On a recent Friday night, the French disco band L’Impératrice took the stage at the Shrine Expo Hall, framed in a spray of huge LED panels. Five thousand fans, decked out in silver lamé and fishnet tops, packed the floor for two hours of zesty, bilingual club music.
The USC-adjacent venue is a long-standing, popular spot for such concerts. But on that Friday, perhaps fans noticed the mix was a little crisper, the stage a bit more decked out, and the air conditioning fully pumping. Maybe they wandered downstairs into a new VIP bar, built to match the venue’s dreamy Moroccan motifs. The members of L’Impératrice surely appreciated their new dressing room, decorated with wavy, ‘70s-style furniture with a shower bigger than many Parisian apartments.
For the last year, L.A. concert promoter Goldenvoice has quietly but thoroughly upgraded the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall to more modern and luxurious standards. It’s a welcome refresh for the landmark venue’s impending 100th anniversary next year.
It’s also preparation to keep the complex on the A-list of local concert halls, amid other huge recent investments in L.A. live venues.
“We need to celebrate the Shrine even more,” said Melissa Ormond, Goldenvoice and AEG Festivals’ chief operating officer. “Venues come and go, but this is an institution on the L.A. scene. It would be impossible to build this now. There’s a reason it’s been around for a hundred years.”
The chandelier at the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Times)
The Shrine is, if anything, underrated in L.A. entertainment lore. Opened in 1926 by the Al Malaikah Shriners (part of a fraternal Masonic organization that still owns the complex), the venue has hosted many incarnations of the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. Ray Charles and the Grateful Dead recorded live albums there. The debut of the shackled ape in “King Kong” and scenes from two “A Star Is Born” films were shot inside.
Its easy to see why — the Shrine’s regal desert murals, undulating wood balconies and ornate chandeliers make for a captivating place to play and see live music. The dual rooms offer both a formal sit-down audience and a packed club floor (an outdoor configuration opens up even more options).
Goldenvoice took over the Shrine’s booking and operations in late 2012. More recently, the space hosted long runs from acts like Billie Eilish and Fred Again… just as they crested into stadium-size superstars (the latter played a formidable nine-night stand in 2023, before selling out the Coliseum down the street last year).
A decorated aisle seat at the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Times)
“I’m from L.A. and I remember coming into the Auditorium and Expo Hall and seeing Jamie xx play here 10 years ago,” said Spencer Knox, the Shrine’s assistant general manager, resting in the seats on a tour of the empty Auditorium. “That was a core memory and a gateway to live concerts for me. To be part of it now and see how it works, it’s awesome.”
There were spots where the 100-year-old space showed its age, or could benefit from contemporary structural upgrades. From 2023 until the end of last year, Goldenvoice put $2 million into new acoustic baffling and a modular P.A. system for the venues — key for the kinds of bass-throttling club music that have found a favorite home there. New flooring and overhead lighting rigging allow for many more stage-placement and production options, like in-the-round concerts in the Expo Hall. And anyone who sweated to LCD Soundsystem’s four-night Shrine residency last year could appreciate the frosty new HVAC setup.
“Late last year we had a gaming event, and the production folks that came in, they were like, ‘Wow, we’re so happy with everything that you did. I was a little hesitant because it was hard to film in the room. Now, I’m really excited to be back’,” said Jennie Perkins, the Shrine’s general manager. “Hearing that was very validating, because sometimes you don’t realize something until it’s different. Every time a guest comes back, it’s like the room has been transformed.”
Although most fans will never see the glistening wood-paneled dressing rooms for artists (more of a backstage condo, really), they might make it into the new downstairs speakeasy, a moody den of wrought-iron filigrees that used to be the changing room for chorus dancers at awards shows of yore.
The French disco band L’Imperatrice performs in the Expo Hall at the Shrine Auditorium on Feb. 7.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Times)
“Before, it was just a room, it was super loud and no one could really talk to the agents and you couldn’t have a vibe where it was elevated and felt special,” Knox said. “We needed that. There’s so much room to play with down here now.”
The Shrine’s upgrades, however, are just the latest salvo in the post-pandemic rush to revamp live music in L.A. The Intuit Dome in Inglewood and YouTube Theater near SoFi Stadium are relatively brand-new complexes with comparable capacities to what the Shrine can offer in part or total.
Late last year, Goldenvoice and AEG competitor Live Nation announced a $525-million plan for venue upgrades, with much of the work converting regular seats to VIP spaces. Chief Executive Michael Rapino said that revenue for Live Nation’s VIP clubs grew 19% during the third quarter of 2024.
Even as fans lament broadly high concert ticket prices, many are willing to pay even more for elite hospitality, or at least a more comfortable show-going experience. “That’s in response to what fans are telling us,” Ormond said. “We want to keep general admission tickets accessible, but there is an audience that wants more.”
The exterior of the Shrine Auditorium.
(Jonathan Mariande / For The Times)
What the Shrine lacks in completely new buildings, however, it makes up for in flexibility and aesthetics, in a transit-friendly neighborhood being transformed by Olympics-prep developments in Expo Park and the nearby Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
“This helps us cultivate talent,” Ormond said. “L.A. is our home and a great concert market where artists are demanding options at every level. It’s complimentary programming to our festivals like Coachella. It helps with the biggest gets and intimate underplays, to have these rooms where you can really express yourself creatively.”
Over the the next few weeks, the spiffed-up Shrine will host the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 23 (which will stream live on Netflix), and hosts the Arc World Tour gaming series and concerts from 070 Shake, Two Friends and Refused.
For artists shopping 2025 tours and beyond, there are few other options to play in the shadow of both Judy Garland and King Kong.
“I’ll be coming in here for work, and people are just staring at the front of the building,” Perkins said. “They’re like, ‘What is this place?’ with a look of wonder.”
“You can go to the YouTube Theater, you can go to Peacock Theater, so what sets us apart?” Knox asked. “It’s that prestige.”