the Palais site was converted into an ice rink, which was opened on 30 December 1929, with the original London Lions ice hockey team using it as a base. However, that skate craze proved short-lived, and by late 1934 the rink was reverted to a dance hall. A new maple dance floor at a cost of £5,000 was installed in the venue. In 1959, Joe Loss and his Orchestra, with singers Rose Brennan, Ross MacManus and Larry Gretton, became the resident dance band at the Palais. For the next decade, they were a regular feature every night, except on Monday's "Record Night" when only recorded music was played and no alcohol was served from the bar. The stage and rehearsal room were within earshot of the Chief Superintendent's office in Hammersmith Police Station, leading one of its occupants to observe "where else can visitors to a police station be soothed by the sound of famous dance bands?". In 1960, the Mecca organisation acquired the Palais. Other house bands during the 1960s and 1970s included Andy Ross, Ken Mackintosh, Tony Evans, and Zodiac. On many Saturday nights, in excess of 2,000 people would visit the venue. One of the features was a huge revolving stage with a band on each side (this also caused a number of accidents when microphones and stands were left on the revolve). The Hammersmith Palais remained a popular dance venue from its start to the late 1980s, from then on hosting mainly live music gigs, but also dance nights and private events. The venue accommodated the popular School-Disco club night with its resident band, On-On, which subsequently moved to the London Forum in Kentish Town. Promoters Onyx Promotions championed Brit-Asian bands and DJs, including DCS, Heera, Juggy D, Panjabi Hit Squad, Premi, RDB, Rishi Rich and Xzecutive/San-j Sanj. The Students' Union at Imperial College School of Medicine frequently hired the Palais as a venue for student nights. The Palais played host to countless artists; among them Bill Haley & His Comets (1974), the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, the Cure, U2, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Fall, Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation, Hanoi Rocks, Big Bang and Kylie Minogue and the Police. "There was the night [in 1979] when we drove in an armoured military vehicle from our show at the Hammersmith Odeon