Last week I paid a midweek visit to the esteemed Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Frith Street, Soho.
I went along with a crew of Brixton pals to see a friend play in one of the bands performing in the Tuesday TV Nights event in the smaller Upstairs@Ronnie’s venue.
Naturally, being the West End, I knew my wallet was set to take a battering, and that started at the door.
The club night advertises admission as £8 (or £6 with a flyer print out) – trouble was that there was no up-to-date flyer on the advertised Facebook page to print out, so eight quid it was.
Inside, any hope of buying an actual pint evaporated at the sight of a fridge full of beer bottles, and once again I was reminded of my Soho location with two small bottles of Peroni and one Camden brewery beer being charged at SEVENTEEN facking quid. The rip off bastards.
Inside there was a mixed crowd of all ages, enjoying the jazzy sounds on offer.
I have to confess it wasn’t my kind of thing, with the volume set at a far-too-polite level and a lot of muso ‘musicianship’ on display (five string basses, doo-be-doo jazz singing, pained expressions accompanying each difficult chord, and the like) but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. But then I doubt if they cared what an old punk rocker thought anyway.
The last band on at least had some oomph to them, with our pal the drummer thumping the kit with some much-needed aggression. This was more like it!
The venue has booth style seating, most of which seemed to be reserved/bagsied, so we had to stand all night.
I felt the power of the hand dryer.
The multi-national massive.
Bar scene.
The Brixton posse!
After the bands, a jam session kept the crowds entertained, and this charismatic fella did a grand job of engaging the crowd.
More info: TV Nights at Ronnie Scott’s.
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