Iconic Mount Gambier venue The Barn Palais and owner Dale Cleves OAM were recently inducted into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame.
The Barn Palais was the first regional venue to be inducted and Mr Cleves said the induction came as a surprise.
Mr Cleves was born in Adelaide and his passion for music stems from his father, who was a professional musician in the 1930s and 1940s with his band Frank Cleves’ All Stars.
“They had the only professional music job in South Australia at that time, they were full time, six nights a week,” he said.
“We came back to Mount Gambier in 1942 when I was two years of age.
“I did the same as most people, as a young 10-year-old I went to the local convent and learned the piano under the nuns, that was how we all learned.
“I started here (at The Barn) in 1956 while I was still at school, in my father’s band, I started playing piano then.
“I still play now, but only for myself, just to keep the old brain and the fingers working a bit.”
Mr Cleves reminisced on the venue’s rich history in the music scene.
“We were involved in the early days, we were dance promoters, so I used to run bands and that when dances were the thing in the early 1960s,” Mr Cleves said.
“We had a dance running here every Saturday night and one in Hamilton for a few years up until the time of the advent of 10 o’clock closing.
“It just changed the whole dynamic of people going to a dance.”
Many major bands and artists performed at The Barn over the years, with some huge Australian icons hitting the stage.
“Particularly in the 1970s and 1980s was when it was really booming, that’s when all the touring was going on, all the big major acts such as Men at Work, John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Icehouse, Mondo Rock, they were all here,” Mr Cleves said.
“We would have a major act in here at least once a month on a Wednesday night, then they would go through to Adelaide, so they would stop off here.
“Probably the most famous group that ever appeared here was The Seekers in 1962, that was prior to them leaving for England.”
In the lead up to World War II, famous American band leader Roy Fox performed at The Barn Palais in June 1939.
“On a Saturday night they attracted 1000 people and there was apparently 200 outside trying to get in,” Mr Cleves said.
Mr Cleves’ uncle Adelbert Spehr made the venue what it is today, which comes from humble beginnings as a regular farming barn.
“In the midst of the great depression, he decided to turn it into a ballroom,” Mr Cleves said.
“He was ahead of his time, there was no doubt about that, they would have all thought he was crazy to do that, but that was his vision, and he did it.
“There were probably only 5000 people here in those days.
“When it opened in 1937 on the 27th of July, there were 1000 people here for the opening night.
“If it was not for him, it would never have been here.”
