CARDIFF
Glam: We all know what happens at Glam. You go in, you grab a drink, have a bit of a dance with your friends for five minutes, then you’ll go to the smoking area. The Glam smoking area is something of an urban legend: people vanish instantly, you blink and you’re suddenly alone, you find that there is some kind of ‘force’ stopping you from leaving. What I’m saying is that the Glam smoking area could potentially be a plotline for a future reboot of The Twilight Zone. Before you know it, you’ve spent your whole night there sharing your packet of fags with an Erasmus student called David before realising you’ve spent £5 to just sit on a bench and smoke for four hours. Highly recommended.
PRYZM: I’ve only been here a few times, but it’s a pretty vanilla club. Come here if you want to jiggy to some pop music and buy drinks that are slightly too expensive. Glam is right next door, though, so I wouldn’t bother.
Live Lounge: If you enjoy singing along to a terrible live rendition of Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” whilst nursing a pint surrounded by 40-year old men then this is the place for you. Typically, you’ll spend roughly 10-minutes in here, convincing yourself it’s “gonna be a great time”, but before you know it you’re back on the street, gasping for air as your bad life choices flash before your eyes before you stumble into Glam.
Ten Feet Tall: I spent New Year’s Eve here and the DJ refused to play Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove” when my friend requested it. Enough said, really.
Tiger Tiger: I went in here once and paid £8 for a vodka. Somebody then threw actual salt in my eyes which blinded me for roughly twenty minutes. Take that as you will.
Buffalo Bar: Buffalo is such a fun place to go to in Cardiff. Depending on the night you visit, you could be met with something totally different. It can have a chilled pub atmosphere most nights, but when it puts club events on it goes big. Bump n’ Grind is biggest student event to go to here. It’s essentially hip-hop, RnB and rap bangers blaring out over a monster of a sound system. It can get a bit full and messy, but overall it’s a decent alternative to the same old student pubs and clubs in town. They sometimes book really good live acts, too. Glass Animals played there not so long ago, and the legendary Phil Elverum (The Microphones & Mount Eerie) played there back in 2013, so keep an eye out for live performances here.
Clwb Ifor Bach: Colloquially known as ‘Welsh Club’ in Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach is the musical epicentre of the city. It’s the place where local bands want to be booked, but it’s also the place people hope to see their favourite bands tour when they come to Cardiff. The amount this club does for the Cardiff music scene is incredible. They book a really varied selection of bands for gigs to suit any musical palette, and they are unafraid to book bands or artists that are left field.
They’ve booked anyone from post-punk bands like Ought, to mainstream artists like Kaiser Chiefs and even breakbeat artists like Venetian Snares. They go out of their way to support local bands, and it’s definitely worth attending Swn Festival if you can. The festival supports the brightest of local Cardiff musical talent and it’s a fun way to spend a day in Cardiff. Oh, and Clwb Ifor Bach isn’t solely for gigs, either; it’s a great place for a club night, too. I’d highly recommend going to their event Brooklyn Zoo if you fancy a grimy hip-hop night, or ‘Slice’ if you desire a free slice of pizza and a half-hearted attempt at reconnecting with teenage feelings over some pop-punk. They have a fresher event on October 16th – ‘Freshers Ting’ – if you fancy extending your alcohol-fuelled hedonism into early October.
The Woodville: This is “the” student pub in Cardiff, but I think there’s a few better ones scattered around Cardiff. However, if you want a student-focused pub night for Freshers, this is the place to be. It’s a nice place to go to after lectures, too, if you’re near. It’s a vibrant pub with two floors, a decent pool table, friendly staff, but it is a little on the pricy side. It has San Miguel on tap, though, so you can’t complain.
The Vaults: This venue is located all the way out in the Bay, but it’s worth the taxi fare there and back for an unforgettable night. There’s mostly house events here, but it caters to a lot of electronic tastes (hardstyle, minimal house, techno, etc.) The most infamous electronic night here, though, goes under the name of ‘Cellar Door’. It was recently banned from the Vaults, but it sometimes makes re-appearance, so if it does be sure to jump on it as it sells out quickly. Cellar Door often often themed nights with excellent house and dance music.
The location, too, is nuts. It’s an old bank vault that has been renovated into a night club. There’s three floors, the third floor being the ‘chillout room’. Ordinarily, they have a giant cinema screen with cartoons on it, and it’s filled with people who have drank or taken too much of something. The smell of mkat and mandy in the air is almost tangible. It’s dirty, sweaty, pretty grim, but overall it’s a fun time (as long as you’re safe, of course). However, there’s only so many times you can witness over a hundred people simultaneously gurning with pupils the size of the moon before it gets stale. You’ll probably go once, have a great time, but wake up the next morning, uttering with a slight shudder: “That was too turnt for me”, vowing to never return. Simultaneously fun and harrowing. Highly recommended.
TEAK: It’s a bit ‘edgy’ as a basic boy would say, but it honestly isn’t. It’s essentially a monthly electronic night that takes place in an old antique emporium. Sure, it looks like it could be a bit elitist, but it’s not. The people and staff there are really friendly and their passion for the music is apparent. It’s a fun place to listen to some good left-field electronic and house music in an intimate space. If you like your electronic music, go to TEAK. DJ Sprinkles played there once in 2014 which speaks volumes for the artistic pull the venue has.
Words by Ben Newman