Why do people at Manchester hate conventional clubbing?

No one goes to Factory anymore


It’s become apparent over recent years that the conventional clubbing scene in Manchester is falling increasingly out of favour with the students.

I mean, would you go to a night out where you don’t know the DJ playing? Let’s face it, we’re all just a bit bored of the clubs that play the same music you can hear all day on the radio.

It seems we’re trading in our four storey Oceana’s in favour of more intimate venues like Soup Kitchen and Koh Tao. We might complain about ticketed events, but we’d rather buy our tickets in advance for decent nights than end up in Fifth every Friday.

It’s unlikely you could discover the next big thing on the Manchester music scene by dancing to Ariana Grande in the main room. There’s a reason that Manchester is one of the only unis without a Popworld or a Prism. But doesn’t everyone like an outrageously shit and cheesy night out every now and then?

Manchester have also seen a notable rise in alternative nights out, giving us something to do that’s a bit different from the norm.

Bongo’s Bingo at Albert Hall has majorly taken off since it started in November 2015 and is now everyone’s favourite Tuesday night out, sorry Double drop. Who doesn’t love a night out where you have a genuine chance of winning £500 or a mobility scooter for the banter? The drinks aren’t ridiculously expensive and you can probably still make it in for your 10am the next day.

Junk yard crazy golf in Deansgate has also proven to be a hit. It’s only £6 to play and the quirky course is literally made up of scrap metal. The holes vary from old treadmills to pool tables and they even have a UV rave room, so nineties. If you haven’t been, then you should.

A recent discovery of mine is Twenty Twenty Two. It’s an underground bar in the Northern Quarter that has ping pong tables across the venue. Every Monday you can play ping pong absolutely FREE of charge, so what’s your excuse not to?

On Tuesday, Fight Night finally arrived in Manchester. A sold out event which saw twelve fights of a surprisingly high standard take to the ring at The Ritz. So the after party may have been at Sound Control, but it still felt like a completely unique night out experience. Watching one of your mates battling it out in the ring whilst having a few (many) drinks with your friends is inevitably more memorable than a standard night in Tiger Tiger.

But, this is by no means to say that clubbing in Manchester is becoming completely obsolete.

In fact the clubbing scene seems to be thriving, taking the legendary Warehouse Project and Sankey’s as inspiration. New clubs like Hidden and the Dolphin Club will continue to emerge, reminiscent of the underground raves all 20-somethings will remember, giving up-and-coming DJs an increasing number of platforms to get their music out there.

Your standard clubs like Factory and Ark will inevitably survive on business from the locals, but you better warn your homecounty pals to swap their heels for trainers before they visit.