Brighton

Well done indeed if you have decided to be a student in Brighton, you obviously have excellent taste and are about to spend the best three years of your life in Britain’s hippest town by the seaside. Brighton does have a reputation for being continually frequented by hen night excursions and drag queens but this is only one side of the multi-faceted mirror ball that is the sub culture of this town. Whatever you are into be it hardcore, rockabilly, electro or indie, you’ll feel right at home here. Anything goes.

Pubs
The best pubs in town are to be found in the vicinity of Brighton train station. There you will find Brighton’s best rock’n’roll pub The Albert which has cheap(ish) drinks and pub food and a nice sweaty little venue upstairs which is graced by local bands most nights. If you are after a quieter night then The Great Eastern is great for a whisky in a big arm chair, they have over 150 different types of bourbon to choose from, or try an organic ale at The Earth & Stars. For pre-club drinks it has to be The Penthouse which has a student feel and attracts the trendies and the superstar DJ’s. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a cocktail connoisseur then head for Zoot Street which has 2 for 1 offers on lethal concoctions every weeknight. 

Clubs
If you are a certified indie kid then you will not be in short supply of disco’s to bop at. Tuesday is Snide at Audio, Wednesday is Shamble at The Funky Buddha Lounge, Thursday is Brighton’s most famous indie night Mad For It at The Barfly and Saturday in Hold Up at the Arc, you know the drill with these nights expect to hear The Gossip, The Clash, drink snakebite and chat to girls wearing leopard print. If you have more acquired tastes then monthly nights such as The Do at The Core Club (electro), It Came From The Sea (experimental) and Born Bad (rockabilly and 60’s garage) at Komedia should get your juices flowing.

Venues
The Concorde 2 is situated right on the seafront underneath the arches of the sea wall and is a bit of a treck away from the town centre but it is always worth the effort as it is where the best gigs happen. For smaller gigs The Hope, The Pressure Point and The Albert all have sweatbox venues upstairs from the bars where you can usually stumble across something special. The Barfly has just recently landed in Brighton and is starting to build its profile at the venue formerly known as The Gloucester, so watch that space.



West Street also known as ‘Fight Street’ should be avoided at all costs unless you have a fetish for commercial dance, Wetherspoons, boy racers or all you can eat franchises. The Palace Pier is worth doing once for the novelty value and then never again and although the Marina is a good option for a meal out with the parents when they come to visit the side with the cinema, bowling alley and casino should be avoided like the plague as there is an abundance of 16 year old scallies who hang about there and drink lambrini etc.

Brighton is famous for its back street streets of boutiques known as The Laines, there are the South Laines and The North Laines. The South Laines is more up market with lots of jewelry and antique places and a brilliant record shop called ‘Rounder Records’ can be found there which is worth a nose around.  Other than that the North Laines are brilliant for everything else from tattoo parlors, vintage shops and milkshakes to second hand book shops, vegetarian cafes and junk shops. There is a main shopping centre ‘Churchill Square’ with all the usual New Look, HMV, H&M malarkey but the Laines is the way forward if you want to find something special and spot some members of various Brighton bands while you’re at it.

Brighton is a hot-spot for up and coming bands owing to the fact that the highly reputable Brighton Institute Of Modern Music (BIMM) is here which is constantly churning them out and also the city is brimming with creative minds in general and inspiration is all around.

NME breaking bands winners My Device are ones to watch out for and will knock your socks off with their jaw dropping live shows and warped and complex, fast paced rock/punk.  
If you like your rock’n’roll stripped back to basics with a sleazy, blues feel then The Dirty Socials cannot be missed - head down to their monthly night The Dirty Social at The Albert for a night of whisky, harmonicas and 60’s garage DJ sets.
At the other end of the spectrum is the hotly tipped Maths Class who describe themselves as “post: ironic, self-destructive, alternative, disco, passport, office, swot, indie, pop, art, eagle, forty-two, en, apple, core”. We don’t know exactly what this means but once you have experienced their fast, synth laced, screamy, killer catchy songs you’ll be smitten.

In the 18th century, Dr Richard Russell published his thesis on sea bathing, which declared Brighton's salt water as a health benefit, prompting both the sick and the rich to visit the city.

The patron saint of Brighton is Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim).

The Dome is the venue at which Abba won the Eurovision song contest in 1974 with Waterloo.

In the game of ‘Scrabble’, BRIGHTON would get you 14 points.