Camden Palace mid 90's
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Topic: Camden Palace mid 90's
Posted By: KILLERHURTZAUDIO
Subject: Camden Palace mid 90's
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 10:02pm
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Does anybody know what rig was installed in Camden Palce around 95?
Spent allott of my youth there and me and a pal were just saying how much we loved the rig in the main room, JBL if my mem serves me correct! I think they had some big court acoustics at the back under the first floor. Prob a load of dog poop by todays standards but I had some wiked nights there and that system allways sounded spot on to my adolesent ear drums.
Cheers ------------- Oi clean shirt, How do you get your shirt so clean? |
Replies:
Posted By: Ionkontrol
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 10:39pm
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Used to go there as a warmup for Trip/Clink/Dungeons in the late 80s. Loads of scoops on the stage and custom midtops that my now addled mind cant remember. Always had a decent 3 watt multicolour laser as well (again, good for the times). The head bouncer with the camel coat and boxing gloves always amused me. Proper khazi now though. Now as Kiko, has a hideous ear ripping Vertec LA. Saw Autechre a couple of years ago. Ear still ringing. |
Posted By: KILLERHURTZAUDIO
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 10:45pm
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Yeah that laser was quality! There was always loads of chinese people off there tits by the subs in one corner every time we went. I know it's gone now and it's KOKO haven't been there for years, we used to do Peach on a friday allott and a few AWOL gigs. The bouncers were always dodgy there, one nicked my mates mobile from him and then sold it back to him ten minuets later..ha ha what a dick! ------------- Oi clean shirt, How do you get your shirt so clean? |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 11:09pm
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When I went there it was a huge black box system all JBL loaded the stack's either side of the stage must have been 10 feet high and the bass was the full width of the stage! ------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
Posted By: studio45
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 11:24pm
We need a series of DVD's for sound nerds called "Now That's What I Call PA!" featuring footage of mad rigs from the 80's and 90's  ------------- Studio45 - Repairs & Building Commotion Soundsystem -Mobile PA |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 17 February 2011 at 11:37pm
Very small photo here: very crisp sound with an astonishing amount of bass on the dancefloor prob (Bloody loud too!) about 10off 2 x 15's under the stage side by side and another 40ff 2 x 15's under the stacks ------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
Posted By: mykey-
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 2:28am
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I always thought it was 2 systems, but mainly Court Acoustics had some of my best experiences in there years later, around the early 90's, my brother had a fight with the head doorman, it was Lenny Mclean younger brother apparently. And whats funny is, my brother can't fight, but he doesn't back down to anyone if they're wrong ------------- BbbBBRAAAAPppBBBBbgushhhhhhhhssshhhhhGrAbRAAAAAAPPPPPp = Dubstep |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 10:08am
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It was a Court Acoustics Black Box (20 kW Club 8000 5 way) rig. IIRC the system was usually set up as shown in the photo with stage L/R stacks but I seem remember seeing it earlier on with stage L/R & Rear L/R stacks too - perhaps the first option for live the second for playback (DISCO!). Photo is also on the Court site: http://www.courtacoustics.net/ - http://www.courtacoustics.net/ Also, link here to an article in Billboard magazine, 18 Feb 1995 talking about the newly revamped Palace with more details of the system. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wgsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99&dq=court+acoustics+camden&hl=en&ei=J0ReTZDsH6GShAfA2cTWDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=court%20acoustics%20camden&f=false - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wgsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99&dq=%22court+acoustics%22+camden&hl=en&ei=J0ReTZDsH6GShAfA2cTWDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22court%20acoustics%22%20camden&f=false ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 8:56pm
Not quite right? The system in the photo (mid 70's) is black box not a club 8000, that came later! The black box system was 4 way (at the time almost unheard of in the uk) From memory the black box system in the palace was loaded as follows: Bass cabs RCF L15-p200's Mids JBL e120's Hi's JBL 2426 (I think, was a long time ago) super tweeters JBL 2402 Can't remember the amp's or processing It was also the first time I'd seen an EMO switcher? In fact 1 in each rack with another controlling all the different racks (so one switched on all the others) which was very impressive when you turned the key? The Palace also had the first SL1200's (3) with a digital readout for the vari speed (looked very funky) Dj's when I was there were Rusty Egan & Steve Strange The Laser came much later! Harvester's, helicopters, pinspots, par 1000's ect were the order of the day! At the time the Camden palace was state of the art taking into account most clubs then were using HH speakers or dare I say Bose 802's? (yukky) Without the 302's which hadn't been developed then? The only other real UK club sound system contender at the time was Mr Missen & Keith Hardy's Company CDC who did some very serious 4/5 way system's which were mostly modified Altec/JBL design's and all JBL loaded (most famous being the roof top garden in Kensington) ------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
jazomir wrote:Posted By: njw
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 9:09pm
| I've often wondered what happened to all the big club systems from years ago, installed in ,say, the 80s and 90s. I bet most of those systems would still do the job today, in fact, dare I say it, better than some systems that are about now, anybody else think the same? |
Posted By: studio45
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 9:14pm
Do the job absolutely yes, saleable to young club promoters, no. Not purple enough  ------------- Studio45 - Repairs & Building Commotion Soundsystem -Mobile PA |
Posted By: KILLERHURTZAUDIO
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 9:27pm
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that and they'd take up most of the clubs nowerdays. Loving the links and pics though. I don't remember the main stack being that big! I'm sure it was JBL cabs, maybe it was a new install by the time my days finished there and thats all I remember! what was powering that lot? Amcrons? ------------- Oi clean shirt, How do you get your shirt so clean? |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 9:58pm
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Most of those old systems would give newer stuff a run for it's money and were half the power? Remember some of the biggest amp's in them days were only 4-600watts per channel then? (think the largest was the macrotech 1200) Flicks at Dartford only had 1 HH V800 & 4 V150's to drive the whole club and boy was it loud! (probably due to the Altec multicell horns) ------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
Posted By: Forward Motion SS
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 10:15pm
| Sorry to hijack this but has anyone got any pics or stories from the days of helter skelter, raindance, dreamscape etc?? I wasn't in to systems then but what i remember was the size & scale of the rigs & that in the real early days (before I was raving) the word to put on a flyer was Turbo Sound System! |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 18 February 2011 at 10:58pm
Which is how Turbo got so well known! Even I got caught up with the Turbosound hype, paid 6 grand for 4 boxes? (TMS4's) was well pissed when I found out they were loaded with Fane drivers! not impressed? Was even more pissed when I found out I had to add another 5 grands worth of cabs to get some bass out of the system! very clever marketing!
------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
Posted By: TRE4U2NV
Date Posted: 19 February 2011 at 4:20am
HES NOW EMPLOED BY F1 AND VOID LMAO  MARKETING YOU GOTTA LUV IT------------- IM SO SECRETIVE BUT I CANT TELL YOU WHY |
Posted By: mykey-
Date Posted: 19 February 2011 at 4:43am
------------- BbbBBRAAAAPppBBBBbgushhhhhhhhssshhhhhGrAbRAAAAAAPPPPPp = Dubstep |
Posted By: mykey-
Date Posted: 19 February 2011 at 4:44am
------------- BbbBBRAAAAPppBBBBbgushhhhhhhhssshhhhhGrAbRAAAAAAPPPPPp = Dubstep |
Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 19 February 2011 at 7:48am
Had no problems with the sound quality mykey was the reliability that was the problem? and the lack of bass when in a bigger room of course it was sold to me as a 6k system (i was a bit green/muppet then) fro a company called pineapple not far from me. I found out later they had a habit of doing a demo with a hidden eq to boost the quality speakers they were trying to sell hence why they sounded over bassy when I bought them (that coupled with an almost perfectly dead demo room! We live and learn!
------------- Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes! |
Posted By: jamescourt
Date Posted: 28 May 2011 at 2:59pm
Hi guys. My dad Stephen Court of Court Acoustics designed all the speaker systems at the Camden Palace. In those days, there was only a few companies in the big sound business. Martin Audio, Turbosound, etc and there was a shoot out with all the major speaker companies and Court Acoustics won the contract. The original system did have a stage and a rear system. This was rebuilt and when Camden Palace became famous, the rig which is shown in the pic with the drivers finished in gold, was a Black Box with 1kw of tweeters added. 8 x court 15" double bins in a curved array under the stage, and 8 sets of Black Box on the sides with 16 JBL 2402 bullets added to make a 4 way active system. Court 4 way electronic crossover and I think the amps were by Harrison 1200+1200 for the bass 800+800 for everything else. cheers JC  |
Posted By: Nachural
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 12:12pm
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Hi James, brilliant to see you on the forum. Your dad was a leading light in the development of the British PA industry. I was lucky enough to hear a regional PA company still using a black box rig recently and it sounded as impressive now as it did all those years ago. Is your father still active in the industry? (I know Court Acoustics are still operating) It would be great to hear from him on the forum. Tony from ASS is also on here so he would be in good company! ------------- it's all just cardboard and magnets really |
Posted By: Ndj
Date Posted: 28 December 2025 at 3:23pm
| I went in 1982 and distinctly remember seeing Gauss stickers on the back of huge base speakers built into the stage. I remember this as I have a DJ friend who let me backstage right behind the DJ booth. |
Posted By: Andylaser
Date Posted: 28 December 2025 at 3:51pm
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I was there quite often in the mid to late 90s. Far too trollied to remember what the PA was. Did sound good though and not harsh at all. ------------- "music so loud, that if we move in next door to you; your lawn will die" - Lemmy |
Posted By: APC321
Date Posted: 28 December 2025 at 5:27pm
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Used to go to the Camden Palace in the 90's too. Immense system, properly set-up and engineered. https://postimages.org/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 29 December 2025 at 9:28am
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That's a good example of the Black Box system in action (and yes, properly arrayed). |