Milwaukee’s The Rave Rocks New P.A.

Milwaukee, WI (July 2, 2025)—Milwaukee’s The Rave isn’t a small venue designed to hold a few hundred people. No, it’s an architecturally spectacular building that was constructed in the 1920s as an 11,000-person Social Club for the Fraternal Order of Eagles. While it deteriorated over the decades and was even condemned in the 1980s, today it’s the home of four stages, including the 1,800-capacity Rave Hall and 4,000-capacity Eagles Ballroom.

Since Joe Balestrieri and Leslie West purchased the property in 1991, restoring the former Eagles Club to its original glory has been a labor of love. “We’re still not done,” Balestrieri says, “but with the new sound system, the sound in The Rave Hall and Eagles Ballroom is spectacular—equal to anybody’s.”

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The Rave’s four stages now host over 200 shows annually by artists like Bob Dylan, Slayer, T-Pain, Jack White, Florence and the Machine, Lainey Wilson and others, so keeping the site up-to-date is crucial. “There are always improvements happening,” notes Jeff Claveau, The Rave’s assistant production manager & audio manager, who cites upgrades to amenities, new acoustic treatments, HVAC systems and lighting.

One of the most notable updates, however, has been the installation of dBTechnologies VIO PAs in the Rave Hall and Eagles Ballroom.

The choice of dBTechnologies was based on hearing VIO in action at Milwaukee Irish Fest in 2023—a system deployed by local dBTechnologies representatives Audio Biz and Clearwing. “We were there on install day, and they’d just turned the system on,” Claveau says, “and even before it was tuned and EQ’d, we were impressed.”

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Now, the Rave Hall features seven VIO L1610s and a half-dozen VIO S218 Subs per side as mains, and four VIO L208 as front fills in the Rave Hall.

Meanwhile, in the Eagles Ballroom, per side, there’s eight VIO L212s as mains, another eight L1610s as out-fills, 10 VIO S218 subs ground-stacked, and five VIO L1610s for front fills.

Monitor systems in both spaces include eight VIO W15Ts, four VIO S118 Subs, four VIO C12 Tops as side fills, and a VIO S118 drum sub.

“dB were cooperative, easy to deal with, and (represented) locally, so if we did need something, we could get service,” Balestrieri notes. “This is, by far, the best the place ever sounded.”