We brought the Sugarhouse to our living room, featuring Ant Already

At this point in the academic year, nobody needs reminding how rough it is without the consistent loving support of The Sugarhouse. Our relationship with Sugar came to an abrupt end last year, and as the months rolled further and further into lockdowns and restrictions, a resurge of longing to be back in the main room amongst hundreds of bodies bouncing about to the Grease medley hit hard.

When Bailrigg FM announced their Big Night In on the third weekend of 2021, we knew we had to go. After Sugar closed last term, we saw the opportunity to bring Sugar to our living room and took it. Gone were the days where we’d run to the queue, lose each other several times and find new friends in the smoking area; all we needed was a nice amount of alcohol, vibey lights, a makeshift dancefloor and a lot of imagination.

Thanks to Bailrigg FM, we bought Sugar to our living room and despite never being able to get rid of that desire to be back in the big blue building, it comes with a lot of pros, including being able to simply roll into bed at the end of the night.

You simply cannot complain about constant, easy access to the bar

Listen, one of the best things about Sugar is being able to let off some steam after a rough week of essays, for the night you can ignore the pile of washing up and your daunting to-do list but when your living room is The Sugarhouse you just have to imagine that those things are partying with you.

When your kitchen is the bar, life is just great. To make things feel a bit more like Sugar, make your flatmate act as bar staff and place your orders with them. Lost your card? No problem. Think you should really have a triple? Tell them to keep pouring. You simply cannot complain about the constant bar you’ve set up for yourself with your favourite drinks.

There’s honestly nothing better than Sugar sets

I know what you’re thinking: Anyone can pretend a few drinks in their living room whilst dancing in front of the laundry is a good replacement for a nightclub. But here’s the twist. The Big Night In had the classic Sugar DJs; Adam Bowen, DJ Juxtapose and Ant Already – this was an actual Sugar night.

There is no feeling alike to walking into the Big Room, hearing the lyrics to Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa and immediately becoming the main character in your night out story. Despite the lack of other characters in our own night in story, when Dua suddenly comes into the mix that feeling comes flooding back. Close your eyes and imagine you’ve just opened a dance circle with all your mates: this is officially the best night in you’ve had all year.

Finding your mate by the wall has never been easier

More than often on any night out, you need a timeout. Whether its from being shoved around by some aggressive dance moves, or because you yourself are an aggressive dancer: the walls of the Sugarhouse are the best meeting point to finding your mates after you’ve recalibrated yourself.

In the space of your own home, this has never been easier. For the full affect, text your housemates telling them you’re by the wall and let them pick you back up to return to the dancefloor.

There comes a point where you realise this is literally your uni experience

There’s only one downside to bringing Sugar into your own home and it’s the bitter reminder that you are in your own home. Gone are the days when you could go to the toilet and meet a hoard of friendly faces willing to listen to all your problems. Seeing Ant Already mix song into song on your dining table is fine until you start reminiscing the days where you could run up to him and request a song.

But despite reaching the point when you realise your uni experience is unlike any others before you, the good vibes of Bailrigg FM’s Big Night In made us want to embrace it. No, it’s not Sugar, but if something reminds you of a hundred hilarious night outs from your first year at Lancaster that’s surely a good thing.

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