My parents met in Fifth Ave while at uni in Manchester

And now I’m following in their footsteps


I’ve been living in Manchester for a year now and, call me biased, but its the best city to be a student by far. From the hipster coffee shops in the Northern Quarter to hosting the biggest Primark in the UK, it really has it all. I usually spend my nights out in 42s or Fifth Ave where I could probably get away with wearing my onesie, but I wanted to know what it was like to go out in the city during Manchester’s party scene peak – “Madchester”. So who better to ask, than two people who both studied here during the early 90s. Ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you- my parents.

So where did you actually go on nights out?

Mum: “We’d start off at one of two bars- Dry or Green Room. We’d then move on to the club. It was usually Hacienda, Ritzy (the 02 Ritz), Fifth Ave or PJ Bells, which is Matt and Phreds now.

“I don’t remember “pre-drinking” like you lot do. The atmosphere in Manc at that time was one of being at the centre of it all and being where cool lived and The Hac (Hacienda) was very cool and industrial, like no other club I’d been to. The other clubs had carpets and dark wood furniture and were a bit kitsch.”

We can go out now in converse, could you get away with being so casual back then?

Mum: “We would usually wear band T-shirts with jeans, so yeah. I’d wear a James, Stone Roses or Mudhoney one. So would your dad. I sometimes wore leggings and my dungarees too.”

42s do shots for 60p and bottles for £1.20 if you go on the right night, how cheap were your drinks?

Dad: “I can’t remember prices, but we would usually go for lager, cider or Newkie Brown.”

Would you usually go for anything else? Something that wasn’t quite as legal? 😉

“Some people at uni did pills, yes.”

How did you survive without Uber?

Mum: “We didn’t have the budget for ubers or any type of taxi really! We just got the bus from the crescent in Salford, which was just by the uni.”

The routine of a night out for us always includes a dirty takeaway- usually pizza- from Speedy Peppers on Princess Street, what did you drunkenly munch on?

Dad: “We didn’t do it all the time, like your mum said we didn’t really have the budget you lot do. We did go to Chung’s Chippy off the crescent in Salford a few times but it shut at 10pm! We even went their when we weren’t drunk.” (wow, they were truly crazy)

What would be your final summary of Manchester?

Mum: “I felt very on edge to be honest. Salford was probably one of the dodgiest places, but Manchester was such a cool place and I loved being at the centre of it all.”

So there we have it. The ways of Madchester has shaped the city’s party scene forever. May the atmosphere stay cool and the dress code stay casual. May drinks stay under a quid and pills be the norm. Thank you to my parents, for laying the law of Manchester night life.

Oh and by the way, I don’t believe you haven’t been on a mad one with Bez.