Best New/Refurbished Space In Food & Drink: Live Nation’s Vinyl Room In The Hollywood Palladium (Excellence In Concessions Awards 2026)

The vinyl resurgence in the 21st century is driven by many factors, but it’s partly due to nostalgia from previous generations and Gen Z’s desire for something tangible beyond the digital experience.

It’s a movement that celebrates the old and the new, and Live Nation channeled that with Vinyl Room, a unique concept inspired by 1970s Japanese listening rooms where live music fans can gather before and after a show to grab high-quality food and drinks while enjoying a swanky DJ setting spinning vinyl records.

Vinyl Room made its debut earlier this year at the storied Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and the Hi-Fi VIP lounge has been a hit with fans. After some renovations in 2023, Live Nation, which operates the venue, saw an opportunity to make use of storage space within the structure and elevate the Palladium experience for concertgoers.

Andy Yates, Live Nation’s head of food and beverage, said the birth of the Vinyl Room comes from “bringing music together with hospitality” and a desire to deliver restaurant-quality dining to the venue in an intimate setting.

“We know vinyl’s been having this resurgence, and we love these Japanese listening lounges, which is where we rooted ourselves so that we were able to let the music and guest conversation along with our hospitality really come together and speak to the room,” Yates tells Pollstar.

The combination of lounge seating and round tables for four encourages engagement and conversation along with the tunes, and the walls feature concert posters of artists who performed at the L.A. venue and a host of other curated memorabilia.

Having lived in L.A. since 2011, Yates also wanted to ensure that the new space was reflective of the community it serves. Aware of the fact that Hollywood and surrounding neighborhoods are chock-full of restaurants and bars, Yates knew that they had to offer something unique.

“We designed a menu and drinks that really encapsulated the mood,” says Yates, who added that the cocktail selection was centered on well-known songs and lyrics. “We’re going to take it up a notch and give it another element and think about the community that we serve and the diversity within it.”

Access to the hip, retro VIP space requires membership, but it’s already such a hit among Angelenos that Live Nation is bringing the concept to other markets, with Vinyl Rooms at venues including Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the soon-to-open Nashville venue, The Truth,  and the new TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.

“We really want to give guests a reason to arrive early, come before the show and not worry about trying to figure out parking,” Yates says. “… But also stay later. Why do you need to leave? I don’t know about you, but back in the day when we used to leave a show, it was like, ‘OK, now where do we go? Where do we take the party?’”