Hey everyone, so quarantine is really hitting home for my 20-year-old self today therefore I decided to do a post ranking my favourite drinking venues in Leeds. Going to Uni In Leeds is amazing, I have met so many cool people and together we have experienced everything Leeds has to offer, well apart from Pryzm… I vow to never enter that venue unless my friends drag me there. Joking aside, Leeds offers some great nights out, there are plenty of venues I don’t mention due to personal taste or having not actually gone out there yet so just a heads up, the venues I’m going to rank consist of my favourite venues from the past 2 years of uni.
8/8, The Hedley Verity Wetherspoons -
Firstly, I don’t enjoy this venue as a night club. The music is cheesy and, without judgement, the people who go out to Wetherspoons on a Saturday night aren’t really my kind of people. However, the Hedley verity is pretty iconic from my first year at uni. It was, and still is, the go to spoons for drinks after hand ins, pre drinks before a (better) night club and the place to go when you’re bored of uni and fancy a bev. I once spent 7 hours sat in there eating pizza and getting drunk throughout the day, good times.
7/8 Hifi -
I have only been to Hifi once during my second year of uni and it was on a Sunday night after a work Christmas party. Hifi is now kind of classed as a fresher’s venue. I do agree with this but I also hold fond memories of good nights out in Hifi. I like the name to start off with and they host an abundance of student nights there. The lights aren’t the best and it gets so warm and sweaty that the night almost becomes uncomfortable but I will always remember the ease and excitement of Tuesdays throughout first year when every other week we would decide to go last minute and complain about our £7 tickets but stay there dancing till 3am and then walk home half cut with our celebratory McDonalds.
6/8 The Warehouse -
The Warehouse became more relevant after Canal mills closed down but I have been to the Warehouse a few times and had some really funny nights. I’ve seen DJ’s like General Levy, Mall grab & High contrast there and even though I’ve seen some mixed reviews, I can’t say I’ve experienced anything too bad. You can get some weird searches when you’re trying to get in, once they even checked inside my Vaseline. Queuing for the loo is tedious because they have a bouncer on the female toilets but the venue is big, the drinks are good and they do have some good DJ’s that play there. They also host Bobby’s disco on Mondays and that is certainly a good night if you like old school disco music. The warehouse isn’t my first choice but it wouldn’t be my last either.
5/8 Brudenell social club -
Ahh Brudenell, the ultimate indie spot of 17-year-old Jess' dreams. On the outside it is nothing but your average social club and to be honest, it’s not that much different on the inside. A venue can be cool and colourful but really it is the memories you make inside the venue that make it so good. Brudenell is exactly that. All I remember when I think of Brudenell is nice summer evenings spent there chilling and talking endlessly about rubbish over a pint. I’ve had nights where I’ve had 1 drink and I have nights where I’ve had 5 and struggled to walk out the door but all of them, I now remember through rose-tinted glasses. The drinks are really cheap and they have a great selection of gins, hence the struggling to walk out one night. Nothing but good vibes.
4/8 Stone roses bar -
I smile at even hearing the name ‘Stone roses bar’ so I couldn’t not put this in here because my inner indie love child would be mad. Stone roses bar is my guilty pleasure. I remember the first time I went I never wanted to leave. I know nearly every song that gets played and sing each one with as much heart and soul as the last, I almost take it seriously haha. My music taste has changed over my time at uni (shock, I now have a bigger appreciation for DNB and techno) but going to stone roses bar is like an outlet where I can either remember or purge my strong Indie music roots.
Without a doubt the stone roses bar gets a lot of bad press, it definitely attracts some weird men, someone is always one spilt drink away from a fight and the toilets seats are never actually on the toilet but if you love indie music & the 90’s Manchester music scene then it is a great night out. The dance floor resembles a constant mosh pit that can be annoying for some but if one of my favourite songs is on then I don’t care who’s pushing me because I’m pushing back just as hard and within that there is a sweet nostalgia of going to rowdy gigs as a teenager and loving every carefree minute in the mosh pit. The stone roses will always have a place in my heart, can you tell?
3/8 Mint warehouse -
Mint warehouse is a really cool venue. The new refurb has introduced a vibrant lighting panel across the dance floor roof, they always have great visuals behind the DJ booth and you always have room to dance. I thought Mint was cool before the refurbishment but now it is next level. Mint can be expensive because they get popular DJ’s to come a do sets, this is great if you can afford it but that’s not always the case. The toilets are mayhem because they’re unisex so you can end up spending half your night queuing there, the bouncers are sketchy too. I know they’re only doing their jobs but once I was refused entry because I had an across the body bumbag, I was instructed by a bouncer to tie my bumbag around the inside of the wheel arch on his Mercedes and retrieve it at 5am when the club closes or he wasn’t going to let me in? How random is that! Inside I saw 100’s of across body bumbags, still not sure if he was messing with me because he was not laughing and I really did tie my bag to the wheel of his Mercedes. All In all, if you get a decent bouncer then you’re going to have a trippy night!
2/8 Wire -
Wire is basically a cooler Hifi. They have lucid blue & pink lights and little arch way cubby holes where you can sit on sofas if you’ve danced too hard or can’t stand up… depends which way your nights going. They have better DJs and do less student nights, so the crowd is normally like-minded students who like a good rave, as cliché as that sounds. Wire doesn’t have the biggest DJ’s performing but it has a certain vibe about it that keeps me coming back. The queue for the toilets seems to be a reoccurring inconvenience in most Leeds venues but the ones at wire are tiny and half of them are broken, I’ve seen plenty of girls using the men’s toilets when needs must. The stairs down to Wire are incredibly steep and slippy when you’ve had one too many so if you can avoid it, be careful not to slide down them on your arse and give the bouncers a good reason to throw you out, it’s not classy. Apart from that I’ve always had the best nights at Wire. If I see that a good event is on at Wire then it’s a double win, Wire is a for sure go to for a sick night out.
1/8 Mission -
Mission A.K.A The holy grail of nights out. Now not everyone will agree but to me, Mission has it all. The bouncers are decent, the lights are trippy and vibrant and make cool geometric patterns above your head as if you’re at a festival, when the smoke machine is on you can’t see your mates for a good 5 seconds which is disorientating in a good way, the drinks come in buckets, there is always some juicy drama going on in the smoking area (a bit of mid night out entertainment) and the tunes are amazing. Once they remixed ‘September’ by Earth, Wind and Fire into ‘Losing it’ by the DJ Fisher and there was a confetti cannon… I had no words, what a combination. Only that could happen at Mission. It might not seem like much but I was genuinely shook and there is feel good dancing beats like that all night long. There are 3 different rooms each with different genres between Techno, RnB, Ibiza classics, DnB and amazing songs everyone knows. Mission is the one, ticket prices are cheap enough, the toilets are decent (there is rarely a queue) and well do I really need to say much more?
So, there you have it, my ranking of my fave venues in Leeds. This post has made me both sentimental and sad because I hope I’m back in Leeds very soon with all my mates so we can hit up these awesome venues again and get lost in the groove. See you on the dancefloor!
JB x