Venues & stages
Le Petit Palais
- Type
- Historic venue
- Address
- Avenue Claude-Nobs 2, 1820 Montreux (en face du Millésime Club)
Crowned by its distinctive dome, the Petit Palais is the Belle Époque pavilion of the Montreux Palace, on Avenue Claude-Nobs. It hosted concerts in the era of the Rose d’Or de Montreux, the great international television festival that made the town shine worldwide from the 1960s onwards. It was here, on 12 May 1984, that Queen mimed four tracks from the album “The Works”. It still serves today as a stage for concerts, notably those of the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Septembre Musical, and houses a restaurant open in summer. It can also be seen on the Freddie Tours, whose extended route starts at the corner of the building.
The Petit Palais, the concert pavilion
The Palace’s Belle Époque pavilion
Crowned by its distinctive dome, the Petit Palais is the Belle Époque pavilion of the Montreux Palace, on the avenue that bears the name of Claude Nobs.
From tea salon to the Pavillon des sports
Built in 1906, the building took the name Petit Palais only in 1994. Every afternoon it once welcomed ladies who came to drink tea and taste pastries.
It was later converted for sport and renamed the “Pavillon des sports”: international rink-hockey competitions were held there, and the local club trained there every week. Rock, pop and jazz concerts then took over the ground-floor hall facing the lake. The pavilion’s main structure has remained almost unchanged to this day.
The upper floor: from the Strobe Club to the Hazyland
The upper floor was for many years home to the Strobe Club, a modern discotheque with psychedelic lights where Claude Nobs organised many parties in 1968.
The Hazyland, a cabaret-style discotheque and a place to be seen, later replaced the Strobe and entertained night owls as well as the many congress visitors passing through town; a live band performed there almost every night.
From the Rose d’Or to free concerts
It hosted concerts in the era of the Rose d’Or de Montreux, the great international television festival that gave the town worldwide fame from the 1960s. It still serves today as a stage for free concerts of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
12 May 1984: Queen miming for the Golden Rose
On 12 May 1984 Queen mimed four songs at the Petit Palais, the former Pavillon des sports, as part of the Golden Rose Pop Festival, in support of their album “The Works”: “Radio Ga Ga”, “Tear It Up”, “It’s A Hard Life” and “I Want To Break Free”.
Two years later the band returned for the Golden Rose, but at the Casino this time.
The Petit Palais today
The Petit Palais still hosts concerts, notably those of the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Septembre Musical, and houses a restaurant open in summer. The Montreux Jazz Café itself stands on the other side of the avenue, at the Montreux Palace.
Related artists :Claude NobsQueenFreddie MercuryBrian May