Palladium will reopen with a bang from Jay-Z

Who’s big enough to throw some attention back on the venerable Hollywood Palladium, which has been shuttered for most of the last year while undergoing a complete makeover?

Think of a rapper whose name rhymes with cray-zee, which is what hip-hop fans are likely to go at the prospect of catching one of the genre’s biggest names in a facility with a maximum capacity of about 4,000.

Yes, Jay-Z will bring his game to the Palladium on Oct. 15, backed by a 12-piece band. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 5.

The goal of the renovation by facility operator Live Nation is to restore it to the state it was in when it opened Sept. 23, 1940, with a performance by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and that big band’s on-the-rise singer, one Frank Sinatra, who was then about 18 months away from scoring his first chart hit under his own name.

“I’m honored to play such an iconic venue,” Jay-Z said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Just as Frank ushered in a golden era, I hope this opening will mark the beginning of a resurgence in generation-defining live music.”

The renovation covers the entire interior and exterior of the venue, with a new dance floor, a new facade replicating the original architecture and other changes made in keeping with the building’s original look, Live Nation officials said.

Among the performers at the Palladium in recent decades have been the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Metallica, Public Enemy, the Sex Pistols, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt.

Live Nation entered into a long-term lease of the Palladium last year to add a mid-size venue to its roster of L.A.-area concert facilities, which includes the 1,000-capacity House of Blues in West Hollywood, the Wiltern (2,300), Gibson Amphitheatre (6,200), Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine (16,000) and Glen Helen Pavilion in San Bernardino (65,000).

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randy.lewis@latimes.com