gets and intimate underplays, to have these rooms where you can really express yourself creatively.”
Over the the following few weeks, the spiffed-up Shrine will host the Display Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 23 (which is able to stream stay on Netflix), and hosts the Arc World Tour gaming collection and concert events from 070 Shake, Two Associates and Refused.
For artists buying 2025 excursions and past, there are few different choices to play within the shadow of each Judy Garland and King Kong.
“I’ll be coming in here for work, and people are just staring at the front of the building,” Perkins mentioned. “They’re like, ‘What is this place?’ with a look of wonder.”
“You can go to the YouTube Theater, you can go to Peacock Theater, so what sets us apart?” Knox requested. “It’s that prestige.”
