![Poll 2023: Exchange LA](jpg/14.%20exchange%20ladf09.jpg?itok=retgaDk8)
Location: Los Angeles, CA USA
Capacity: 1,500
Aside from being one of the biggest and most interesting venues on America’s west coast, Exchange LA is also one of the few upscale venues in Southern California with a true club atmosphere that’s open to shows from all genres, including rave music. Its partnership with Insomniac (of EDC fame) has even kept the downtown Los Angeles venue open to styles that are generally less popular in the US, like drum & bass or experimental IDM.
The 25,000-square-foot venue used to be the home of the West Coast Pacific Stock Exchange, and was built in the 1920s. It thus boasts some impressive architecture, with Italian marble throughout the building and lush art deco flourishes in the lobbies and stairwells. The architects of 1929 likely didn’t expect the huge open trading floor they designed would make the perfect acoustic space for the blistering bass of raves 100 years later, but that is indeed what’s happened.
The historic venue is still going strong, steadily climbing the DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs list over the past decade, with major headliners like Modestep, Yellow Claw, Malaa, Chase & Status and Spag Heddy gracing its main stage this summer.