Nightclubs in the CitySo in this post, I'm going to give you the run down on the clubs in town, off-campus. Once the excitement of being on a campus/at uni begins to die down, you may find yourself wanting to go into town and sample the nightlife there. Plenty of others have the same idea so you won't be the only people down there!
If you're a fresher and living on campus, you'll probably find the easiest way down is to grab a bus - they go to town till late on most days and much easier than walking, especially if you don't know your way. However, I'd get a one-way, rather than return as the buses back to campus stop at about half 11. At the end of the night, if you decide not to grab a taxi back from town and walk it, it's not uncommon, but don't forget about campus being built on a whacking great hill.
There are loads of taxi firms out there, but I'm not going to name any as it would be unfair on those I don't name. You'll soon find out which cab companies to go for.
Club Chemistry - Facebook PageThis nightclub is probably the biggest in Canterbury, size-wise and can be found next to Canterbury East station, just outside the city wall. It's gone by many a name over the past few years, so don't be surprised to hear it referred to as The Works or Baa Baas. Due to it's location, you can be forgiven for associating it mostly with Canterbury Christchurch Uni (abbreviated to CCCU) as their marketing for next year seems to be really aimed at them - I'll get on to this later. However, that doesn't mean you won't see Kent students (UKC) in there and sometimes plenty of them! In fact, unless you're in a sports team, the rivalry between UKC and CCCU is mostly friendly banter and hey, mixing into their nights may mean meeting a bunch of new people and taking advantage of cheap deals etc. I'm totally unaware if they're going through any revamp this summer but if not then I can tell you that Club Chem has three floors and each has their own quirk in what music will be played. The bottom floor has a mix of an average sized dancefloor, some outskirt seating and a large bar playing mainly cheese and pop. At first you might think this is a dreadful idea but as you get later into the night, you'll probably find yourself dancing like crazy down there. I don't really know how to describe it but it has a 'modern, wooden' feel, if that at all makes sense? The second floor has a large dance area, practically no seating, a smaller bar and has just a generally modern feel. The tunes that this floor pumps out are mainly RnB and hip-hop. Lastly, the third floor also has a large dance area, average sized bar and again, some outskirt seating. For this bar, it has a more metallic finish to it and will play more electronic/dance/techno music (as well as current tunes) and is probably the most popular floor. Depending on the night you go, only one or two floors may be open but typically for 'student nights,' all floors will be open. Also, beware that Saturday nights aren't 'student' nights and so the drink deals you usually find don't apply and can be quite pricey.
So, speaking of student nights at Club Chem - as I said earlier it seems that these nights are aimed mainly at CCCU - though don't let this put you off. I say this because they are using a brand new club promoter, known as
Cloud9. These guys are partnered with CCCU SU but aim their nights at all students. Towards the end of last year, Chemistry saw a decline in customers for whatever reason and I can imagine that this new brand will be an attempt to galvanise students into visiting again. It appears that they're student nights at Club Chem are
Wednesdays ('Varsity Wednesdays'), aimed at bringing in those in sports clubs and on
Fridays ('Friday Night Project'). Now I don't know much about these yet and as I say, they're brand new nights. I can only imagine they'll have some outrageously good drinks deals though - way better pricing than campus.
Chill - Facebook PageChill is located down by the Odeon in town, close to the bus station. Unlike Chemistry, Chill doesn't try and attract students from a particular uni and also unlike Club Chem, it's a lot smaller! It consists of two floors - downstairs you'll find a bar and dancefloor (fairly small) as well as limited seating. Then upstairs is where they put their seating, alongside a similarly sized bar. The upstairs seating tends to be bookings only - which you can sort by contacting them or whatever. If you don't have a booking, this restricts where you'll be for the most of night and you'll likely find yourself downstairs. Both floors are styled the same and it looks pretty stylish - a modern interior with all that'd you expect from a club. The only downside is that upstairs is carpeted and after a while, the place can end up reeking. Just like Chem though, the prices on a Friday and Saturday are a lot higher than on their designated student nights and as such it's usually pretty dead. Having said that, Chill seems to be the locals choice of club - whether that's a good thing or not, I'll leave to your judgement.
As for the music, it's pretty average for a club, really and you'll get the usual mix of songs from current chat toppers, to the occasional throwback. Amongst the student community, Chill gets mixed reviews - some will say they hate it but others claim there's no other place to be - a lot of people will never have been!
As I say, they also have nights for students, or at least student friendly prices
First up is
Alphabeats, Chill's own night on a
Wednesday. The idea is that each Wednesday is assigned a letter, such as D - the theme will then be something (loosely) D related and may be, I don't know.. dinosaurs?
Then they encourage people to turn up following the theme. Some follow it, some don't, as I say it's pretty loose. What is cool though is that if your first or last name begins with D, you'll get in for free! (Disclaimer: It was for the previous academic year and can only assume they're following that on!). Also, like Cloud9, they let an events brand take over on a
Monday night, known as
Fuzzy Logic (
Facebook link). Again they do themes, and again it's pretty loosely based. The most impressive thing about Monday nights at Chill are their drink deals, which can be ridiculous - I remember when they did 3 drinks for the price of 1 (I think I remember?) for a time - not sure if that's continuing. If not, then don't be surprised to see drinks at £1.50 each before xpm as well. Sorry there's not a lot to say about Chill in comparison to Chem, I just don't know as much about it.
The Cuban - Facebook PageRight then, I'll need to point out straightaway that this isn't a strictly a club - but I feel their
Monday nights are worthy of a place in this post about the bigger places in town. During the day and most other nights of the week, it's a pretty classy (but expensive) restaurant/bar - some nights I remember some salsa dancing. However, scrap all that for Monday nights, which are their student nights, where I've seen some crazy queues to get in. Once again, an events brand is responsible for this, they are named
Student Republic (they also have lots of other pages relating to their various venues, which can be found from that link) and are arguably the biggest events brand in Canterbury - they were also in control of lots of nights at Chem last year. Somehow, they've made what is essentially a pretty average night at a bar into one of the most attended nights of the week, so fair play on that. Yes, there are drink deals but these deals are in comparison to the usual prices they have at The Cuban (though you can't really complain). I suppose the big pull factor is that they brand it as a classy affair, no riff-raff , everyone to be looking good (for reference, trainers are usually ok, so long as they're not proper sporty ones). The music is also under the theme of 'pretty classy,' - you'll get current chart toppers, but not the rubbish Now CD-esque ones. You'll probably also get more off the track stuff, or maybe remixes of songs but certainly no cheese. Get there early for cheaper entry and (as is often the case with nights in Canterbury) get yourself on the guest list on Facebook, for 'queue jump,' not that this always works in practise.
Anyway, as for the Cuban itself, you can tell the building is on Canterbury high street as it's pretty awkward. There are two floors - the bottom is host to a short and long bar, the shorter bar on a slightly raised area. The shallower area is nearly all dancefloor. Upstairs is another longer dancefloor, with a short bar and some seating. Downstairs seating is reserved for VIP tables. A big draw, certainly when it's dry are the outdoor terraces - a large one which will nearly always be crowded and has it's own little outdoor bar. The other side sees another terrace but it mainly used as a smoking area. As I say, it's a not a club but the Mondays are quite hectic so worthy of a place.
The Ballroom - Facebook PageIf I mentioned Monday nights at The Cuban without mentioning
Bombo at The Ballroom, people may get angry with me.
Another link. Bombo runs on random Monday nights throughout the year - i.e. it's not running
every Monday night. Now, I've not actually been so I'm sorry for not being able to give a lot of info., but I do know that this also goes for the classy affair theme - dress codes and good-looking people, as well as some cocktails/expensive drinks flying about. That doesn't mean that all drinks are totally expensive but don't be surprised to see people flashing the cash getting a bottle of bubbly, maybe. The music styles itself very similar to The Cuban, RnB, hip-hop, decent chart music and no cheese. As for the decor and interior of the place, check out their FB page which has a few photos.
I think that can do for rounding up nightclubs (plus a few more to pad out this post) in the city itself. The post below has some bits and bobs about the pubs and bars in Canterbury.