The Rotunda atrium and dome
The multi-level heart of the store, open all the way up to the stained glass. My photos show guests seated at tables around the floor with the columns lit amber.
DJ and MC at The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus
A stained glass dome over an open atrium is beautiful to look at and hard to play under: glass and plaster throw sound back at you. I've DJed and MCed under it, and lit it, so I set up for the room that's really there.
Union Square, San Francisco
An old dome in
An old dome in
a newer store
The Rotunda is the central atrium of the Neiman Marcus store on Union Square in San Francisco, at the corner of Geary and Stockton, with the plaza right across the street. Over it sits a stained glass dome that belonged to the City of Paris, the department store that traded in San Francisco from 1850 until March 1972 and once stood on this site.
When the old building came down, the rotunda and its dome were preserved and built into the store that replaced it, a postmodern design that opened in 1982. So you get a Beaux-Arts dome, gilded plasterwork and fluted columns inside a modern building, with tall windows looking onto the city. For decades the rotunda held the Christmas tree San Francisco thought of as its own.
For music, that means an open, multi-level room with glass overhead and hard surfaces all around. Sound travels up and comes back. It also means a working department store on a dense downtown block, so the plan for getting gear in and out matters as much as the playlist.
The spaces
The floor and
The floor and
the ring above it
The restaurant ring
A restaurant has long wrapped around the top of the atrium, behind a curved balustrade under the dome. From up there you look down into the room and out at the city. Whether it's taking private events now is a question for the venue. If so, it gets its own sound zone.
How I set up here
Glass above,
Glass above,
gear through a store
Sound goes up and comes back, and every case rolls in through a working store. Here's how I handle both.
Sound for a glass dome
Glass, plaster and an open atrium send sound straight back. So I don't turn it up to fill the space. I place speakers near the people, aim them at guests and away from the dome, and keep dinner and cocktail music at a level you can talk over. The build comes later, as the plates clear.
Load-in through a store
This is a department store on a busy downtown block at Geary and Stockton. I don't assume a loading dock. Before the day I get the entrance, the route and the time window from the venue, then arrive early enough that setup is finished and quiet before your first guest walks in.
The microphone and the room
Speech is the first thing a glass dome swallows. I run a wireless microphone and carry a backup. As MC I handle the welcome, the toasts and every announcement, short and clear, so nobody at the tables on the floor, or up on the ring if guests are there, has to shout across the atrium.
Timing around the store
A room inside a store may run on the store's clock. I get the music end time from the venue, and whether the evening starts during store hours or after, then build the night back from it. I also ask where I can set up and what power is at that spot, so nothing gets worked out on the day.
From my own events
Under the dome,
Under the dome,
after dark
You're covered
No planner?
No planner?
Hand me the evening
You don't have to carry the music, the microphone or the clock. Before your event we go through a planning questionnaire, then planning and music calls: the order of the night, who speaks and when, the songs you love (the exact versions) and the ones you never want to hear. By the time I arrive, I know your event inside and out.
This room sits inside a store, and the store has its own rules. I get those from the venue directly, well ahead, and bring you the answers along with a plan that fits them.
Lighting
Amber on the columns,
Amber on the columns,
pink on the plaster
The lighting in the photos here is mine. In one, from 2012, the fluted columns are washed in warm amber under the green, blue and gold of the dome. In the other, magenta-pink uplighting runs across the gilded plasterwork and the balcony ring.
Uplighting does a lot in this room because the architecture is already there to catch it. Add uplighting in the instant estimate, along with a monogram or pattern projection if you want one.
What fits this room
Dinners, launches
Dinners, launches
and holiday parties
This room suits an evening: a company dinner, a brand launch, a holiday party under the dome where the city's Christmas tree stood for decades, a milestone birthday, a fundraiser. A wedding reception or a welcome party fits too, if the venue is booking them.
If you want a sound more than a program, a Selector Session is a set of my own programming, up to four hours, and it suits a cocktail hour or dinner here well. Soulful electronic, lounge, Motown, Latin: whatever the room and the crowd call for.
Good to Know
Questions about a DJ
Questions about a DJ
under the dome
Have you DJed at the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus?
Yes. The photos on this page are from my own events there. I know what the dome and the open atrium do to sound, and I set up for it.
Is the Rotunda available for private events right now?
I can't tell you that, and I won't guess. The store has been through ownership and lease changes, so ask the venue directly whether the Rotunda is booking private events for your date. If it is, send me the date and I'll take the music, the microphone and the timeline from there.
How do you handle the echo under a glass dome?
By not fighting it. I keep speakers close to the guests, aimed at people and away from the glass, at a level that suits conversation during dinner. Toasts get a wireless microphone, with a backup ready. When it's time to dance I bring the energy up with the music, not just the volume.
What time does music have to end there?
I don't have a published cutoff for this room, so I confirm it with the venue before we plan anything. Then I build the timeline back from it, so the toasts land early, dinner breathes, and the last song is the one you picked.
Can you light the Rotunda as well as play?
Yes. Uplighting, dance-floor lighting and a custom monogram or pattern projection are all options in the instant estimate. I check with the venue first about what's allowed near the balustrade and the glass.
More rooms
Other rooms I've played
Other rooms I've played
in San Francisco
- Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco
- Golden Gate ClubSan Francisco
- Hotel NikkoSan Francisco
- Julia Morgan BallroomSan Francisco
- Marines' Memorial ClubSan Francisco
- St. Francis Yacht ClubSan Francisco
- Temple NightclubSan Francisco
Every room, from Napa Valley to the coast, is on the rooms list.
Your event
Planning a night at the Rotunda?
Tell me your date, the kind of event and the feeling you want in the room. The instant estimate gives you a price in a couple of minutes, or book a short call and we'll talk it through.