That New Theatre Smell

Last Saturday, the Militant had a chance to step right up to the new-fangled event venue, the Nokia Theatre (Is it pronounced, "Noh-kya" or "No-KEE-uh?" and on that note, is "Theatre" pronounced "Thee-ATE-her" or "Thee-tur?"). It's a stunningly beautiful building, which blends in well architecturally with its next door neighbor, STAPLES Center (also an AEG creation).

It's a truly unique venue, with stunning visual aesthetics, but is it really that unique? Turns out there are other Nokia Theatres out there, including one in that other major US city, so this one is specifically called, "Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live." But it's the largest one in size and capacity (7,100), larger than the Dallas (6,300) and NYC (2,100) versions. Speaking of naming rights, if certain artists ban camera phones at their concerts, what if the concertgoer has a Nokia model?

The sheer size and expanse of the theatre as well as the abuilding L.A. Live complex seemingly turned Chick Hearn Court from The Street Formerly Known As 11th to a true court, which tempts one to jaywalk between Staples and Nokia, though a row of "Use Crosswalk" signs on either side of the Court discourage shortcutting and forces people to head all the way over to Figueroa. The only downside to the new configuration is that in the event of another Lakers championship, where would the large victory celebration take place? Of course, with the way the team is going right now, that probably won't be an issue for a long time.

Though the Militant has yet to go inside, one of the Militant's siblings got to check it out on Day Two of Nokia's debut season, watching the Video Games Live concert on October 19. When the sibling was asked on their impressions of Nokia, the sibling simply shrugged and said, "It was cool."

But by far the biggest visual impact of Nokia is the building's chameleonic ability to change into all them pretty colors. The visual landmark of Nokia's plaza is the set of six pylons that emanate sound and vision into the immediate area. But wait a minute here...a vertical structure...changing colors...bright visuals...an audio system that projects sound towards all directions...hmmm...now where exactly has the Militant seen something like that before?