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Ruby Skye

Coordinates: 37°47′15″N 122°24′35″W / 37.78750°N 122.40972°W / 37.78750; -122.40972
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ruby Skye
Regency III (1975)
Stage Door Theater (1989)
Front entrance of Ruby Skye in 2008
Map
Address420 Mason Street
San Francisco, California
USA
Capacity900
Current useNightclub/Event Venue
Construction
Opened1990
Closed2017
Rebuilt2000
ArchitectAugust Headman
Website
www.rubyskye.com

Ruby Skye was a former popular nightclub located at 420 Mason Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, California, in operation from 1990 to 2017.

Building history

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Ruby Skye nightclub building exterior
Ruby Skye nightclub building exterior

The nightclub was housed in the Native Sons of the Golden West building at 420 Mason Street, built in 1912 by architect August Headman.[1][2] The nightclub was housed in what was originally an auditorium/meeting hall. In the 1940s it became a USO club and was called the "Stage Door." Later it started showing films as the "Stage Door Theater" and hosted the premiere of the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo on May 9, 1958. By the early 1980s, it had become the Regency III movie theater (the Regency I and II were located several blocks away).

In 1989 the theater was renamed the "Stage Door Theater" while it was used as a temporary home for the ACT theater. ACT's Geary Theater was heavily damaged in the 1989 earthquake and was being restored.

Club history

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According to FOH Online, Ruby Skye's sound system consisted of a five-way EAW Avalon DC1 system that had been modified by JK Sound to use EAW KF series drivers. The system included eight EAW DC1 three-way cabinets, six DCT2 supertweeter arrays and 20 DCS2 subwoofers capable of 140db of bass energy. It was the first nightclub in the world to implement Lake Contour 26 loudspeaker processors for audio management.[3][4]

Ruby Skye played host to a long list of world-renowned DJs, including Above & Beyond, Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, BT, Darude, Deep Dish, John Digweed, Kaskade, Mark Farina, Markus Schulz, Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, Pete Tong, Roger Sanchez, Sasha, and Tiësto.[5]

It was also a popular location for some of the 106 KMEL House of Soul concerts that the radio station KMEL hosts from time to time.

Closure

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On March 16, 2017, Ruby Skye announced it would be closing within two months or so after 17 years as a mostly EDM venue.[6] The final event at Ruby Skye took place on Saturday, June 10, 2017, and featured DJ Chuckie with a set called Last Call with Chuckie.[7]

A new music venue called August Hall, was opened by new owner Nate Valentine at the same location and would feature a restaurant and a few lanes for bowling on the lower level.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ "3 Centuries Of History In 8 Stories: The NSGW Building". January 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. ^ Rubenstein, Steve (2017-03-17). "SF's Ruby Skye club to close and reopen anew - with bowling". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  3. ^ "Sacramento's K Street Clubs Equipped with EAW Loudspeakers". FOH Online. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. ^ "EAW APPLAUDS SAN FRANCISCO'S NITEY AWARD WINNERS". Eastern Acoustic Works. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Ruby Skye Homepage". Ruby Skye. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  6. ^ "Finally! Ruby Skye Is Closing, Could Become Actually Cool Music Hall With Bowling Alley". SFist. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Last Call w/Chuckie". The DJ List. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Ruby Skye, Slide Nightclub To Close, Become Music Hall & Bowling Alley". Hoodline. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Home". augusthallsf.com.
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37°47′15″N 122°24′35″W / 37.78750°N 122.40972°W / 37.78750; -122.40972