Searching for something different to my usual folk music haunts, last night I nipped down to Bideford in the England county of North Devon to sample the delights of the Palladium Club.
If you are looking for a night out in the Barnstaple, Appledore, Torrington, Instow, East-the-Water, and Westward Ho! areas then the Palladium Club is quite local to you.
Tuesday night at the Palladium Club, Bideford, North Devon is jam night and I’d heard from locals that it was also a jamming Blues night.
Now I hadn’t much of a clue about Blues so I checked it out on the web and learned a few basics about something called the blues scale.
It seems that the blues scale is the same as the major scale but the third, fifth and seventh notes in the scale are flattened. I’m sure devotees of Blues would reckon this is a gross oversimplification but, from what I could see on the web, there seems to be some debate, even amongst the experts, so it’ll have to be good enough for me.
Undeterred, I tried this new scale out on my trusty Yanagisawa saxophone and the result sounded quite bluesy. I also discovered that the great old song Summertime from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin uses the blues scale. This tune seemed easy enough so I felt a little bit prepared for my adventure into this non-folk music territory.
However, I firmly told myself that I musn’t be disapointed if I turned out to be a fish out of water. I already play lots of music all over the place at different pubs and firmly believe it’s sometimes best to sit on your hands rather than contribute badly. ‘Suss out before sessioning’ is my motto.
Bideford was easy to find, being next door to Appledore where I visit regularly, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of the club location by the excellent map on the Palladium Club’s web site.
Parking was easy on the Quay. Unfortunately it took me at least half an hour of driving around Bideford’s most frustrating one way system in the universe to discover this important fact. Nevertheless, once I was parked, The Palladium Club was only a short walk.
The entrance to the Palladium Club is quite small and easy to miss and has a sign saying ‘members only’.
Undeterred, I strolled down a long passageway to the main bar and club area and was immediately welcomed by the proprietor who seemed a very friendly chap.
I explained that I was essentially a folk musician and probably would be quite happy to sit and listen. He said that I was welcome to join in if I felt able and later the house band drummer dropped by my table and said to let him know if I decided to play which was all very welcoming.
I got myself a beer and found a quiet table to park my instruments and myself. At one end of the room there was a busy pool or snooker table. At the other end, electric guitars, microphones and drums set up to form a stage area and a sound and lights unit was situated by the entrance to the bar looking very professional.
The music started at about nine thirty with the house band tunefully belting out a few popular numbers. Then they started rotating into the four to five piece band other musicians who were obviously regulars and known to them.
The house band seemed to drop in or out from the playing wherever they were needed with the drummer, who had previously welcomed me, anchoring the music most of the time and, at one stage, a visiting band took over and played a few tunes.
The proprietor had explained to me that the music styles on jam night were very mixed and it seemed to me he was right with most sets consisting of pop covers from the latter part of the 20th century, although some sets were definitely blues.
By blues I mean that the tune consisted of twelve bars with a four bar phrase repeated twice and then a third four bar phrase which resolved the tune.
(For example a twelve bar tune could consist of: ‘Ma mumma loved me, Yeh ma mumma loved me, But I done her wrong.’)
Electric guitars were the staple instrument, apart from the drums. There was a great saxophone player who stepped in and accompanied for a few tunes and also an amplified mouth organ.
Live playing closed down at eleven thirty pm. It was definitely an enjoyable evening and very refreshing to hear different styles of music to the traditional folk and country folk music that I am used to. The musicians were excellent and the club hosts were well organised for musicians from the floor, and were welcoming and friendly.
If the sort of music you like includes a spectrum from Rolling Stones to the Shadows via Blues Rock, Tuesday night amplified jam session at the Palladium Club is for you and, whether or not you play an instrument, based on my experience, you’ll receive a great welcome.
On other nights, the Palladium Club has further variety with special visiting bands. Details are posted on the Palladium Club web site and I reckon I’ll be back there soon to check some of them out.
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