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DJ Mag Top100 Clubs
40
Avalon
42

If Avalon were a blockbuster film, it would be clubland's equivalent of Citizen Kane and Star Wars rolled into one. Combining all the cultural kudos and epic history of the Orson Welles' masterpiece with the coruscating special effects of George Lucas's flight of fantasy, this club has cast a shadow as long as the letters on the hillside of its Hollywood home ever since opening as The Palace in 1927.

The setting for TV shows hosted by Dean Martin and Groucho Marx, as well as concerts by The Rolling Stones amongst others throughout the 20th century, that Tinsel Town magic has been kept intact since it reopened as Avalon in 2003, but now comes mixed with some very 21st century technological wizardry, sights and sounds.

With a colossal 1200-capacity main room in the shape of the old theatre, entering Avalon is an awe-inspiring experience as you crush onto a dancefloor surrounded by acrobatic angels and dancers, your eyes dazzled by the lasers and your ears delighted by a soundsystem that has been worked to its limit by the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Sander Kleinenberg and Infected Mushroom recently.

Its location would seem to make it something of a honeypot for tourists seeking some secondhand star aura, and sure, the odd starlet might be glimpsed in the Spider Lounge, but who can really be bothered gawping at them when you've got the big sounds of the main room or DJs such as Matthew Dear - who has a residency here - spinning more underground and innovative styles in the upstairs bar?

Indeed, although its opulent environs are regularly used to accommodate film premieres and wrap parties, Avalon is almost a celebrity in its own right, although one that refuses to have any famous pretensions. For whilst you can expect snotty looks or even outright aggression if you try and enter most clubs in this city without a Versace jacket on your back or supermodel on your arm, Avalon is a club where everyone gets pretty equal billing.

The atmosphere there has also made Audiojack's Jamie Rial change his opinion about clubbing in LA.

"The first places we played in Hollywood were awful, full of all the clichéd wannabe actors you'd expect," laughs Jamie. "But the response from the clubbers at Avalon is always amazing and it gets better every time we play.

"It's a glamorous club and although it doesn't have much intimacy, it's consistently the best in the United States for us in terms of everything from the soundsystem to the DJ set-up to the dancefloor vibe."