Largo at the Coronet is the new space near Beverly Hills/West Hollywood that places great musicians in front of intimate audiences. I've heard stories that the old Largo (on Fairfax) was legendary, and the new place is on the way to establishing that reputation once again. The night before, Rickie Lee Jones had played, and the night after, it was Robyn Hitchcock. It's also home to a number of "resident" type comedy shows, with stars like Patton Oswalt and Sarah Silverman. And Jon Brion does a weekly Friday night show that sells out every time (with all-star guests dropping in to perform). Quite the scene.
Unfortunately the mix position is in a booth, and the sound system is rudimentary. A single stereo pair of QSC HPR 153i are the only PA, and you get two monitor mixes total. Run from a Midas Venice 320, with a DOD stereo 15-band graphic and a DBX 266XL across the mains. Reverbs were limited to a Lexicon PCM unit and an Alesis Microverb II (with no cheat sheet or manual, so it's a guess at what program numbers 1 through 99 will get you). That's it.
Still, we had what we needed, and I can only say good things about Joe, the friendly and helpful technician. What lacked in gear was made up for in vibe and an atmosphere where the performance is everything - once the show starts, there is no talking, no cell phones - nothing to distract from the stage.
I had a great time mixing here. It was all about the performance and not about fine tuning every aspect of the sound. Also, several big name guest artists came to play with the co-bill star of the show. Monster musicians having fun performing music together. It was great to see.
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