So cool it's hot, Ice is a new nightclub that opened-last August in Las Vegas. Located on Harmon Avenue, between The Hard Rock and The Strip, Ice is found in a stand-alone building formerly occupied by another club called Drink. But clubgoers lining up to get into Ice are discovering that that the venue has been remodeled into a hip, electronic environment with silver walls and video screens behind the DJ booth. “It's a complete gut-rebuild,” says Los-Angeles based LD Steve Lieberman. “They maintained just the frame of the building.”
With a 17,000 sq. ft interior and 40' ceilings, the club boasts a balcony overlooking the 4,000-sq.-ft. Brazilian walnut dance floor, and has six distinct areas including the Fur Room, where a white fur wall serves as a projection surface. The lighting greets guests right at the front door where DHA “linear-line” gobos in Times Square Lighting MR75Z track fixtures in indigo (R59) subliminally keep traffic moving through the hallway.
Inside the first lounge area (the part of the club that opens at 10:30pm) Lieberman sets the mood with additional Times Square MR75Zs (the same fixtures are used throughout so they can be moved from one room to another). “These are MR16 miniature framing projectors,” he explains. “The owners want the flexibility of adding gobos for sponsor logos or other images for special events. Otherwise, I use soft, breakup patterns.” Lighting throughout is controlled by an ETC Unison system and two 24-channel Unison dimmer racks located in a service hallway at the back of the club.
Each of five individual bars (entry area, upper entry area, Cloud Bar, Fur room, and VIP room) has bottle displays lit with linear RGB LED fixtures by LED Effects. “Each display has its own simple control system so that the bartenders can dial in a color,” says Lieberman, whose intent is for the LEDs to create a solid color background. “They are not intended to flash or chase,” he notes.
At 11:30pm the main dance floor opens, with built-in atmospheric control thanks to a liquid nitrogen system that creates a cold fog, and resident DJs who spin and mix the latest hits. A rig of automated fixtures, including 10 Coemar 575EB wash fixtures, 10 Coemar 575ED spots, and eight Martin Professional Atomic Strobes, hangs on a large ring of TMB ProSpan Truss. “The old club had an open air roof and they had noise complaints from the neighbors,” says Lieberman. “The new owners added a roof but it wasn't strong enough to hang a truss so we had to build a ground support system.”
The black powder-coated truss system runs 50' lengthwise, 40' across, and 30' high and is bolted to the ground. The trussing supports a 20' diameter circle of silver truss with eight horizontal arms jutting out — four toward the interior and four toward the exterior of the circle. One of the Martin Strobes flashes at the end of each arm. (The truss is motorized, but just for maintenance; it is not intended for movement while the club is in operation).
Lieberman used TMB narrow-beam PAR46 fixtures to tint the silver truss in light blue (R68 Sky Blue). The rig also includes 15 ETC Source Four PARS and four ETC 19þ Source Fours for key lighting on the dancers, as well as two Altman 1kW cyc lights as audience blinders. Atmospheric effects are generated by two Le Maitre haze machines and two Martin Magnum Pro foggers.
In the Cloud Bar near the dance floor Lieberman used DHA window-pane gobos in additional Times Square MR75Z fixtures. “I needed something on the floor — nothing harsh, just a little breakup. These gobos gave me thin lines with a little bit of texture. They look cool when the club isn't too crowded,” he says. Over each of the bars, additional MR75Zs are placed every 24" to create blocks of color on the bar top. “There are hard-edged squares of light. The colors depends on the room with a lot of cyan in the Cloud Bar, and amber in the entry bar where there are wood tones,” Lieberman adds.
A MA Lighting grandMA console (distributed in the US by A.C. T Lighting) is located in the DJ booth. While there are some pre-programmed moves that Lieberman created, he has encouraged the resident board op to “learn his way around the desk.” The pre-programmed light shows can be run if the operator is not there on a given night. “The desk is set up for maximum flexibility, from a structured show to a free-spirited environment,” Lieberman says.
Those who are lucky enough to be admitted to the softly-lit VIP room find themselves in a quiet, carpeted area where conversation is possible. Times Square miniature PAR16 fixtures with MR16 50W lamps and dark amber gel (R22) accent dark wood walls.
Described as a “meta-club to alter your perception,” ICE also hosts special events, with hot acts on tap. How cool is that?