When will Sheffield learn that house parties are better than going out?

The best part of the night is nearly always pre-drinks. But it doesn’t have to end – embrace the house party. We were so eager to get fake ID and go clubbing back in the day, but how the tables have turned.

A night of drinking in the friend of a friend’s house, that’s uninterrupted by the fight to buy a drink at the bar,  find a toilet, or remove a rogue stranger from creeping on you is the dream.

Basement over club anyday

It’s like being back at Bex’s year nine birthday party

The unmistakable nostalgia of house parties are part of their undeniable charm. Sure, your contraband Malibu acquired by an older brother or sister has been upgraded to Glenn’s vodka, but the essential feeling is the same when you end up flat on the floor at 3am. You want to cuddle up in a duvet or hit the deck where you stand. You can’t do that in a club, you just find yourself shivering in the cold waiting for a taxi surrounded by aggy people who couldn’t pull.

There’s no bed breaks in da club

They’re practically free

All you need to have a historic night is a cheap bottle of wine, or two, and a positive outlook. There is no need to argue about who owes who a drink post taxi ride, no need to pay for shots to stay suitably drunk and no need for that takeaway. It’s a win win.

Plus, that person who cooks an entire XL-pack of potato wedges nearing the end of the house party is always worshiped like a God. A fraction of the cost, and served on a real plate. None of this polystyrene business.

There’s no Doritos ‘pon da club.

You actually like the people around you

The atmosphere at a house party is something not to be overlooked. Raucous is an understatement. Forget going out, where you can’t hear each other at all, are judged by random people, and where your appearance is reduced to sub-standard at best. At the hallowed halls of the house party you can chat to your hearts content. That person that you know but don’t know in your seminar? You’re looking at your new best friend.

Parkour

You get up to all sorts of shit

The antics of a house party are also unparalleled. If you’ve ever missed a house party you’ll know from being filled in afterwards that everything and anything that could of happened probably did happen. Unlikely couples, revelations about best friends, and arguments so trivial they strain belief are all part of the equation. The source of many stories that are started with “do you remember when…” that are shot down with regret filled glares. Classic and obviously not to be missed.

The end of the night is something that becomes a myth in the wake of the humble house party. If you’d gone out you would be faced with the lights violently coming on and the subsequent stumble to collect your dignity and find a taxi. However, if you’ve never left pre drinks then the night is potentially only limited by the rising sun, or maybe not even then. You can carry on drinking indefinitely you lucky thing.

Chances are you will be able to walk home from the shindig and that drunken walk to your house may take at least 45 per cent longer than it ordinarily would but guaranteed it will be worth it. Think the eyes are the window to the soul? Guess again, it’s the magical rubbish your mates come out with on the way home. The only way to get to know a person.

The only drawback is the clean up if it’s your house. But it’s definitely worth it.