,THE VILLAGE PUB

,THE VILLAGE PUB

Phil Richardson

Detroit has kind of a strange thing happening in this age of supergroups and sessions. Sometimes it takes the form of an FM radio disc jockey chiding the local club owners for not backing local groups or the mentor of a certain local group accusing radio stations of not supporting local groups or in general, everyone accusing everyone else of not supporting our groups. Despite all this, I think if we look around, we will see that “It’s getting better all the time.” For one aspect, we have to look no further than Birmingham.

I first heard the name “Village Pub” after an impressive line-up of local groups during a radio commercial which also quoted a modest admission price of three dollars for non-members and two dollars for members, along with directions to 136 Brownell in Birmingham. I was interested in seeing the club, so I called the director and asked if I could talk to him that afternoon. He was glad to cooperate and I grabbed my notebook and headed north. Up Woodward, turn left at Maple, two blocks west, and there it was.

I entered through the back door amid amps, drums and other paraphernalia and was directed to the office of Dale Leonard, executive director of the club. He chased about fifteen kids out of his office and we sat down to talk about the club. He said that what started out as a teen club for the area has turned into a I non-profit center, run for and by the ! teens with a stress on entertainment.

The club offers various sport and cultural activities to members, with the membership basically centered in the Birmingham-Bloomfield area.

He pointed out that although he had just taken over as director, things ! were beginning to happen and that projects like the complete rebuilding i and rewiring of the bandstand, and new lighting and sound systems were being initiated and carried out by the ' kids themselves. He had a lot of ^ enthusiasm and pride when he talked jj about the club, and it seemed to be j inherent in anyone else connected | with it. One goal seemed to come | through rather clearly—that no matfi ter if you hear a radio advertisement !; or not, you can come out and expect to hear good local groups. I thanked him for a very enjoyable interview I and promised to return to catch the j show that night.

I arrived, from door this time, in j time to catch the last sets of White | Spider Blues Band and the Wilson [j Mower Pursuit. The Spider was j setting up, so I had a chance to look i around the club and check out the | crowd, which consisted of mostly s the area high school group with just enough older cats and freeks to make it nice. In other rooms were pool tables, a color TV, and a very nice snack bar area. The good sized hall

began to fill as the Spider started their set. They are a young group concentrating mostly on quality and experience, rather than a stage show, which resulted in less audience enthusiasm than normal, but they were well rewarded by applause when they finished. The Pursuit, on the other hand, seemed to have more of a following out there, and were greeted with cheers and peace signs when they came on. They kept the enthusiasm going, and people danced, heads bobbed and it was a great set which ended with all who could fit up on the stage doing the “boogie.”

The club itself encourages this “crowd participation” in all aspects of club life. As I left I cheerfully felt that as a teen center, the Pub was better than most, with promises of improving much further. For the standard admission price of three dollars maximum, it’s well worth taking a trip there just to check it out.