Brighton after dark: 14 January 2014
Back to Jack
The diary of a reluctant clubber
Who was it that decreed that when you pass 30 your dancing shoes only came out to play at weddings and Bah Mitzvahs? Certainly not me, but to be honest the days when I planned a night out dancing haven’t been around for some time. It just sort of happens. A drink after work on a Friday, a friend’s birthday, or simply breaking up for Christmas and the start of what feels like the school holidays can all be reasons to ‘end up on the good end of a boogie’, and it just so happened that all three of these happened to me at once last December.
It would seem that as I’ve gotten older a greater factor in why I haven’t gone on to dance the night away is the idea of the morning after… and the morning after that.. and maybe the one that follows that one. The time it takes to recover from a hedonistic celebration of being alive increases exponentially the longer you are alive. The thrill, and I can say this with authority, remains the same. However, these days people are more jaded, they demand more from their nights out, and it’s these delights that tempted me on from the pub with the birthday chap and several of his good pals down the steps of Funfair.
Now I don’t know if they do this with all newcomers but within five minutes of hitting the dancefloor – coat deposited in the cloakroom and fresh drink firmly in hand – I suddenly found myself surrounded by a small swarm of young ladies, mostly of the blonde persuasion, dancing with me and a happy official-looking snapper clicking away with his camera facing straight at me. Maybe they mistook me for a minor celebrity (I hear there are quite a few of those around this town) or perhaps it was a fresh novelty for a place that is already equipped with a ball pit to have an ‘oldie’ sans make-up but with a look of enjoyment regularly seen slapped across Snoopy’s face when he does his happy dance. I don’t know. All I know is somewhere out there are those photos that are the closest I’m ever going to look to Kanye West. Oh, and I have learned one other thing: I personally need at least two strapping blokes to help me get out of that ball pit. It’s good to have friends.
Words: Anonymous
Sade Ali’s 2014 bucket list!
I have decided to make the most of 2014 and do everything I can to make sure I have a good year and not miss out on anything. To help you do the same I have formed a bucket list of things to do before the year is over. Some embarassing and some just pure awesome, these things will guarantee you a year to never forget!
1 Visit every single club, bar and pub in Brighton. I know it’s hard as there is so many but you might just find a new favourite spot and experience different places, themes, people and cultures.
2 Go ice skating at the Royal Pavilion. Whether it’s before it closes at the beginning of the year or waiting until Christmas time again, it really is an experience you will love.
3 Go to a concert, gig or live performance. You will be surprised how much you appreciate watching someone show off their talent. Nights like this are great opportunities.
4 Visit one of the shisha bars. Al naklha at the top of West Street is a lovely spot to go for a drink and something to eat and they are pretty darn good at making Shisha.
5 Go to the theatre/Brighton Dome. Watch something you wouldn’t normally see. Always a new fun and exciting experience.
6 Have a mad night out. Dance on the tables. Sing your heart out. Eat in Buddies at the end of the night and wake up in the morning wondering what happened the night before. Always funny and after all you do only live once. But remember, please drink safe!
7 Go out clubbing in fancy dress. Some of the best nights I have had have been fancy dress. If you do, tweet me your pictures and the best dressed will get printed!
8 Just enjoy your year. Live every day like it’s your last. Explore Brighton and see all the beautiful things in the city!
Follow @SadeAli
>DON’T MISS<
Inspired presents Yousef (Circus)
An exciting new club project launches this Friday at Audio, showcasing influential artists that inspire the dancefloor. Yousef (of the revered club event Circus), kicks things off with his vast house music record collection and there’s support from Suze Rosser and Jon Byrne.
Audio, Fri 17 Jan, 11pm, £10/£8
Hot Wuk feat The Heatwave
The hugely popular bashment carnival is heading to Concorde 2, renowned for an electric party atmosphere, incredible rhythms and abundant booty shaking.
Concorde 2, Fri 17 Jan, 11pm, £5
SLS (Sounds Like Saturday)
Shakedown DJ competition winner Sammy G brings his pumping mixes of Major Lazer, Tinie Tempah and many more to the Coalition, along with hip hop and R’n’B from DJs Fifi and Razor.
Coalition, Sat 18 Jan, 11pm, £5
Spellbound
Widely known for being the ’80s club night for people who HATE ’80s nights’, Spellbound features alternative classics
from bands like The Cure, The Human League, The Smiths, Siouxsie and many more.
Komedia, Sat 18 Jan, 9pm, £6/£5
Brighton Noise
Alastair Reid on this week’s gigs
Imade myself a number of promises when I started this column, foremost among them being to avoid the trite, diary-led clichés of columnists everywhere in letting the obvious dictate the topic of the week. But December is the equivalent of lying horizontal being funnel-fed pure alcohol, cold meats and Scrabble pieces by friends and co-workers and by January I’m sweating gravy and pissing whiskey, haunted by drunken decisions and mounting responsibilities. Christmas is a cliché, that’s half the point. So I’m giving up drinking.
It’s not a new year’s resolution, more the dawning realisation that I can’t remember the last time I went a week without turning up to work late reeking of stale Becks and winging meetings on past glories and offers to make the tea. So I’ve given up drinking. Without alcohol, half of Brighton would go out of business and the other would enter serious withdrawal, rendering the town a Ballardian wasteland of day-tripping phillistines content with X Factor and a new branch of Starbucks, but I, for one, am taking myself out of the equation. With a clear mind and steady hands the world is cleaner, easier and more productive. I highly recommend it.
This week sees the return of Brighton Noise nights for 2014 as we host Saturday Sun, Chalk and The Creaking Chair at the Prince Albert on Wednesday. Saturday Sun were recently picked as one of The Guardian’s new bands of the day for their powerful, genre-spanning prog acoustica, touching on folk, rock, blues and touches of psychedelia. Chalk had one of 2013’s best Brighton albums with his personal, eponymous debut and Andrew AC Cooper’s The Creaking Chair will open. An evening of stirring acoustic guitar-based songwriting.
Thursday has Luo headlining the Green Door Store to raise money for friends running the Brighton Half Marathon for Macmillan Cancer Research.
If you haven’t heard Luo, he makes dense and melodic electronica on record, transformed into a four-piece band on stage and is a star on the rise. Kudu Blue and Fools Blue support.
Head to The Hope on Saturday to see The Hundredth Anniversary’s lo-fi, hazy post-rock, supported by The Grafham Water Sailing Club’s gothic post-punk and the wonderful, bouncing 50s beach rock of I Like The Go Go. All these shows are around a fiver; go get something new in your week.
Follow @BrightonNoise
