Say what you want about it, Revs closing is the end of clubbing for our generation

Now that Revolution is closing, I’m getting nostalgic. Nothing can quite surpass the memory of being freshly 18 and proudly handing over my real ID to the doorman at Revs. 

I might have only had £20 in my bank account, but you better believe, I wasn’t going to regret spending it on an overhyped Long Island iced tea. Forget schoolwork and university applications, I just wanted to dance to cheesy music with my best friends. In fact, even now, sometimes all I want is a night spent boogieing to y2k throwbacks. 

When I moved to Cambridge for university, my passion for Revs skyrocketed. Instead of being a drop-by kind of bar, Revolution was the final destination. 

Every Wednesday, there would be queues all the way down the street for the student sports night at Revs. On many occasions, I would set an alarm to make sure I didn’t miss the ticket drop. People would frequently tease me about my never having missed a Wednesday Revs.

I’d spend all week itching for the Revs dance floor, only to spend 90 per cent of the actual night chatting to my friends in the smoking area. Though I made sure to make the 10 per cent spent shoulder-to-shoulder in a sweaty club room really count. 

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So when I heard the Revolution bar chain is going into administration and closing 21 of its iconic venues, it felt like the end of an era I wasn’t finished with. Admittedly, I had been let down slowly – my local Revs on Putney High Street, the one from all my teenage memories, has been closed for three years now. But knowing many UK university cities are now losing a Revs, its clear to me that student culture will definitely feel its absence.

University students across the UK mourn Revolution closing

Revolution is shutting venues in Cardiff, Leeds, Durham, Exeter, Sheffield, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Manchester (to name only a few), and it’s safe to say students are already getting nostalgic.

For some students, Revs memories are completely unique, with themed drinks and promotions that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Amelia, a fourth year student at Leeds University, recalled loving the vodka bottles, shot sticks, two for one drink deals and Mean Girls themed cocktails.  As president of Leeds ballet society, she regularly enforced trips to the Revs photo booth.

She reflected: “I spent many Wednesday nights in Revs and it’s so sad to see it go. It’s going to be hard to replace”.

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Mischa, currently in her second year at Cardiff University, said: “I remember in Freshers’ Week Revs was one of the first places I went and had best memories”.

Thinking back on her nights at Revs, Mischa revealed she met one of her “best friends” on the dance floor, who she is still close with to this day.

Revs in the Welsh capital hosted Cardiff Metropolitan University’s biggest student night. Cardiff has lost both Revolution bar in the Castle Quarter Arcades and Revolucion de Cuba in the administration, so students will have to migrate to someplace else for a Wednesday night.

In Sheffield, students are feeling the loss of an important stop on their bar crawls. Izzy, a third year student, said Revs was the first bar she ever visited in Sheffield during Freshers’ Week, adding how “sad” she is to see it go

But it’s not all bad news. Posting on Instagram, Revolution said:”While some doors have closed, many remain open and we’re still here bringing the party in locations across the UK.”

Fortunately for my own nostalgia, Cambridge Revs is one of the lucky few selected to remain open. It’s safe to say I’ll be paying a visit there next time I’m back in my old uni city.

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