Club night of the year nomination: Zephr Lounge Thursdays

As the year draws to a close, we begin ranking the best and worst nights out Leamington, Coventry, Birmingham and Warwick Campus have to offer. Arguing that not all first years give in to the mainstream, Joss Bates and Lauren Bond make a case for Thursdays at Zephr.

Fancy spending your Thursday night having your personal space invaded in a grimy, little sweatbox full of Dirty Mike and the boys grinding to wank music? Fuck off to Smack then. If that’s not your thing, then head over to the Assembly’s cooler little brother – the Zephyr Lounge.

The decorations at Zephyr are as tasty as their Red Stripe

With an ideal location in Leamington, you can go to Kelseys for starters, the Zephyr Lounge for main course, and finish the night with Viallis for a nice greasy pizza flavoured dessert.

The great thing about Zephyr Lounge is that it plays everything from soul to house, so even if you do love Smack’s music, you can still enjoy it at Zephyr Lounge, except there’s actually room for you to get shit-faced and dance your arse off like Carlton Banks on speed.

If we’re completely honest, we’ve never been there when it’s been a struggle to walk around, but at least that means you can pull out all your best dance moves without having to worry about someone ripping the shit out of you.

Tthe indie nights, where we get to play spot the indie dickhead not dressed up as Morrissey, are the pinnacle. It makes us feel better about ourselves being in a room full of pricks and not being one of them.

Also, the music they play has this thing they call lyrics. Yes, actual words, put to music. Who’d have thought it?

It’s laid back, chilled atmosphere where no one really cares if you are dancing or not, or how badly you are, make this feel like you’re back in your bedroom aged 14. It’s just a nice place to be.

Fergus Murray, 18, a first year Maths student said: “I just love the vibe.”

Ben Nestel, 19, First year History student said: “I like that you get personalised stamps.”

The Streets and Suggs from Madness are regulars at the Zephyr Lounge

Another cool thing is how the walls are a collage of old and new concert and band posters, as obviously they are waaay too indie to go for the standard black tiling. Either way, it adds a charm to the place that we love.

Josh Tulley, 18, First year Chemistry student said: “It reminds me of the GTA IV strip club in a good way.”

The entry is pretty cheap which is always a bonus when you’ve got crippling debt weighing you down. There’s also never a queue to get in, unlike Smack or Neon where you could wait for hours to be told to fuck off, so why bother wasting precious time in the cold when you could be chilling on a comfy sofa in Zephyr?

Look out for the ‘Ultimate Leamington Night Out’ competition, upcoming in Week 9.