Fight Club: Itchy Feet Birmingham and Juicy Manchester

Was it more fun to rock around the clock, or be hypnotised by Biggie?


Upon finishing my last exam, there’s no better feeling than jumping into a summer of partying and drinking. My escapades began with Itchy Feet in Birmingham on June 3rd- a vintage, rock and roll themed club night that tours 25 towns across the country. After a week of recovering I headed up to Manchester for Juicy, a hip hop club night with live DJs.

Venue

Itchy Feet- Took place in Lab 11, a warehouse in Digbeth. The venue itself had a great atmosphere and the promoters had gone to good effort in tailoring it to the theme of the 1950s, with Elvis magazines and vinyls galore.

I got to keep this one

Though the venue was spacious, it was packed to the brim. Walking through felt like rush hour on the London underground, with the club-goers behaving just as obnoxiously as busy commuters. Obviously this isn’t really the fault of the promoters or the venue owners. However, I felt it needed mentioning as it was one of the more annoying things about the night.

What was definitely the worst part about the venue however was the lack of toilet facilities. I queued for half an hour outside the ladies. 6 toilets for the volume of people that attend events at Lab 11 just wasn’t enough.

An actual picture of me waiting for my boyfriend to come back from the loo

The outside area however was great. Situated under the railway bridges, it had the charming grittiness one would expect of student haunts.

8/10- Barging clubbers and toilet queues aside, the venue offered more than that of a typical club. It allowed me and my long-suffering boyfriend to dance the night away in style, and that’s all that matters.

Juicy – While taking place every Wednesday at Joshua Brooks, Juicy holds special event nights on the first Friday of every month at Gorilla, a bar/restaurant with a club area upstairs. This is the night I attended, although it was difficult to determine what exactly the special theme was. To me it sounded like the mix of modern hip hop and R&B I could get in any club, with some old school Biggie thrown in.

After the sardines situation of Itchy Feet however it was nice to have some breathing space. Though consisting of only one floor, the venue was noticeably under capacity. I can imagine on more crowded nights, it has the same issues with the toilets that occurred at Lab 11. But hey, at least I can appreciate on this night I wasn’t having to hold in my wee.

6/10- A pretty unexciting venue overall, that served its purpose well.

Music

Itchy Feet– The music was provided by a mix of DJs and Groove Directory, a band who gave a live performance on the outside stage. As a big lover of rock and roll music,  I can’t think of any other club night where I’ve been able to boogie to Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Eddie Cocharan (if you don’t know them, ask your grandmother).

Music ain’t what it used to be

While most people commented they had no idea what the songs were, the music selection was exactly what the Itchy Feet vision set out to do: give my generation a chance to hear music they may not have listened to before, instead of having “to listen to the same old s**t.”

Although this may be influenced by my own personal bias towards the music selection, I give it a 10/10.

Juicy- As mentioned, the music had little difference to what I could expect in most clubs. I was hoping more 90’s hip hop would have been on the list (as most people who’ve just discovered NWA through watching Straight Outta Compton would probably say). That being said, the skills of the DJ have to be commended; he didn’t let the beat drop once.

And they did play “Express Yourself”

And what’s the harm in a bit of Minaj and Rihanna now and again?

I give the music selection at Juicy 8/10

Price

Itchy Feet- Though the £8 ticket price is a bit more than a standard club night, I felt this was completely justified. It was a lot less than other so called “themed nights” I’ve been to.

That being said, one of the darker aspects of the night was the drink prices. A single spirit and mixer cost £6. At the back of the bar, there was a sign that seemed to be under an illusion that a “bottle of Ciroc with a mixer for £150” was a good deal. I mean I know Ciroc is one of the more premium vodkas, but guys, come on!

Due to that, price gets a score of 5/10.

Juicy- A pre-purchased ticket of £3.30 was a really good deal, and even £5 on the door wasn’t that bad. It set the precedent for a no-frills night with just good music, “no bulls*it” as Juicy’s tagline goes.

The drink prices felt like I was buying from Tesco Value in comparison to the previous week at Itchy Feet. Vodka and mixer cost £4. However this is still more expensive than the average in Manchester, a city lauded for its £2 spirit and mixer deals.

I think therefore price at Juicy deserves an 8/10.

Overall

Itchy Feet- 7.5/10

Juicy- 7/10

Both had their different strengths. While Itchy Feet is the kind of night more suited to an end of term splash out, I imagine Juicy is pretty tolerable to attend every week. Neither could be described as a “shite club” at least!