Yikes, it’s been a really long time since I wrote
anything. Well, after the past two
Fridays, I think I’ve found an appropriate subject to blog about. One of the most common questions I get
from my friends back home is, “how is the London nightlife?” Back in February, I really could not
have answered this question. Last
weekend was the first time in four weeks that we had stayed in London for the
weekend. Also, we seemed to run
into many tourist traps when it came to clubs back in January. Well, FINALLY, last weekend we
decided to stay in London and find some good London nightlife, and at last we
did.
One
of the best tips I can offer for finding where to go for nightlife anywhere is,
ask around. Find our where people
like you go. If you are just
visiting an area this may be difficult, so I can offer you a few tips on how to
at least not make the same mistakes we did.
-In London, AVOID Leicester
Square. You may think it is where
all the nightlife is at it’s best but honestly, it’s just a tourist trap. Most people at those clubs are not from
London, and in many cases, they tend to be a lot older. The atmosphere is normally very awkward
and it makes for a weird night.
Also, at these places, drinks will be highly overpriced and not very
good.
-This tip goes along with Leicester
Square, but always be weary of guys coming up to a group of girls and trying to
bring them into a club. This is
not because you are going to be lured anywhere and murdered (although you
should always be weary of that in a
big city). It is just because if
someone is begging you to go to their club, it’s probably because it’s not very
good to begin with and they are desperate for business.
We definitely were fooled by
Leicester Square when we got to London, but after only one night, we learned
our lesson. For this Friday, my
coworker recommended this place to me in the Shoreditch area called Hoxton Bar
and Grill, and it was AWESOME. The
mean age of the crowd was closer to my own than any other club we had been to
previously (excluding Wayne’s Bar).
For that night the music could have been better, but all in all, it was
a great night with friendly staff and without the fear of being weirded out by
creepers. Nothing beats a night of
going out with friends, and dancing.
I guess you could say last weekend
was pretty exhausting because on Sunday, we also felt obligated to celebrate
St. Patrick’s Day. Thankfully, we
decided to be smart and see the parade in the morning, grab a Guinness and some
food for lunch and then not go out in the night. Although there was a huge celebration in Trafalgar Square, I
definitely think St. Paddy’s day is a bigger deal in the states. I mean American’s love any excuse to
drink. The Brit’s don’t need that
because, well, they just drink all the time no matter what day. It was also another bleak and rainy
day, so we were not eager to spend the whole day fighting crowds trying not to
get taken out by low standing umbrellas.
I will admit that is was pretty cool to get to spend St. Paddy’s in
London and it won’t be the last time I drink Guinness.
With a little taste of what good
nightlife is like in London, it’s hard to wait until Friday again to go
out. Lucky for me, there is a
magical place called The Roadhouse that I have had my eye on going to for about
two months now. On Mondays and
Wednesdays they do this thing called rock-aoke. It’s like karaoke only with a live band. They have each band’s set list online
and you sign up that night to sing in their competition. Second prize is a bottle of champagne
and first is a £100 bar tab.
Finally, on Wednesday, Nicole and I dragged our selves there and I
signed up to sing “Zombie” by the Cranberries.
Let me just tell you, despite the
American theme, this place is awesome.
Everyone is very supportive of the singers and the atmosphere was just
stellar. I had the biggest
adrenaline rush when I sang and it was so cool to see people genuinely rocking
out to my voice and my performance.
It didn’t even stop there though.
So many people came up to me afterward saying how awesome I was, and one
guy even referred to me as the “Zombie girl”. Although I did not win, this one guy went up to Nicole and
told her, “Your friend should have one.”
After seeing the video of my performance, however; I have to disagree
with that statement. I don’t know
if the Iphone has bad sound recording abilities or what, but it just sounds
like yelling to me. No matter, it
was a blast and I can’t wait to go back.
Nicole and I have convinced our friends to come with us next time so it
should be a good time for all. If
you are in London and looking for great nightlife on a weeknight, go to The
Roadhouse in Covent Garden. I
imagine even on nights without rock-aoke, they still have live bands and
DJs. Plus, they have both an early
happy hour and a late night happy hour from 9:30-10:30. How can you go wrong?
Last night, we also discovered the
wonder of Camden nightlife, because we were beginning to think that it didn’t
exist. Again, this was just another
fun night with great dancing and only a 2-minute walk through the rain to get
home.
I
guess what I am trying to get at is, if my friends ask me about London
nightlife, I will finally be able to give them a satisfactory answer. London nightlife is amazing, whether
you want a full on club, dancing to rock music, or just simple drinks with the
girls (or guys). London has
it all. You just may have to do a lot
of research and ask around in order to find exactly what you are looking
for.
Cheers,
Janelle
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