Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul is a big brash bar with a curious layout split in half by some kind of enclosed boulevard. The various chandeliers and columns dotted around could make this quite a classy establishment if it weren’t for the fact it sits a few doors down from the Cavern. As a result, it is crammed with shrieking housewives and swaggering hooligans dancing along to a man belting out songs that can only be described as polar opposites to the album that gave the place its name.
I had never seen this place open before this year’s Mathew Street, when the managers presumably realise he’d lose trillions if he stayed shut during the area’s busiest time. Dragging Rubber Soul by tractor to some quieter part of town would probably work in its favour but until then it must be tainted by its current location on Scumbag Alley.

This impressively styled bar has unfortunately, for the time being, been shut down, although I hope someone will take it on board and return it to its former glory. The bar has an unusual concept: as you walk in, you find yourself on a mock cobbled street, with a bar on either side of you. Each bar is still the Rubber Soul, it just houses different styles. On one side you have pillars and gilded woodwork and impressive looking, if a little tatty, décor. The other bar is more a wooden beer barrel type of place.
Another venue that supported karaōke and talent nights, Rubber Soul was generally busy until the early hours, although not always full due to the large space it commanded. Like most places on Mathew Street, the music was tailored towards the 70s, but with a fairly decent mix the likes of what you hear in The Raz. It’s a pity this has gone now as there seems to be very few ‘original’ venues still in Mathew Street.