Bang! It’s a Time Machine
Bang! An explosion rockets hot matter through space creating heavenly bodies and an ever-expanding universe. This, scientists call the Big Bang Theory.
Another Bang! exploded in mid-January in Hollywood’s ever-expanding club universe. This one specializes in getting people to move their heavenly bodies through space. Or at least through the Ruby on Saturday nights.
The formula? Three rooms with three distinct--though primarily British--genres of music. It is the creation of four experts in the field: promoter Joseph Brooks and DJ Jason Lavitt, who together engineered Shout and Make-Up; and Piper Ferguson and Shalyce Benfell, who concocted L.A.’s first postmod mod club, Cafe Bleu.
The three rooms of Bang! are like a pop music time machine. The ‘60s mod room is dark and breezy--a benefit for those bopping in thick, hot thrift-store apparel with sleek ‘60s hairstyles to match.
These followers of the most glorified rock ‘n’ roll era prove their groove to some Motown and classic tunes from the Mod scene in England. The Rolling Stones, the Jam and the Who get heavy rotation and prompt a steady stream of feet moving on the dance floor. Even those who line the walls of the Mod room deserve a mention for delighting in rebellious smoking, drinking and the coolness of it all.
The largest room of the Ruby showcases the ‘80s. Projection screens hanging over the stage flash images similar to those used for Clockwork Orange, another dance night at the Ruby. Fred Kiko, a.k.a. DJ Big TV, is responsible for these snippets of pop culture. He also videotapes people in the club each week, blending club-goers into the media wallpaper.
The stage is dominated by glitter-girl dancers in short, shimmery dresses strutting to the steady stream of alternative hits that blare from the speakers. Whether it’s Blondie, Primal Scream or the Cure, bodies crowd the dance floor. This is also where the club conducts its promotional giveaways. Kids stampede to the front of the stage to catch goodies from the featured artist of the night, anyone from Peter Murphy to Oasis.
Behind a black gate in the back of the main room, stray Goths with flailing arms do the traditional I’m-looking-for-my-lost-contact-lens sprawl on the tiles. Also tucked in the back is an attention-starved girl performing a PG-13-rated lap dance for some lucky guy. Typical club theatrics, all, but it goes to show how widely appealing the Bang! formula is. It draws all walks of life to its dance floors.
The ‘90s Room Goes Underground
The back room is the realm of the ‘90s and beyond. Here, electronica’s bass beats pound at every beating heart in the vicinity. A mirrored ball twinkles bright lights across the blood-red walls. And because the room is boiling, the girls wear summer attire: spaghetti-strap tops and mini-skirts.
Electronica DJs commonly have a weakness for obscurity. The more underground the track, the better, at most clubs. Not so at Bang!, which offers the most recognizable and radio-friendly cuts. Their DJs understand the familiarity principle: People dance to songs they know. Fatboy Slim, Talvin Singh and Cassius selections get frequent spins, and when a Basement Jaxx song, “By the Way,” demands that people “shake, shake, shake,” people do.
With all this stimuli, Bang! packs in the people and propels them to mix it up. This winning model--three rooms, three decades, one venue--gives each person inside it a distinct experience, even in a crowded club. Scientifically impossible? Hardly. Consider the Big Bang! Theory proven.
BE THERE
Bang! Saturdays at the Ruby, 7070 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 467-7070. 18 and older. $5-$10 cover.