Damn Good is better than A List. There, I said it.

As a first year in my second semester, I finally feel confident and well-versed enough in the LCR nightlife scene to confess, once and for all, that Damn Good is superior to A List. Now, I would like to issue a disclaimer: I am not some run-of-the-mill Damn Good fanatic. In my first semester I missed many a Damn Good, opting instead to go out with my team from Women's Rugby on Wednesday's sports night, and I can confirm my flatmates and I never missed a Saturday A List.

However, against all odds, this semester I started to hit up the Damn Good scene more frequently, and this drove me to the irrevocable revelation that Damn Good is better than my, until now, favourite night out: A List, and I'm going to tell you why.

The Themes

Now, what more can you want from a night out than amusing but laid-back themes? At too many Pres I have been made subject to the 'lip-sync for your life' rule that demands you perform a song in front of the entire room if your costume is deemed half-arsed. At Damn Good, you reap the benefits of fun decorations (some of which may or may not have been 'borrowed' by my flatmates and me) AND great playlists with a fruity themed twist.

Okay, yes, A List did have some shamrocks hung up last Saturday, but does anyone remember the awesome set up of the Harry Potter Damn Good night? I'm pretty sure there was a dry ice machine. Or when they put on Rocky Horror at the Musicals night and we all did the Time Warp?

Back to costumes, if you're a little tight on cash/don't want to dress as your favourite High School Musical character, you can just go in normal clothes and not get looked at twice. Yet there's also the enjoyable path of costumes, down which you and your friends can be as zany as you like, and yet again, pass through your night unjudged and unquestioned! Kind of seems like everyone's a winner to me.

We did the theme thing on this occasion…

The scheduling

It seems worth considering the night on which it falls each week. On a Saturday, let's face it, you will have done shit all. Maybe you considered doing some work before flopping down on your bed once more to wallow in self-pity and Netflix.

Either way, you're not exactly going to need to blow off any steam. Now, whilst some of your wet wipe friends might persuade you that going out mid-week is a bad idea, I am here as resident bad influence to say SCREW THEM! Sometimes a Tuesday night out is exactly what you need to propel you into the often unbearable second half of the week. Why put all your energy into gearing up for Saturday night when a night out can come to you midweek?

In the LCR loos on one of those nights we 'weren't going', but then Tuesday was a particularly shitty day

The crowd

Then of course there's numbers; a fundamental premise for a decent night out. No one wants to venture into a club with too few people; for some reason it makes everything seem rather more existentially depressing. However, and A List, I'm looking at you, a busy night is just as bad in different ways. Whilst Damn Good never disappoints in terms of numbers, it dodges some of the issues the numbers at A List produce. For starters, how are there even that many people at A List? The weekend is often when the students who don't live on the other side of the country head home, so who is it causing A List to sell out?

A List is too busy for me; let me explain why. For starters, there's those nights when the Blue Bar is closed as it's too busy, and you're stranded between the Hive and the Sticky Floor Moshpit Room (LCR), with no smoking area option whether you smoke or not. Worse still, whether the Blue Bar is shut or not, is the queue for the bar.

Assuming you make it there without being elbowed by a girl in a lace bodysuit, once you get there you will find sweaty men using their height and weight to ensure not even a finger of you can make it to the bar counter. Didn't pre hard enough? Tough, because there's no way in hell your fellow students and/or creatures are letting you grab a VK and be on your way. On the wild off-chance you do manage to grab a Jungbomb (they're £2.50 and are baso the same as Jager. TRY ONE), the chances are on your way back towards the floor someone will stumble into you and knock it all over you – somehow not getting a drop on them – before you can have your second sip.

Drinks aside, there's the problem of the dance floors themselves. Whoever you are, after a few drinks, no one can deny they want to throw some shapes, and there's nothing worse than not having enough room to dance; you either get barged by other people or accidentally fall into someone, resulting in angry clubbers which is always ugly.

If A List played ravey DnB, it wouldn't matter if there wasn't space to move (seeing as the only conceivable motion when it comes to Shy FX is hand guns), but alas, their set list does not permit this. Instead, the combination of no space and house music leads to a delightful mosh pit, which believe me is not a safe nor enjoyable space for my under 5'5 friends.

I reckon Damn Good's numbers are perfect

The tunes

Finally then, is the all important ~ music ~. If you asked any of my flatmates what my music taste is like, they would most likely say eclectic. I'll listen to indie rock, 90s R&B, probably death metal here and there, and of course some Ariana Grande. The point is, I feel qualified to make the controversial statement that, at the end of the day, A LIST IS JUST DAMN GOOD'S BLUE BAR. BUT ON THREE FLOORS. AND AT £2 EXTRA.

Despite having the open-ended wonders of three platforms on which to bring the bangers, A List seems incapable of delivering musical variety which is a core part of an enjoyable night out. With Damn Good, admittedly it is missing the Gender-Neutral Toilet Room, but let's be honest, that's only used by any sane person as a less busy route to the Blue Bar, or a more spacious zone for trying to cram four of your friends into one cubicle in the toilet. You can get your bad-boujee A List fix in the Blue Bar at Damn Good, with the advantage of a floor dedicated to the feel-good vibes of old school, cheesy, 'damn good' hits like Busted and Britney Spears. Who can complain? Certainly not me.

These two and I look so happy because we nailed the playlist at Pres, as usual

Conclusively, it's time to face the music in more ways than one. Save your money, save your time, save your energy for Damn Good. Or just do what I do, and go to both.