Saturday night fever
The Bus Palladium is preparing to live, this Saturday, April 2, its last dance party for several months. For two years, the famous club located at 6, rue Fontaine, in Pigalle (Paris 9and), will close its doors to become a luxury hotel. This project, wanted for several years by the owner of the premises, sounded the death knell for this mythical room. But it could finally be that the establishment integrates an almost identical club after the works, according to Cyril Bodin, the artistic director of the premises since 2010, who remains cautious after recent discussions with the manager. One thing is certain, Cyril Bodin promises a “joyful organized mess” this Saturday evening, with “beautiful people” and “a happening in front of the club at midnight”.
Clubbing for all
In the 1960s, James Arch, a young businessman, launched an original concept: a bus system picking up young people in the suburbs to take them to Parisian nightclubs. In 1965, in the company of James Thibaut, he launched his own club by renting L’Ange rouge, a cabaret on the decline, which became Le Bus Palladium. The place wants to be accessible to everyone: there is no drastic selection at the entrance, no dress code, the decoration is simple and the programming rock’n’roll. Johnny Hallyday, Hervé Vilard and the Jets are among the first artists to perform on the scene. In its early days, the club even welcomed the Beatles and the painter Salvador Dalí, who had come to organize a plain water banquet with his friends. “Who’s in?” Who’s out? Rue Fontaine, there is a crowd for the little guys from Liverpool, ” sang Serge Gainsbourg in 1966.
rock and pop
The Bus Palladium confirmed its status as a temple of rock’n’roll at the end of the 1970s. The group Télephone recorded its first 45-rpm live on stage in 1977. Six years later, the club created the Bus d’acier , a kind of Goncourt rock prize, to reward artists rather despised by French critics at the time. Alain Bashung is the first crowned singer, soon followed by Indochine, Etienne Daho, Noir Désir or Rita Mitsouko. Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger celebrated his birthday at this three-story club. The whole of Paris rushes there, but the club retains its popular aspect. “You could come across Grace Kelly next to a few black jackets, that’s the essence of Bus Palladium since its creation”, summarizes Cyril Bodin.
K.-O. by Covid-19
The Bus Palladium experienced a final revival in 2010. A new management put the means to relaunch the machine, which then experienced a drop in speed. The architect Laura Gonzalez is in charge of redecorating. Enough to allow the club to somehow resist the decline in nightclub attendance in recent years in France. “A lot of places have specialized in urban or electronic music. Not many of us in Paris have kept this rock niche. To see if things will have changed in two years, but I don’t think so.” analysis Cyril Bodin. On the other hand, rock’n’roll could not have done anything against the Covid-19. The epidemic and the multiple closures precipitated the transformation into a hotel.