San Francisco’s historic Regency just got a significant makeover, and it’s ready for a new era. California concert promoter Goldenvoice led the multi-million-dollar renovation project of the venue, that was built back in 1909 with Scottish Rite architecture, blending Neoclassic and Beaux-Arts styles.

The venue comfortably accommodates up to 1,400 people, with a grand ballroom decorated by 22 teardrop chandeliers. Over the years, it has been transformed a few times, from a movie theater to a banquet hall and dance studio, before becoming a premier concert venue. Recent enhancements were made to the lights, sound, and video capabilities, along with plenty of cosmetic changes, bathroom updates, the addition of a VIP lounge, and a premier backstage area for artists.

The result is a revitalized Regency, with a blend of vintage charm and cutting-edge technology. New hardware includes the West Coast’s first permanent L-Acoustics L Series sound system, new lights and a sleek video wall. Every detail has been designed to blow your mind. And don’t worry, they’ve kept the historic character intact. It’s simply better than ever. With an exciting lineup of shows from Goldenvoice, The Regency Ballroom is back and ready to wow audiences in a way that’ll bring many magical shows to San Francisco.

To learn more about the new upgrades, we met with Danny Bell, Senior Vice President at Goldenvoice, the concert promoter and live event company owned by AEG Presents, to talk about the changes at The Regency.

What was your approach for identifying upgrade opportunities?

Goldenvoice started doing shows here back in 2007-2008. We’ve always wanted to put a lot of work into it. We come to a lot of shows here, so we had a pretty extensive list of what needed to be fixed. Number one was air conditioning and flow, two was sound, three was general aesthetics, four was the bathrooms, and five was backstage. That was the plan.

I’m a big sound nut too. To be able to buy a new sound system is like me being in a candy store. We decided to go with L2. It’s brand-new technology. We’re the first venue on the west coast. It sounds so great. It looks tiny, but it rips. It’s all brand-new state of the art.

Does it open up opportunities for new artists to perform at the Regency?

This place has been known about not being the best sounding room. Now, it sounds great. So there are a lot of acts that will come through and play here for the first time based on that. We’re here to host fans and artists. That’s how we approach everything to be honest.

What type of details about the Regency stand out?

We tried to put some personal touches on it. That’s one of the things that sometimes gets overlooked in venue renovations from the largest companies. AEG has let us do our thing. This is your vision. Let’s see what you have. I have a friend who is really great at interior design and decorating. She came in and she’s the one that picked the Salamander Green, which looks great, and the gold and everything. This room, this has all been here, and it’s all original. The last regime’s paint color, which came in 2008, it dulled everything out. We want to bring to life what’s already here.

We built an entire new backstage that’s downstairs. We almost quadrupled the number of toilets. All gender bathrooms. It’s actually nice. Floor to ceiling partitions. ADA bathrooms…We actually took a significant chunk of the Social Hall and turned it into a new area.

How did you decide on the look of the interior?

When we were thinking about what to do, I was on vacation in Italy and we went to Teatro alla Scala in Milan. I was walking around and it was beautiful. All of the design and texture inside the Regency Ballroom is very similar. I was like holy shit…we just need to bring it to life. Theirs is white with gold. We obviously wanted something darker to contrast it. That’s when I saw we had something special. We just need to bring it out and let it shine.

What type of upgrades were made the to backstage?

The new backstage has full bathroom. When you’re on tour, it’s not comfortable. We want to make this a nice hotel for a day. We have four rooms that are all large and nice. In addition, we have a central hang suite. The headliner suite has a big bathroom as well. We had King Gizzard, they loved it. Same with Halsey. We have some more coming later this year. We really want this to rival any backstage, so artists want to come here.

What hardware upgrades stand out?

We got [a] new Digico Quantum 225 digital sound mixing consoles and a new GrandMA3 Compact XT lighting console as well in house too. We’re pretty much at the standard of all major touring acts. I’m very happy with the way it looks and feels, and the air conditioning. I wear a hoodie at shows now just because I can here, something I used to never be able to do. It used to be brutal. We literally just made a list of all the problems with the venue and solved them all in one fell swoop.

‘The Marble Room’ VIP space

What makes this venue more accessible now?

It’s very difficult for artists to make money on the road. We’re in this weird pinch point. We just wanted to focus on controlling what we can. Both making it a good experience for San Francisco for the room but also making it easier for artists. A lot of my friends in bands love this. When they are off cycle and want to play a show, they can come here and play because of everything in house.

Thanks Danny. We can’t wait to check out a show at the new and improved Regency Ballroom.

Written by Carlos Olin Montalvo

Follow me @carlosolin

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• Tag: goldenvoice, Regency Ballroom