How does Sheffield nightlife compare to other adjacant northern cities?

[mr me]

what do you think to sheffields night life over say leeds liverpool nottingham birmingham notts??etc better ?rubbish? has good?

[imagematters]

I will Leave L Pool out of the equation because I really have a problem with scousers, any way Sheffield is near the bottom of the ratings if you compare Sheffield to Leeds , Manchester Nottingham, The councils very unliberated licensing laws are slowly killing our city I hope The Lib- Dems can reverse this trend . But while certain council officers are still in a job and South Yorkshires finest live in the licensing 18th century , it will take a long time for Sheffield to have a full compliment of quality nightlife, instead of a couple of good cafes and Bars

[timcobbold]

it seemed a lot better 8 or 9 years ago, seemed to be a bigger variety of club nights and venues....

 

blame plug as much as the council. they have come to dominate the club scene in this city

[Rushup]

I don't really see how Plug is to blame for any decline in Sheffield's nightlife. If you don't like the events there, you don't pay to go in, same as any other club. Simple.

 

What Sheffield is lacking is small multi-room venues. As a promoter, I would walk over hot coals for a venue with 2 or 3 rooms, each with a capacity of 150-200. A venue like this would have small promoters all over the city fighting to get in! Whenever I see a new club is opening, I get my hopes up. But so far, I've always been disappointed. If there is any decline in Sheffield's nightlife, perhaps it owes more to a lack of imagination on the part of proprietors.

 

I'm not convinced by the rant against the council either. If club owners sort out their fire regulations, abide by the licensing laws, don't have large holes for clubbers to fall into, apply for licenses in time for events, have doormen who aren't cowboys, and stop toilets leaking everywhere... Basically, run a club so it sticks to the law and provides paying customers with a decent environment and there wont be any problems with the council. It also helps to make sure management don't rip-off the promoters who pay to hire the place and threaten the DJ's, then you don't end up with your reputation in the gutter. Hardly rocket science.

 

Were things really that much better 8 or 9 years ago? People have a habit of looking back on 'the good old days' through rose-tinted glasses. The Arches was a fantastic venue, and Republic was still there, but the days of acid techno and superstar trance DJ's are long gone (thankfully). I don't know, I hear this argument a lot, how things 'aren't as good as they used to be'. Every generation says it. Perhaps some people would be better looking to the future, rather than looking for ways to keep living in the past. There's plenty of good stuff out there, if you can be bothered to look for it.

[timcobbold]

Yeah, you're probably right ****. Plug is not really to blame! They do seem to dominate nightlife in the city a bit at the moment though, although it does seem smaller nights are making a comeback, particularly those in pubs with a late licence (Tinnitus, SulpHate etc)

 

Spot on about the smaller venues though, definitely what's needed. Hopefully Shhh can get up and running again soon (with improvements to toilets, doormen, fire regs etc!). Somewhere like Melkweg in Amsterdam could be cool....a multi, multi room venue that can be split up to do everything from daytime community groups to full on raves in the evening. Maybe an old works building in Sheffield could be used for something similar?

 

As for my comment about 8 or 9 years ago being better, maybe I am looking through rose-tinted glasses, or maybe just getting old....

[goldenfleece]

Sheffield nightlife has been in decline since the 1960's. It probably peaked in about 1966 to 1969. Back then, there were lots of those small room clubs and venues you were refering to earlier in this thread, and not many full size clubs. Unlike other Cities, ie London, where the small capacity venue can be counted by the hundreds, Sheffield from the 70's decided to focus on BIG venues and clubs, closing down all the smaller venues one by one since the late 1960's, which always restricts choice and leaves a very mainstream clubbing format such as Sheffield is cursed with at the present.

[Andy C]

Sheffield isn't that bad. It depends on what sort of scene you are looking for really. Sheffield is one of the best cities in Britain for drinking real ale, and for live music there are a lot of smaller venues with a a busy and varied programme, such as the Shakespeare, Grapes, Boardwalk etc, plus a number of pubs hosting the more folky type stuff too.

 

There's some good bars down Division Street these days - Forum, Old House, Bungalows & Bears, Frog & Parrot are all on form. Also in the area is Crystal and Soyo.

 

For the more towny crowd, you can still get a good night out down West Street, with Players and Basement both new places adding nicely to this circuit.

 

Where Sheffield is beginning to fall down is choice of clubs, whether this is because pubs and bars are open later now I'm not sure, I tend not to go clubbing much these days so am a bit out of touch with the clubbing scene, but between DQ, Embrace, Plug, Corporation and Leadmill there is still something reasonable for most people.

[imagematters]

I do agree with most of the comments above but promotors usually want to be in the limelight with thier artists, DJs and Bands, and unless you get your contracts nailed down, The venue ends up being last on the list when it comes to paying for goods recieved. The people at Shhhh have ended up supporting 'The Underground Scene' with over 25% of thier output being venue hire etc going out as nil charge to new promotors all to the detriment of the venue in the long run. An old building with character requires huge maintanence

Over the last few years there has been a move by places like plug undercutting Venues like Shhhh, DQ etc to drive them out of buisness, However if you look at places like Leeds and Manchester it is the smaller venues that are the driving force behind a progressive and succesful nightlife scene, forward thinking councils like Manchester actually worked with propriters and venue managers to ensure a vibrant and diverse scene unlike Sheffield with its Hillsbourough public assembly hangover, and a police force and firebrigade that believe Vibe is what dance music is all about . You could put Plug, Embrace and 02 in any city and they would perform quite nicely thank you very much, but not everyone wants to go to the Meadowhells of nightlife. I think there is a need for all the Genres of music to be mixed up a bit, and for all of us not to be so precious and self centered about what we do . Its about working together and applying pressure, to ensure our favorite city has a varied and bangin nightlife. (Yes the Milkyway is a good example of what we need) lol

[chem1st]

I think your right about the smaller venues, I tend to avoid the large venues like plug, embrace and carling (when clubs, although I do like large pubs like the bankers).

Smaller places always seem to have a better atmosphere in them. You end up speaking to nearly everbody and hardly ever see trouble...

[jake]

Over the last few years there has been a move by places like plug undercutting Venues like Shhhh, DQ etc to drive them out of buisness,

 

I'm not sure what you mean - do you mean undercutting hire fees for promoters or undercutting door prices?

 

Most nights are inhouse at Plug with only a few outside promotions - so it cannot be undercutting hire fees.

 

As for door prices - if smaller clubs are putting on nights for a niche (by which I mean its actual meaning - not bassline) market that the bigger clubs arent touching - then why should it matter what the bigger clubs are doing?

 

If a venue like Shhhh sorted itself out and was reliable - there would be a queue of promoters out the door wanting to use it and happy to pay a reasonable hire fee to do so - I do not think you can blame its troubles on other venues...