The Raz (Blue Angel), Liverpool, UK
Created | Updated Apr 25, 2007
If you are, or have been, a Student in Liverpool chances are you'll have heard of, if not been to 'The Raz'. Housed in a club called 'The Blue Angel' on Seel Street, just off of Berry St in the city centre, it is the stuff which legends are made of.
Nobody knows why it's called 'The Raz', but everybody who knows knows it is.
And If You Know Your History…
The club was the venue to a few early Beatles gigs, and reportedly hosted their after-show party following the premiere of 'A Hard Day’s Night'1 in 1964. It was in the Blue Angel that Cilla Black was discovered, and from whence her singing career was launched. Another notable band to play the venue in the 1960s was the Rolling Stones.
The Raz as it is Today
These days it's an exclusively student venue, although one may gain entry if one can act and dress sufficiently daft to be presumed a student by staff. The atmosphere is legendary, and most experienced Raz-goers would not consider themselves a student unless they had done something embarrassing there in a drunken stupor. It is admittedly a place that you will either love for its slightly seedy charms and aura of mutual enjoyment, or loathe for its uncouth uncleanliness and claustrophobic over-friendliness.
Practicalities of Entry
For between 1 and 33 Great British pounds Sterling one can gain entry to this establishment. Friday and Saturday nights are, as to be expected, very busy and usually entrance is only granted until 10.30 pm, as the place will be full. On a Thursday, for some unknown reason, the place is likely to be packed with medics4 although, as far as this Researcher is aware, there is no specific plan or 'night' to cause this.
One can obtain membership to the establishment simply by asking the lady at the front desk for a membership card and smiling sweetly. This is a handy extra to have, just in case you arrive a little late and the over enthusiastic bouncers are already forcing people to queue in the freezing cold Liverpool night.
Pros and Cons
As with everything in life there are upsides and downsides to a visit to the Raz. The over riding feature is apparently the low drinks prices, where a pint of lager can cost you as little as 70p5. If you're a student and poor6, will overcome any of the downsides that are thrown at you.
The music is 'cheesy'7, and you're likely to feel out of place if you don't dance like a fool and/or sing along on the top of your voice.
However, the décor leaves much to be desired. Whilst the floor you enter into might seem like a bit of an 'old man's pub' venture down the narrow, steep stairs and you will find a cellar in the very literal sense8. The low ceiling is perilous to the tall, the concrete walls and granny-carpeted floor are covered with sweat and the room is always sub-tropical in temperature. In the old days the emergency fire doors would be flung open, giving a refreshing breeze if you stood in the right part of the room, but sadly due to noise pollution laws this is no longer acceptable, and instead the club's dancing public are left to simmer in a most inhumane fashion.
There are wooden benches on most of the walls downstairs, but these are far more frequently used for standing on and hanging from the rafters, whilst wailing along to Rick Astley, than for sitting. The dance-floor is flanked by two bars, and the DJ resides in a cubby hole behind his desk.
Also there is the locally accepted concept 'Raz juice' to contend with. This is a mixture of spilled alcho-pops, sweat, and occasionally a little urine, all mixed together on the floor which forms a sticky substance which prevents you from moving your feet. This causes a very peculiar form of dance which makes one look not dissimilar to those dancing sunflowers that you could buy in the 90s that wore shades and wiggled randomly to music9.
Another potential pitfall are the toilets. If you are a young lady it is advisable to take some toilet roll for desperate occasions, but it is generally regarded by both sexes that you should hold off any natural callings for as long as physically possibly, and then to make them only as long as is absolutely necessary.
In Conclusion
If you are left in any doubt as to whether you should sample the delights of the Raz, you should first consider the main reason for going to The Raz, simply explained below by a friend who accompanied this Researcher the first time he was in attendance:
People go to The Raz because people go to The Raz. If people didn' go to The Raz people wouldn' go to The Raz.
