
This post is also available in:
Deutsch (German)
The building that houses Oasis in San Francisco has a rich history. From bath-house complete with swimming pool and retractable roof, to its current incarnation as a nightclub offering superstar drag shows and cabaret performances, Oasis has been a staple of the city's LGBTQ nightlife scene since the late 1970s. In 2014, the venue was taken over by actor, writer, musician, director and producer, D'Arcy Drollinger and three partners, including drag legend, Heklina, and began a new era of entertainment that continues to go strength to strength. The club operates in two different modes. A variety of cabaret entertainment including music, theater, comedy, storytelling and burlesque take place during the evening, before the venue transforms into a full night club setup, hosting night-long parties which often feature additional live performances.
When Oasis was forced to close during the Coronavirus pandemic, it took the opportunity to refurbish the Champagne Lounge, one of the club's ancillary spaces, before planning to return with an ambitious production of The Rocky Horror Show. In order to support what would be an immersive event staged in multiple spaces across the venue, D'Arcy took the decision to bring in a high-quality audio system into the Lounge for the show's run, with a view to a permanent install in the future. D'Arcy consulted with CODA Audio USA's Sarah Phykitt, a long time associate and former production manager at Oasis. Sarah and CODA Audio Technical Director Michael Creason were given a simple brief by the club owner Make it sound fabulous!
The CODA team set about designing a system that could meet the specific requirements of The Rocky Horror Show Production, as well as the wider demands of the club. Spoken word events and high energy music reinforcement both play an important part at Oasis, so the solution needed to combine exceptional clarity with substantial power.
The team chose the versatile two-way G512-Pro for the mains, complemented by 2 compact G15-Sub extensions positioned under the stage. 2 x HOPS8 were deployed as stage foldback. Consistent coverage was achieved across the room, while energy was kept away from the bar to enable drinks orders to be made effectively. Given that performers are in front of mains or monitors at all times, the system needed to be very feedback resistant as well as having powerful sub-bass for the club' elements of the venue.
Sarah comments:
Nightclubs are always a little tricky. Being sure that the loudspeakers are positioned for optimal coverage while keeping them out of reach of enthusiastic patrons is a must. In this case being able to tuck the subs under the stage worked well for providing some protection the compact nature of the G15 subs enabled us to achieve this in a very limited space. We also chose to hang the stage fills on off-stage columns rather than at the lip of the stage, keeping them safely away from spilled drinks, while still being really present for vocalists. Those HOPS8 sometimes have some very hot microphones only inches away without any danger of feedback!
Audience reaction to The Rocky Horror Show was universally positive, with the immersive nature of the show proving to be a great hit with customers. Every show was a sellout, with extra performances added as a result of overwhelming demand. Once completed, D'Arcy and his team had a decision to take about whether to purchase the system as a permanent install for the Champagne Lounge, or revert to the space's old system. Having heard the system in action during the shows, ultimately, there was no going back, and following positive discussions with CODA's local supplier Some More Sound, Oasis bought the system. D'Arcy reflects on a very positive step forward:
Our CODA sound system has completely transformed our ancillary space at the club for the better in ways that I had not anticipated. The impressive quality of the sound has made a huge difference, not only for our performers and DJs, but for our audience as well. It has revolutionized what had essentially been a pass-through into a performance space in its own right.
Sophia Craven, the club's Production Manager was equally impressed:
We have noticed several advantages having the CODA system installed ease of use, reliability, and high gain-before-feedback have made load-ins and sound-checks much more efficient, freeing up staff to really finesse everything, rather than setups going to the wire just before doors opening. The improved sound quality has resulted in patrons staying longer, purchasing more drinks creating more revenue for the club and overall having a more positive experience.
CODA's Sarah Phykitt is pleased with the performance of the system, citing even coverage and great clarity from front to back:
The nature of the Rocky Horror performances was always going to be an excellent test for the system and its feedback-resistance qualities. It definitely passed with flying colors , and I've no doubt that the success of those shows was instrumental in convincing the Oasis decision-makers that it would prove to be a real asset for future productions, as well as the day to day staples at the club. The G512s provide great clarity for vocals while the G15s have enough power to get the party going when it's time to dance!
CODA Audio USA continues to build a strong reputation in both the touring and installation markets, growing a committed following of audiophile sound designers and engineers across a wide range of applications who are tuning in to the benefits of the German manufacturer's powerful, crystal clear and ultra-compact systems. For festivals, theatres, houses of worship and clubs such as Oasis, CODA Audio can, as D'Arcy wished, make it
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...