Pregaming at USC is more efficient than England

The US pre game is effective. The UK pre is a marathon not a sprint. But which is better?

Rolling through my first ‘pre game’ of the year with my own personal stash of voddy and lemonade, it was pretty evident I wasn’t in Manchester any longer. In the city I call home, people are tight about merely sharing their mixer, let alone their actual alcohol.

But here, the alcohol is flowing. And by that I mean two large bottles of liquor are precariously sat on the table. Tequila or Vodka – pick your poison – followed by a big glug of whatever sugar-laden juice is floating around. Pre at 9:30 p.m., leave for the party at 10:15 p.m. This is the American pre game, and by god, is it effective.

The UK pre is a marathon, not a sprint. ‘What time’s kick off?’ The pre pre, i.e. just you and your housemates, will kick off at 8 p.m.  There may be games but they will all be seated (we’re too lazy for a longer name for pre’s let alone active games) before heading to the actual pre. There will be no games here and certainly no free alcohol.

Heading to the pre is always a logistical nightmare of, ‘do I bring the whole bottle of vodka? But then if I don’t drink it all I won’t get it back… has anyone got a spare plastic bottle? For god’s sake who chose today to take the recycling out. Fuck it, I’ll just take the whole bottle.’

The actual pre is a party in itself and inevitably the best part of the night, dragging on until at minimum 12 a.m. when you realize that if you actually want to get into the club tonight, you better get a wriggle on.

In LA you’ll head to a party – probably in a costume for a rhyming themed night such as ‘fight nights and things that bite’. Once you’ve dipped to ‘where I’d be without a college degree’, or worse, a party off of the row, you look more confused than me in a statistics class.

Regardless, with all the free beers and handles of vodka being handed around does anyone really care what costume you’re in? The night rages on until that dreaded hour when DPS comes knocking on your door and tells you the parties over.

What now I hear you ask? TO THE 90.

Meanwhile in Manchester, as USC parties are closing down, ours are heating up. Tuesday to Friday, head to that magic bus, sneak on your chosen bus drink and head to whatever grotty dive you fancy that evening. South? Antwerp? Factory? The choices are endless. But Saturdays are reserved for house parties. Eggy, Granville or Amhurst are infamous for the Manchester house party.

There will be no costumes here but a sea of Adidas and parkas. As we’re not blessed with sunny California weather, most of them take place in the basement.

There will certainly be less trap music and because everyone’s a DJ in Manchester, it normally results in a few pretty sick sets. Rage on until the early/mid/late hours of the morning and be prepared for a rough day of recovery the following day.

Or perhaps you’re over the whole frat party vibe. Hollywood calls and it’s sounding lit. So you head to Bootsy, or Hyde or maybe 1OAK.

‘Uber driver have you got an aux cord?’

You’ve got your glad rags on, heels to boot and your friends boyfriends mate who’s a promoter has sorted you out a table. You hear that Bieber’s there somewhere but somehow you miss him and you spend the next day hearing about how he bought so and so’s drinks all night. All in all it was a successful night and the following day’s debrief consists of a hike around the Hollywood hills and probably a stop at Urth Caffe.

Your Manchester night out is a somewhat different affair. Jamie XX is playing at The Warehouse Project and you’ve had your tickets for weeks. Or maybe Stevie Wonderland is back to that first year location that you can’t exactly remember but you know you had a sick time at.

You find your grottiest trainers, your shortest crop top and get ready to rage. It’s going to be heavy and you’re ready. This is not a lady like affair, but then where’s the fun in that? Get ready for a day wrapped in your duvet and consuming copious amounts of tea and cuppa soup. Nowhere does warehouse parties like Manchester.

So which is better I hear you ask? Let’s be honest, a party is a party, and we both know how to do it.

So Fight on SC and Rage on UoM.

More
University of Southern California