Prince Of Wales Bandroom

Disgustingly sticky floors. Terrible bar staff that hand out dirty glasses when you request water. I don’t like The Prince and I avoid it wherever possible. That’s all I have to say.

This is the band room. Not the pub, not a restaurant or live auditorium. A. Band. Room. With the bonus of a balcony terrace over looking Fitzroy Street.
The venue itself has been host to incredible live gigs since long before most Melbourne Unilocalers were born. I’m talking the 1970’s and 80’s when punk and new wave ruled. When PBS had studios here and managed alternative, jazz and electronic gigs.
Back in the day St. Kilda was crazy with the whole gritty sex, drugs and rock n roll dream and grimy venues like The Prince were at its heart. Nick Cave was a punk teen tearing up the stage when the air was thick with cigarette and dope smoke. When Sunday nights were home to the biggest drag shows in town. On Lesbian club nights the skinhead boot girls regularly started fights by the toilets with the rockabillies and mods. And we loved it all.
Basically it was so wrong it was insanely cool. If you grew up in the burbs with a telly in your bedroom after 1990, likely your parents were too scared to go to The Prince… or even hang out in St. Kilda before you came along.
So I don’t hold with whining about a pole in the centre of the room. It’s holding up the roof of this grand old dame, built to house holiday makers in the 1930s. And it is significantly cleaner and politely gentrified these days. About the décor? Who cares, it’s dark in here, as it should be.
I dismiss peeps whining about bar staff. You try being on the other side in a music venue or even try finding people to work back there. Put all that aside and remember this is a band room. There are three reasons you probably are in this room: 1/​for the music (tick) 2/​to hang with your peeps (tick) 3/​to hook up… which is something totally embedded in the DNA of this venue.
I love the intimacy of gigs here and yes, I do have a nostalgic roll call of seeing bands at The Prince Band Room who went on to fill Festival Hall and later, stadiums. My advice if going there? In the grand tradition of the dirty old dame of a venue, leave your inhibitions and prejudices at the front door and relax into the spirit of the room. Unwind and enjoy.

Stopped in here for lunch on a Sunday so it was probably more subdued than normal. A friend and I had fish/​chips and Carltons and both were pretty good. Chips were crisps and not too greasy, fish was just so-​so, but the prices weren’t too bad. Beer was $ 8 which in Melbourne is on the cheap side (somehow). not a bad spot, especially if it is sunny and you sit outside. Service was very friendly as well.

Let’s face it, when you book to see a band, you don’t give a ton of thought to where they are hosted. You just gotta see ‘em. The Prince Band Room is one of those places. You won’t hate that you’re next act is playing here, because the sound will be good and the crowd a reasonable size. You might hope that the weather isn’t too hot, because this place is small, cramped and S-​W-​E-​A-​T-​Y.
Prince Bandroom is the kind of place you can go see a band and then say «I remember seeing them back when…» It’s hot and cramped, but no one cares. Rock on.

I got no beef with this place despite the inflated beer prices and tendency towards music I ain’t so hot for (i.e. larger touring artists).
The Bandroom is a big space and is vital to the beating heart of St Kilda. In disturbing news I heard last week, apparently some gastro pub fuck knuckles have bought the place and the end feels a little inevitable. If there’s anything that Melbourne needs less than another cut price pizza joint it’s a fucking ‘nother ‘gastro’ pub. It fucking infuriates me.
There are great nooks in this place and there are two places you can get to the front of stage without even trying. I’m not gonna reveal the routes, ’cause then every fucker will know. But next time you’re there, you’ll see a dude, beers in each hand, grinning like an idiot, in a great spot, and it’ll be me mother fuckers!
Seriously, close this place down and St Kilda is FUCKED!

I spent the majority of my teen years trying to get into Prince with a terrible fake id and a role of contact paper. Now that I am of age I’ve managed to actually make it in quite a few time, and yes it’s nice and intimate and yes the place is always packed BUT seriously what is going on with the pole in the centre of the room???
What a terrible design feature, I really can’t think of how this one possibly came about. There is nothing worse than going to see a band play and having to constantly strain you neck so that you can actually see them.
Otherwise, Prince does the standard club job. The drinks over priced and the patrons over confident. The staff, however, are extremely good looking and probably receive ridiculously generous tips from the inebriated crowd.
Like it or not, Prince is somewhat of a Melbourne icon.

Sometimes I find myself wondering if only I was taller, faster, brighter, wittier if things would so much better. I also find myself wondering if only the Prince Bandroom didn’t have a massive pole in the middle of the dance floor obstructing the view of the stage for about 70% of the audience if it would be a great venue.
Whoever designed the place obviously thought about putting in a hallway around the back of the room allowing easy access to the toilets no matter where you are in the crowd. They also placed two convenient bars on opposing sides of the room so you never have to wait long for a drink. They clearly knew that this place would pack out with keen clientele wanting to watch the many musical performances here — and designed a semi-​circular stage so there was a good view of the people on stage from almost any angle. But they just didn’t think about that massive pole in the middle of the room.
The Prince Bandroom plays host a great many gigs, both good and bad, depending on your tastes. When there isn’t a show on it turns in a fairly cheesy nightclub. Overall I am a little disappointing when I hear a band I want to see has booked in to play at the Prince Bandroom. And I find myself pondering once again, if only.

This place is such a mixed bag! It’s always oversold, so that means that plenty of people are in love. I’d suffice this little music hall best described as follows:
PROS:
small
beautiful gorgeous staff
coat check that isn’t bitchy
good sized bar so you shouldn’t have to wait to long
CONS:
small — packed, always
staff is too pretty to be bothered with service
drinks are WEAK and overpriced
there’s a column almost in the dead center of the stage: not only awkward for watching, but think about being the lead of the band and now you gotta stand off-​center
If you know and love the band, you’ll still enjoy them here. But don’t go just thinking you’ll pick a winner and love the night.

Okay, so the Prince fanantics are probably going to hate me for this, and there is no doubt that the venue is packed night after night with people who love this place.
But I do not see the appeal in this place at all. I dont think I’ve ever seen ANY of the staff here smile, and it just feels dirty and sleazy to me. Now, granted, I have never been to see a band or live performance here. Im only judging this on the handful of times I ve been dragged here by friends to their club nights, where the house music thumps and gets heavier and heavier the longer the night goes on. Sweaty guys wearing tight t shirts and tighter pants and sweaty girls in the same do nothing for me. Maybe one day I’ll give a live show here a try. Until then though, you probably wont find me here.

My first memory of the Prince Bandroom was seeing Sneaky Sound System back in 2006. I found the venue intriguing there are two bars amidst the dark black interior, the first is the main bar situated pretty much at the entrance to the venue and the second further inside near the stage. It is definitely a good thing they have these two bars as I found out in 2006 the venue can get so packed you are literally standing on top of each other just to see the stage!
Saturday nights at Prince used to be called One Love a night I loved and frequented during my 20’s it is now called Super Disco which I assume to be much of the same. The Prince is one of few places in Melbourne with a loud sound system, making it perfect for concerts, gigs and club nights. The interior is nothing flash so if your here for a quiet catch up with friends probably not the place for you, on the other hand if your ready for a dance, a good drink and a late night head to Prince and see whats on.

I’m pretty sure bar/​club/​music venue the Prince Bandroom has some kind of staffing arrangement with that preponderous ‘Beautiful People’ website. Its staff are that self-​consciously good looking.
That said, maybe the Prince Bandroom simply sequestered its most finely aesthetically tuned staff to man the bar when I went to see dubstep darling du jour James Blake play at the venue in July.
Conjecture aside, the Prince Bandroom is a slightly odd music venue with so-​so acoustics, inexplicably large pillars precluding an even halfway decent view of the stage and more than a little of Duran Duran’s 1980s music videos about it décor wise.
The crowd this place attracts is definitively Melbourne hipster, the roster of gigs excellent. Enter conundrum. Definitely worth a visit if you’re keen to see a particular band play. Definitely not if you’re not.