Venus @ Venus
Our Venus Review
During 2009 it was noticed that planning had been sought to open a new nightclub at Maybrook House on Blackfriars Street, which we rightly assumed was the venue formerly known as Sound Garden and as Havana Bar before that. The licence application called it ‘The Basement’, but around September the internet chatter started and the property owners let slip that that they were going to call it Venus.
“Hold on”, we cried. “There’s already a well-known Venus event that is entrenched in the minds of Manchester’s club-goers.” We told the building owners that it would be commercial suicide to call it Venus. Hey landlord, do your research first.
Little did we realise that the Venus event was to leave Club V and set up its own home. It’ll never happen, we naively thought. One is synonymous with the other. Some people even mistakenly call the Deansgate nightclub Venus when they mean Club V. There are sure to be people out there that don’t keep abreast of Manchester clubbing news who might even think that Venus is still at Club V.
To assure ourselves of the reality, we took a trip down to the Venus Classics event in March at the new premises. The new location for this party is unmistakeable. Banners adorn the street level area, attracting the city’s funky house faithful down the handful of steps. The organisation on the door is precise, with staff on hand to greet and inform if you’re trying the new venue for the first time. It’s somewhat less claustrophobic than the entrance to Club V has previously been, with a paved area outside the doorway also acting as a smokers’ zone.
The interior is essentially two rooms connected by a wide corridor, with a lounge and the toilets on either side of that corridor. Both rooms have their own DJ booth. The night starts in the back room which is where the bar is located, along with the cloakroom and an amber-glowed, circular seating area that has a mini-dancefloor at its centre. This is where the warm-up occurs but it’s a cool enough spot to be considered a club in itself. There’s a fair amount of drinks branded marketing signage, including a big Smirnoff mural, and the hidden light features create a subtle look.
The warm-up was a bit pacier and littered with anthems than we expected, but it was a Venus Classics event, so it’s perhaps to be expected. After midnight, access is granted to the main room. The room is multi-levelled and oval, putting us in mind of Applejacks, where Venus first began before moving to Club V. Here’s where you have a bit of a health and safety issue. Clubbers + drink + steps = a few tumbles. We’re talking no more than three steps (and you’ll have bodies to cushion your fall) and all the steps are marked with yellow stripey tape, but dancer beware, watch where you’re going!
The light and sound are up to task, with plenty of modern LEDs, but the speakers tend to get overstretched by DJs that need to aim for clarity rather than volume. We can hear the music, it’s just a tad distorted and causing people to have ringing ears the next day. There’s no doubting the Venus crowd love their tunes, whether the sound is optimised or not. During the warm-up, the uplifting vibe is infectious, there’s an enthusiasm and optimism about it that’s impossible to deny.
The fault lies when the tunes hit a repetitive grind with no variation. It’s one Brit/Euro, uplifting, funky house anthem after another. No peaks or troughs, too many jangling pianos, too many vocal samples. Every track has a thick bassline. The effect becomes relentless. It was difficult distinguishing one DJ from another, aside from a bit of scratching and their physical appearance.
Add to that the fact that the jocks are pitching up the varispeed too far. The BPMs are at a rate which is more common to D’n’B. Sexy dancing is easier when house music is around 126 – 132 BPMs at the most. We didn’t get out the stopwatch and start measuring, but we’re certain the pace is faster than that. Observing the crowd, we saw only a handful genuinely throwing shapes to the tracks in rhythm with the beats. There’s a lot of shuffling and swaying going on because keeping rhythm with the BPMs would be exhausting over a few hours.
The club’s design and décor is superb, but the style and pace of the tunes suggests DJs living in a bit of a bubble, slavishly playing what they think their crowd want without pushing it forward. The whole Hed Kandi style was cool 10 years ago when it was fresh, but time has moved on, taking house music with it. If Venus were ours, we’d make a new start by shaking up the sounds for 2010 as well as moving into a new venue.
User Reviews
01/04/2011 by kay
went venus the club a couple of weeks ago on a sat night, bit weird, there was a girl on the bar half naked with fruit on her that u were meant to eat off?! and the crowd was a little older (and rougher) than i thought it would be, music was ok tho and the door stff were ok too
Rated 2 out of 5
19/11/2010 by Leanne Cleaver
Great party atmosphere! Staff are really friendly and the music is class. What more could you want from your night out? Love it!
Rated 5 out of 5
18/11/2010 by claire
brill atmophere, amazing staff, top night, best club ive been to in years x
Rated 5 out of 5
18/11/2010 by Daniel jones
Class venue, class crowd, class staff, class music, class djs, class vibe! In general A class venue and my favourite club in town for the reasons above! The reason aswell is it's a very well run venue only the right people are let in! Cheers venus
Rated 5 out of 5
18/11/2010 by Venus the Club
Hey guys, we have sorted the couple of issues above the following way:
The main dancefloor raised area now has a dividing wall which stops the worry of walking around the venue. Also the steps have been given new lights and also step tape!
Rated 5 out of 5
18/11/2010 by Issaac Friedlander
Venus is the best things to happen to Manchester's Night-life in a long long time...... messy but classy is what it's all about.....with top nights, an unbelievable atmosphere and major beatz Venus is where it all happens...door staff are bang on the money too which helps..... massive tingz...
Rated 5 out of 5
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When
Where
42 Maybrook House M3 2EG
Price
£10
Contact
The venue on:
