Today, Warsaw’s iconic music landmark, the Stodoła (Barn) Club, turns 55 years old.

Run by the Warsaw University of Technology, the venue was officially opened on 5 April 1956. For the first two decades it was a jazz hub of the Polish capital, with the first three Jazz Jamboree festivals were held from 1958 to 1960.

Polish rock music, which the club is now most famous for promoting, made its way to Stodoła in the late 1970s. One of the biggest rock bands linked with the venue was Perfect, a regular presence at the club for many years. The country’s biggest names to grace the stage of Stodoła include Marillion, Thin Lizzy, Nigel Kennedy, Slayer and White Lies.

Jan Borysewicz, guitarist of renowned rock group Lady Pank, said: “It is a somewhat magical place. Performing onstage at Stodoła is a distinction for Polish rock groups.”

The club was in the past also active in Warsaw’s cabaret scene, with the venue’s roster featuring Polish greats, including Ewa Bem, Wojciech Mann, Magdalena Umer and Czesław Niemen.

The club was also engaged in film, having founded a film discussion club, followed by a film shooting club in the 1960s. The club’s extensive professional equipment in the later years allowed for the production of several dozen award-winning film shorts in the mid-1970s. Yet music has always played the biggest part in the life of the club, with concerts being its flagship activity.

Throughout its history, Stodoła would change its location several times, to finally end up at Warsaw’s Mokotów district. (ab)