Prague Five is one of a number of bars and clubs located in Canal Street, in Manchester. Actually, thinking about it there are nothing BUT bars and clubs in Canal Street. Tucked away at the Piccadilly end you will find an inconspicuous little establishment that provides some solid nights out, and a great all round venue. In pursuit of the magical pound sign, Prague Five opens throughout the day, attracting the lunch time trade for meals and sandwiches, the mid-afternoon trade for coffee and chat and then onwards into the evening for the normal drinking and clubbing trade. It’s certainly not my favourite place in the world, but there are good nights out to be had here, and if you’ve never sampled the place, then I would definitely recommend it.
THE LAYOUT
At street level, the area immediately inside the doors contains tables, chairs and sofas for lounging around on and relaxing over a few beers. The décor is very industrial, with solid wood floors and stainless steel sheeting stuck all over the place, but it’s a remarkably versatile area. During the day, with the street level doors wide open, it’s a great place to sit and people watch, especially if the sun is shining. In the evening, however, it’s considerably more intimate, with subtle lighting and a more cosy feel.
From the café area, the club opens right out. The industrial theme is continued, but there is an immense feeling of open space, with exposed brick walls and solid steel staircases. As you proceed from street level, a large staircase descends downwards, into the lower level, and a solid steel walkway snakes it’s way round, over the dance floor and across to the upstairs bar, where people generally loiter and relax. The steel walkway is a popular place for people to stand and cast their eyes over the beautiful people below, but this is a credible club, so you can walk underneath without fear of being spat upon from above. At the far side is another steel staircase, which provides a route down to the dance floor and a platform for the image-conscious to stand on and dance the night away.
Descending downstairs, your attention is drawn to the bar, which dominates the room at the back with its glass bricked walls and striking lighting. The steel staircases flank either end of the room, and focus the attention very much on the dance floor. The dance floor itself is of medium size, but takes a fair while to fill up, as it is also the main thoroughfare between the two staircases. As you come down the front staircase, you also notice a number of full length tables and benches, which seat up to about 12 people each and are the only place to sit downstairs. This areas never seems particularly popular – I don’t think people particularly like the layout and there is a complete lack of intimacy if loads of different people crowd around one table. The size and height of the room downstairs is such that dark or gloomy lighting would be virtually impossible, so the owners have opted instead for relatively bright, but subtle lighting. The dimensions of the room also mean that the temperature remains comparatively low – a definite plus point for the really busy nights.
I really like the look and feel of Prague Five. It’s solid and industrial without being dirty and cheap, and when you first go there, it’s an unusual place that demands further inspection. I like the different areas in the place, which all complement one another and provide different settings according to your mood. My only criticism would be the dance floor. Although it is of a fair size, realistically, a lot of the space is wasted because people are wandering to and fro with drinks.
THE MOOD
Prague Five is a relatively sombre place to spend your early or middle evening. Despite the fact that the music normally kicks in around 9 or 9.30, it’s not a popular place for social drinking. The café area upstairs can sometimes attract quite a few drinkers, particularly in the Summer, but most people tend to drink elsewhere then come along to Prague Five. Up until about 9 p.m. there are no security staff, but after this time the bouncers are normally quite friendly and don’t give any hassle unless they are given some themselves.
Prague Five is quite a pretentious club – this is not your average Ritzy establishment. Prague Five attracts a young, trendy and generally beautiful crowd, and designer togs are normally the order of the day here. That aside, the dress code is quite relaxed, and I’ve always been able to get in wearing trainers and jeans. Strangely enough, Prague Five always seems to have quite a friendly vibe going – you would expect to get sneered at unless your wearing Gucci, but everyone seems happy doing their own thing, and unless it’s just because I’m always in a good mood there, most of the clubbers have the right idea.
Prague Five has a strange mix of patrons, because it advertises itself as “mixed” – meaning both gay and straight people are welcome. Realistically, by modern-day standards, all clubs are “mixed” – it’s almost an unstated fact, and I generally find it quite amusing when, in an attempt to encourage diversity, clubs still try and pigeon hole themselves based on sexual preference. Generally, the crowd in here leans to the heterosexual end of the scale – I think the gay crowd tends to prefer the more traditionalist pubs and clubs further along the street, but the spirit of getting along does seem evident here. Prague Five isn’t really the place to come for a hen night or a stag night because most of the patrons are there for the music and dancing and to be honest, there isn’t a massive amount of space in which you can drink and relax. The clientele is less flirtatious than I have seen elsewhere too – once again, I think this is the sort of place people come to dance rather than to pull.
THE MUSIC
Prague Five has a fixed timetable of club nights, which changes on a fairly regular basis. As a club that generally sees itself as being at the credible end of the scale, it does attract some big names – Roger Sanchez, John Kelly, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk and Jim ‘Shaft’ Ryan have all done sets here. Normally, I only tend to come here at the weekends, but this is the current schedule:
MONDAY - VOD-BUL
A combined entry with Prague Five and Berlin provides two venues for the night for £4 and you can move between the two as much as you want. The music in Berlin is quite commercial, whilst Prague Five sticks to some good house music. It’s a fairly popular night with students – Vodka Red Bull is £1 all night.
TUESDAY – DANGEROUS DISCOTHEQUE
Definitely one of the best Tuesday nights out in Manchester, it only costs £3.50 to get in and they play some cracking house music right up until 2 a.m.
WEDNESDAY – ROUGH HILL
I’ve only been here once on a Wednesday and I wasn’t too keen. Admission is £3, with more funk orientated music and sometimes live bands. It was very quiet when I came here and the music didn’t really appeal to me.
THURSDAY – CAT’S WHISKERS
This is another night that is twinned with Berlin. The music is generally quite commercial, but everyone seems to like it and it only costs £4 to get in. It seems to take a long time for people to turn up though – don’t expect a good crowd until midnight.
FRIDAY/SATURDAY – RESIDENTS
On Fridays and Saturdays admission is free (hurrah!) but you need to get there quite early to beat the queues. The residents play a mixture of house, trance, hard house and new disco, but it’s all very credible stuff and they do some good sets. There is a tendency for the music to be just a tad too credible – at times the place is crying out for a few of those crowd pleasing anthems – but it’s a good night out, nonetheless.
THE COST
Admission prices are generally very low – as stated, Fridays and Saturdays are actually free. Drinks prices are quite high though – Smirnoff Ice was £3.50 a bottle the last time I went and there are few concessions on beers or spirits either.
THE VERDICT
I like the atmosphere and the layout of Prague Five. It’s quite unusual and there always seems to be a good vibe. If you’re unlucky, you might pick a night when everyone has decided to stay at home, at which point it seems large and lonely. This is a club for people who want to dance and enjoy the choons – it’s not really a pulling or “drinking yourself stupid” kind of place. I think that Prague Five treads just the right side of pretentiousness – I like clubs to play good music, have a good crowd and be in an interesting place. Prague Five pretty much fulfils all these requirements.
Oh – the toilets are clean too.
Recommended
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