Ronnie Scotts
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258 Broad Street.
The well known Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London briefly had a Birmingham “branch” on a franchise deal, run by two local businessmen. Opening in 1991 to a blaze of publicity. It had two levels of tables for 2 to 8 people. Unfortunately, with an emphasis on dining, the down side of this was that sometimes table chat and clinking of cutlery was louder than some of the acts! In fact at one point, one artist stopped playing and said “I’m sorry if my playing is interrupting your conversation”!
It did occasionally feature local acts, but it was also noteworthy that some future chart stars made their debut there before hitting the big time. For example David Gray played here and and on June 30 2000, a bunch of relatively unknowns called Coldplay played the club. Of course it also featured jazz and blues stars as well, with initially some programming input from the London club. Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, George Melly, Georgie Fame and Chaka Khan have all graced the stage. It also played host to Jazz and Singer Songwriter festivals.
It was reported in 2001 that the club was experiencing financial troubles. It eventually closed down and became a lap dancing club called the Rocket Club.
