Bikini's artists now perform completely in the digital domain, using a new EtherSound-based network that carries the audio signal from microphone to loudspeaker without any loss of quality. According to the club's resident sound engineer Robert Perez, the results are astonishing. "When you hear the system, it sounds so much better than anything you could compare it to, including our old set-up. We have a lot of visiting engineers coming through here with the touring bands and, for a while, I was encountering some resistance when I tried to give them the digital console. But, once they hear the whole system in full voice, they are completely persuaded and forget all about wanting their analogue control."
Bikini can operate as one or two venues, thanks to a removable wall. When divided into two rooms, the larger Sala Bikini can accommodate nearly 600 people for up to three live shows a week, and has recently played host to the likes of Steve Earle and The Charlatans. The smaller space, the Sala Arutanga, has a popular itinerary of club nights, but the two rooms can be joined up to house 900, using a relay screen to compensate for a certain lack of sightlines to the main stage.
(Jim Evans)
