10:58am Thursday 25th February 2010
By Tim Hughes
Richard Bell applauds Tim Westwood and Regal for remembering the next generation of clubbers.
Many people reading this will be familiar with Tim Westwood, whether through his years of broadcasting on Radio One, his plethora of compilations of the best in upcoming hip hop artists or possibly as the inauspicious host of the bizarrely underwhelming UK version of Pimp My Ride.
For one night, however, Westwood brought his devotion to urban beats to the kids in this fantastic night for over-14s, hosted by the Regal.
I have a great deal of respect for nights that cater to an under-age crowd; I guess because I see it as extremely responsible, and it’s nice to see that the Regal is not only willing to put on such nights but able to book them so well.
Westwood and his posse of rappers and DJs were just what this young crowd was looking for.
The fantastic array of acts is, of course, headlined by Westwood, but for me at least the real star of the night was the unquestionably awesome Lethal Bizzle, a man whose tunes are only almost as big as his personality.
In between songs, Bizzle unleashed this personality in unstoppable torrents of verbal brilliance, my favourite example of which was a Lethal Bizzle-endorsed safe-sex scheme in which he mixed a surprisingly responsible message with enormously inappropriate comments, each one more hilarious than the last.
At the end of the night, Tim Westwood thrilled the kids by hanging around to meet and greet his hordes of fans.
This of course was the entire point of the evening, to give the kids a thrill and at the root of it, something to do during half-term week.
Apart from the fantastic music however, the night had very little to offer we adults.
As an over-14s night there was no alcohol served, and the bar ended up looking redundant, where on a regular 18+ Saturday night the bar would be the focus of the entire night. As it is, the five-bar staff simply look bored as they wait to serve the occasional lemonade.
This was an excellent night that provided Oxford’s teenagers with a wonderful taste of what club nights are going to be like, with a brilliant array of fantastic talents and a truly fun atmosphere.
For adults however I’m afraid that a taste is all it was. But that’s the point; this night wasn’t for me, but them, and I’m thrilled to see the next generation of clubbers having a great time.
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