CC'S NIGHT SPOT

Venue timeline:

The Gala Ballroom ?? 1954-

The Moulin Rouge 8?-Dec86 (unconfirmed)

CC's Night Club

Built in 1954 as a ballroom, it has also been a theatre, restaurant, nightclub and a synthetic ice rink during its lifetime.

The Gala enjoyed many resident big bands right up to the late fifties, most notably The Bob Barbour Band but it was the demolition of The Grosvenor Rooms in 1964 that saw the venue spring into life as the new place to be. Management of the venue was taken on by ex Grosvenor boss Ray Aldous (also see The Industrial Club) and under his management bands such as The Kinks, The Move, The Small Faces, Lulu & The Lovers, The Applejacks and Manfred Mann were booked to play. This period of popularity was revisited in the seventies when the venue was known for its Country and Western program and continued into the late seventies and early eighties with the punk and indie band boom. The Fall, The Smiths and Flock of Seagulls all visited the club as well as many locally promoted gig nights.

Taken over by Baxters Taverns circa May 1978 and frontage given a facelift in August 1978 manager at the time was Roger Simmons

EEN H&N 16/11/81: "New move at Gala" Gala stage made bigger and Gala Entertainments Mandy Newey said we are starting local band nights and they will have tickets to sell which will act as their fee, its not a competition "as most Norwich groups are non competitive pacifists anyhow."

EEN H&N 02/08/82: Cheap Gala gig nights idea of Gala boss Don Peters

From the mid eighties to 1990 Norwich slowly lost many of its main live music venues to the advent of the trendy theme bar revolution. The announcement that the Gala was to close in the late eighties is said to have sparked the Norwich Venue campaign, a campaign to return to Norwich a dedicated local music venue. The Gala was then transformed into one of the UK’s first laser tag sites and is now Quasar Elite between the Trowel and Hammer PH and the Indian Take Away.

Note: Laurence Singer was born in Heigham Street, Norwich on 27th. July 1911 and died in Verwood, Nr Ringwood, Hampshire on 12th. September 1990 and Eileen Page was born at Mundesley Road, North Walsham on 20th. September 1913 and died in Bournemouth Hospital 3rd. February 2002.