House Music (From Oxford Mail)

House Music

6:00pm Thursday 17th February 2011 in Club Reviews By Richard Bell

Richard Bell tries out the brilliant and bizarre Underground Rebel Bingo Club @ O2 Academy.

You know what? When I was a fresher I never really had any fun.

This is a dreadful thing to now own up to. But my fresher week was mostly made up of lame themed nights and awkward, painful socialising.

It was a huge disappointment to realise that the promises of university life were cruel fabrications: that girls did not suddenly fall over each other to kiss you; that crusty old Deans weren’t natural targets for students pranks; and that parties boasting kegs of beer and cheerleaders simply didn’t exist. In short, the movies had lied.

This year’s freshers, however must be having a totally different experience, as nights like the superb and bizarre Underground Rebel Bingo Club seem to be geared entirely toward providing that fictional university experience.

Indeed, it delivers a night made up of the kinds of distractions students have long dreamt were theirs by right.

The basics of the classic big night are abundant, with huge tunes deafening those on the dance floor taking advantage of excellent drinks prices to keep grins permanently fixed to their beaming faces.

But these are the sort of things you’ll find anywhere. What makes this night really special however is that not only is everyone having a fantastic time, but also taking part in a 1,000-strong game of bingo!

Throw an enormous amount of marker pens into the mix so that people can write all over each others bodies, and yes, by morning, what seemed like a good idea the night before still won’t have washed off.

Underground Rebel Bingo Club thrives on excess, giving people far more than they ever bargained for.

It’s precisely as ridiculous as it is awesome, and that of course is what makes it such a fun and unexpected experience.

My only complaint (read: bitter and envious) is that I never went to a night like this. Ever. Had I, who knows how differently I might have turned out (read: happy and content).