O2Lx is a highly-designed, new-build club in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, owned by South African, John Blummenfeld.
The owner committed a million euros to convert the former restaurant and discotheque, with Philippe Starck furnishing and decor forming the centrepiece of the predominantly blue interior design. Around 20% of the budget was allocated to the sound, lighting and video system, which was specified and installed as a fully-integrated system by Audium.
Audium had already worked together with John Blummenfeld on a previous disco installation, Rock City, back in 1994. The company secured this new O2Lx contract due to their "reputation, representation of high quality brands, and good business relationship".
The 1000-capacity club trades on two levels - the ground floor space and an upper level mezzanine around the dance floor. While the ground floor is open to the general public the upper floor operates as a kind of private club for VIPs, special guests and private parties.
Serving up a fare of mainly House music, O2 Lx currently trades from Thursday to Saturday. The heaviest activity in Lisbon occurs between the hours of 1:00 am and 4:00 am, and shortly the club will also open on Wednesdays from midnight until 6am.
O2Lx clearly has its sights set on achieving superclub status, and has already hosted such DJs such as Josh Wink, Chus & Ceballos, D.T.P.M., Geoff Roy, Michelle Weeks, X-Press Tour and Satoshi Tomeii. Said a club spokesman: "O2 has all the attributes to become a top club - thanks to a combination of the space, Phillip Starck decor, the music, high quality sound, light and v’deo equipment, top international DJs, the promotion and, most importantly, the clients".
Dominating the stage and dancefloor is Coemar lighting. Audium avoided using conventional truss, instead adapting the equipment to the size and shape of the room by creating custom trussing.
The 13 Coemar ProSpot Lx 575 form a kind of 'H' shape, enabling it to work in both concert and disco modes.
Audium have specified a Zero 88 LeapFrog to run the concert/show lighting while a Compulite Rave, installed on the upper floor, handles all the dancefloor lighting for the disco sessions. These can operate either independently or simultaneously.
Audium have also equipped a highly-specified sound cabin for visiting DJs. This includes three turntables (2 x Vestax PDX2000 and 1 x Technics SL1210), as well as two Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD players, Vestax R-1 Premium pro mixer and Vestax DWG-X1 and Vestax DDG-X2 sound effects.
Electro-Voice components provide the sound reinforcement. The FOH concert system comprises 2 x RX212 and 4 x RX218 per side, with 1 x RX215 per side as additional fills and 4 x T221M's for stage monitoring. In addition to this, a pair each of RX215, RX112 and RX218 switch in when the club reverts to disco mode.
To handle the processing Audium have installed Media Matrix X-Frame 88 DSP processing (plus BoB MM8802 control), which manages and integrates the entire disco and show sound set-up. Audium have also installed monitoring EQ, signal processing and signal sources systems.
With O2 John Blummenfeld believes he has created something entirely unique. Asked how it will fit into the Lisbon scene, the club's Marta Casqueiro says simply that it does not. "And this is its triumph. O2 is one step ahead in Lisbon's panorama of nightlife. It immediately imposed itself as a reference and in just two months has become one of the most popular clubs of the city," he says. An impressive start which will no doubt set the club in good stead for the future.
sound
Concert Mode:2 x Electro-Voice RX212 loudspeaker; 4 x E-V RX218 loudspeaker; 1 x E-V RX215 loudspeaker; 4 x E-V T221M monitor; Additional Disc option: 2 x E-V R215 loudspeaker; 2 x E-V RX112 loudespeaker; 2 x E-V RX218; 1 x Media Matrix X-frame 88 processor
light
13 x Coemar ProSpot Lx575; 1 x Zero88 Leapfrog controller; 1 x Compulite Rave controller
links:
www.audium.pt