Herman Dye had been waiting for a music-focused open-mic night to appear in the Glenside area for a while, and just over a year ago he got his wish. That’s because Sept. 18, 2021, saw the grand opening of Glenside’s newest music venue, The Royal. And Dye loves it – which is why he’s waiting in line outside the door 15 minutes before the venue’s 7:30 opening for Wednesday night’s weekly open mic night.

“The vibe is good,” he told the Local on a cool October evening. “It's a relaxed atmosphere. The people aren't that judgmental. They know you're going to have some good acts, you're going to have some so-so acts, but they give everybody a chance.”

The Royal gives Dye a chance to network with other musicians and practice his craft of singing and playing guitar to a backing track. He hopes to eventually get a gig opening up for a more popular musician to expand his audience.

“Musicians need an outlet to play,” said Dye. “Most of the places are down in Philly and that's a good little trek to go down there. So it's good that it's in the area.”

Dye and other musicians prefer The Royal to other live music spots due to its status as a music venue – and not a bar. 

“It's the only one around that's strictly for music,” said Fran Carroll, who’s been a regular at The Royal’s open mic nights for about three months. He started performing there because he heard it was the best open mic night in town. 

“There's no Phillies playing in the background, there's no people ordering dinner. The people here come to listen to music. They’re not here to get drunk; they pay attention when people are playing. They don't talk when you're playing, which is completely different from every other place.”

Meant for music

Andrew Sironi, who has performed stand-up comedy at the venue on multiple occasions - and even emcees the open mic nights from time to time - concurred with Carroll. It’s a room meant for music - or in his case, stand up.

“I think that informs a lot of the atmosphere of the room,” he said. “It's a great energy for open mics. It is nice. People are attentive. It's always a great crowd and a very familial atmosphere.”

And that’s precisely what the venue’s co-owners, Bridgett Gordon and Jerry Clarke, envisioned when they opened the place. 

In his day job, Clarke is both a lawyer and an accountant. Gordon is his legal assistant. In addition to being co-workers, they also play in a classic rock cover band called The Stinks. 

“When we play at a corner bar or the local VFW or something like that, it's great. It's very warmly received,” Clarke said. “But as a performer, the people aren’t there to hear music, they're really there to have a good time.”

That’s not the case at The Royal.

“We’re certainly not a place where the Phillies game is going to be playing,” said Gordon. “People come there to see music and I don’t know if that’s the case in other places.”

Clarke described his business as “truly a music venue.”

“You're part of the audience, but you're expected to participate as an audience member,” he said. “Not as a bar patron.”

The music-focused approach has its challenges, however. There’s an obvious reason why most places prioritize alcohol sales, and that’s because it brings in the money. That’s something The Royal hasn’t done consistently over the past year, but Clark and Gordon hope that changes. Clarke described business as being “spotty.” He attributes that partially to COVID-19 and partially to the venue being so new.

“People are still realizing what we are,” he said. “When they come to a show, they love it. We want more people to consistently come to shows and build that up.”

Gordon described attendance as “hit or miss,” but noted the strength of The Royal’s open mic community as an example of one of the positives.

“There’s always a crowded room on Wednesday nights,” she said. “There wasn’t one week where someone new hasn’t showed up.”

The Ways and means

The Royal doesn’t have a liquor license. However, The Ways Restaurant & Brewery - located just next door - does. The Ways and The Royal have an arrangement where The Ways sets up a stand to sell beer in the venue and The Royal gets a cut of those sales. For now, it’s working. 

“We were debating whether we should be bring-your-own,” said Clarke. “But we feel [buying beer at the venue] was the vibe we're going for.”

What makes things even more complicated is the fact that everybody who works for The Royal still has a day job. Clarke doesn’t see himself quitting his full-time job any time soon, but one of his near-term goals for the venue is to have it become more of a destination for touring artists.

“They'll say ‘we're touring the Philly area, what about The Royal?’ - that type of thing,” said Clarke. “And I think that's just a matter of reputation and word of mouth and social media and all that stuff. That's kind of where I hope it goes.”

Over the past year, some of the most notable events have included headlining performances from local musician Ben Arnold; comedian and former host of VH1’s That Metal Show Don Jamieson; and Mother Nature’s Sons, a Beatles tribute band.

“We had a band here that was a local cover band of four or five 25-year-olds who graduated from Abington High School,” said Clarke. “They were energetic, good-looking kids and it's almost like the whole high school came here one night. It was amazing.”

It’s the kind of familial atmosphere that Gordon had been hoping to foster. 

“Our goal wasn’t just to provide music, but also a home for people to provide healing or an escape to their life,” she said. “The Royal isn’t a space or a building. It’s a community of people.”