The new 100-capacity Oak Room has quite a history: it previously housed Grammy Award-winning producer, Nigel Godrich's recording studio; and before that, it was the home of Eurythmics' Dave Stewart.
Under its new guise, The Oak Room has already treated members and guests to an eclectic mix of entertainment: The Reuben James Trio kicked off live music proceedings on 12 September, and a couple of days later Turin Brakes, dropped in to play tracks from their new album, We Were Here. On 23 September Gary Numan brought his classic '70s synth sound to the venue, and most recently, on 14 October, Morcheeba graced its stage to showcase their new album, Head up High.
According to the venue, the Peavey HiSys rig was ultimately chosen for its versatility and ease-of-use: the main PA consists of two HiSys H15s and two HiSys H118 subs; and a second pair of H15s provide coverage at the back of the room. Furthermore, five H12s are also in use: four for stage monitoring; and one for the DJ booth.
And the Peavey deployment doesn't end there: an FX 24 mixer sits at FOH position; two Digitool Live processors provide loudspeaker management; and audio distribution (from stage to FOH) is achieved via a 28 Pair Audio Link and 38-metres of cable.
The Hospital Club's commercial director, Garry Williams, has a long-standing relationship with Peavey, and says the new system has already proved quite the talking point.
"This is a brand new performance space, which is pretty much unheard of in London, and having Peavey on board has been the cherry on top. Unlike many systems I've heard, HiSys just feels 'true'; it's an honest-sounding box with loads of headroom and it's perfectly suited to our venue," says Williams, who looked after London's Air Studios before moving to The Hospital Club 18 months ago.
(Jim Evans)
