Newcastle was sweeeeeeeeeeeeet this weekend!

 

Hey hey! Since i started blogging about Bars and nights in Newcastle i have had a huge response So, i have moved all the things from my personal blog, michaeladams.eu to this new look site.

It will be business as usual, with reviews of nights, bars and clubs; Whats hot and whats not in Newcastle. Since this is now a dedicated site i can enhance it and add more things and focus on the nightlife in Newcastle.

Wanna add your pics? Please contact me

 

Bijoux Bar is a great bar! It has gone through some changes in recent times, being the Navy Bar, and @home, and now known as Bijoux. Previously i have been in @home and found it a bit boring, nothing going on, it didnt really have anything to it. It was a small space, and it just didnt feel right.

Now it is Bijoux and i have to say i like it! It plays some great music, the decor and lighting is perfect, and the selection of drinks is better than the rest of the competition. A Better bar than Perdu/Floritas/Baby Lynch/Madame Koo? It could well be!

Staff are friendly, including door staff (wow!) the crowd you get is good, it draws in the trendy-young-mature crowd; The place is not as busy as the others across the road, but that is not a bad thing. The number of people is a good amount, not packed, but not so empty it looks closed.

They sell high end drinks aswell as cheaper ones; 3 different kinds of patrón tequila did not go unnoticed and selling Cristal at £250 which is £50 less than the others (they still make a good profit!) and if you wanna go all out you can get whole bottles of spirits, Grey Goose vodka runs at £100. This is what i love-The choice. They might not sell many whole bottles of Vodka, but they offer it. Going in with a big party i would definatly consider buying a bottle, it would definatly be worth it.

Music on offer is cool chart, rnb, hip hop and a house mixture. Its good for a trendy bar to play thing kind of thing, it really is one of the good things which seperates it from the neighbouring bars, who all play funky house; Nothing wrong with that, but if you go to 3-4 bars in a row playing the same stuff it can get old

Set your drunk GPS to:

Bijoux Bar
Moseley street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1DF

The diamond strip is a popular place these days, with people even queuing to get into a bar (queuing, for a bar?!?!) espeically at peak times. Perdu bar seems to have found some popularity is lost, with sizable queues outside; But the doormen were clearly on form again, as people were being rejected for no apparent reason; One person clearly upset at not being allowed in had to be restrained by his mates. Perdu and the others have this problem of being a “trendy bar for trendy people” but also want their bar to be for the “normal people, open to everyone”. It clearly doesnt work, with actions like this, a man getting glassed in perdu as i posted before, and so on. It is a problem which these bars seem to have. Tiger Tiger also has had these problems in the past.

Madame Koo, the latest addition to the diamond strip says “Madame Koo is not serious about taking life too seriously”….But apparently she is! On Saturday night i was around the area so i decided i would give it a look, but sadly i couldn’t go in because i didn’t have a ‘token’. The bar opens officially next week but was having preview style nights, but don’t go because you will not get in. It probably isn’t a great idea for them to not allow a bar critic in

The only to describe the decor is your living room after christmas. You know, when you have your lights, decorations and cards up, than you take them down and your living room looks bare; that is EXACTLY what it looks like! There is nothing in the window, no blinds, curtains, nothing; And the lighting is so bright, so you can see straight in.

There is something strange about this place…The staff are SOOO nice?!!? The person on the door who didn’t let us in was actually nice about it! Not the usual wanker of a doorman you can get. I have never waked away from a place being in such a good mood  Then they have PR girls, although i have no idea why you’d wanna promote a bar you cant go in, seems a waste of time to me. Anyway they were also nice! Its a true revelation So at least they have one thing right. They were also promoting the bar last night, for their launch next week, i wonder how much paper they have wasted on the flyers, i have never known someone keep a flyer for a place for a week! They aren’t doing the environment any good!

If you wanna go next week set your drunk GPS to:

Madame Koo
Collingwood street (aka the diamond strip, next to Flortias)
NE1 1JF

The Paradiso Girls have been around for a bit, but havent really released any music yet. However that is now changing, with their album set for release later in the year and their single Patron Tequila already available on iTunes. This single is fucking amazing!!! If it gets a release here it will be the smash of the summer, its already my summer tune of 2009 and there are some amazing songs around. 2009 has already been an amazing year for music, there are some immence tracks out. This is another one of them.

Paradiso Girls are in fact mostly european and furthermore mostly English. The members of the group are:

Aria Cresendo (french)
Lauren Bennett (UK – contestant on X Factor)
Chelsea Korka (ex-contestant from Pussycat dolls reality show)
Shar Head (UK)
Kelly Beckett (UK)

Their debut single features lil John, and reminds me of when the  Pussycat dolls were good.

Norman is gonna Cook up a storm! The Shindig night which Fatboy Slim is headlining is sold out, as reported on their blog here.

No tickets left, no entry on the door

This is on at Digital on Saturday 23rd May 2009.

This is a bar crawl idea if you want to go to more upmarket/trendy bars in Newcastle. It will suit you if:

You like to spend money
You are young-mature age 21-35
You like House Music/Ambiant music
You like drinking cocktails, or more high end drinks
You dress to impress

Is this you? Then read on….

Bars you will go to:

Destination (2 drinks)
Tokyo (1 drink)
Revolution (2 drinks + shots)
Madame Koo (1 drink)
Baby Lynch (1 drink)
Floritas (1 drink)
Perdu (1 drink)
Tup Tup Palace (many drinks)
Total Drinks: 9+
Total Cost: £50-£60+ (not including club entry fee or club drinks)

The bars you will be going to are all in the same area, the central station area. Dress code is smart casual. First bar is Destination, which is next to the station hotel. If its early enough you can take advantage of their happy hour, where you can get 2for1, free drink, half price or full price by pressing the button when you get your drink. This bar can get packed at times, there are 2 bars inside with seating, aswell as many TVs and an outside area for people who smoke.

When leaving turn right and follow the road round the bend and you will get to Tokyo. This bar might be hard to miss, at it looks like a little door and nothing more, and is on its own. Get yourself a cocktail once inside, you can chill downstairs or upstairs in this place.

When leaving turn left cross the road and head back up to the bar on the corner which is Revolution, it is hard to miss. Here you can enjoy a cocktail, have one of many different kinds of vodka drinks, or get you and your mates a rack of shots, which i highly reccommend. If you are going with a few people a Jug (pitcher) of something is a must; i advise Absolut Chambles (Vodka, Champagne, Redbull). Rev is an amazing bar because of its decor, yet again its a very popular bar, and the music is House.

From leaving there turn left and walk down the street which is Collingwood street, aka “The Diamond Strip“. There are a few bars in a row here, which are Floritas, Madame Koo, Baby Lynch. Go to all of them. Whats better than bars directly next door to each other?! Get yourself a cocktail in each or some wine, or beer if you prefer.

When you exit any of these places turn left and carry on down the road to Perdu. Unfortunatly there can be long queues here, but if you can stand a 10-15 minute wait you can go in here. You can get more cocktails, long drinks or whatever you fancy here. If you are drunk enough you can dance to the commercial pop/rnb music, or chill in a booth if there is one available.

If you want to head to a club at this point there is Tup Tup Palace, which is on the opposite side of the road, further down. Another choice would be Tiger Tiger at the gate. If your not ready for a club you can keep walking down Collingwood street and go to bars Bijoux, Grund Floor @ The Attic or no.1 Grey Street

If you wanna go out in Newcastle and Like Charvas, the very younger crowd or very older crowd who think they are young, this pub crawl might be for you.

If you like….

Music which includes Chart, cheese, 80s 90s pop
Cheap drinks, trebles bars, shots, jugs/pitchers
Loud Music, Dancing, mixture of very young and very old crowd.

Then this guide is for you so read on…..

Bars You will be going to

Lloyds (The Gate) (2 drinks)
Players (1 drink)
Sam Jacks (1 drink)
Sinners (1 drink)
Boom (1 drink + shots)
The Mushroom (1 drink +shots)
Idols (1 drink)
City Vaults (2 drinks)
Popworld ( 1 drink + shots)
Bllu Bambu/Reflex ( drink till throwing out time)
TOTAL DRINKS: 10+
Cost: £30-£40 on bar drinks (not including club drinks or entry fees)

Start off at the Gate, and go to Lloyds No.1 (The Keel Row) for some cheap drinks. This is a good meeting bar, but since lots of people know this it gets packed! Expect to hear chart music, rnb etc.

When coming out of Lloyds turn right, and in the top right hand corner of the gate you will find Players. Get some drinks and go upstairs looking over the balcony at the podium dancers if they have one on, or the large screen.

Next Bar is Sam Jacks, just outside the gate.  Watch the girls dancing on the stage, if the bull is on then go on that and see how long you last. Drinks are moderatly priced depending on what you drink. You will hear old skool 90s pop, or current chart or a mix of both.

From There, you can go to Sinners which is a few metres down the road. Get some cheap trebles in, listen to the chart music downstairs or more urban flavas upstairs. If you smoke they have a smoking terrace upstairs.

Cross the road and walk for about 100 metres and you will come to Boom. This is a bar which plays 90s Chart music. Relive your youth in here. You will be with a younger crowd drinking the very cheap drinks. Get some shots in with your drinks.

Walk downward (going down the hill away from the gate) and go around the corner and then cross over the road and you will find The Mushroom (near TJ Hughes).  This is a cheapish bar, selling cheap trebles and shots. There is usually a queue to get in, and its usually rammed. If you dont like a jam packed bar i wouldnt bother going here.

When leaving  The Mushroom turn left doubling back on yourself, and cross over the road. You could go to Idols, which is in Newgate street shopping centre, but i would advise  walking past Pizza hut and going to City Vaults. Here you can stay upstairs listening to chart music, go to the dancefloor for a dance, drink at the bar, or go downstairs to the split-lower level to chill on the chairs if you are tired. If not, head on downstairs where you will hear RnB/Hip Hop style of music, with confortable sofas to chill on while you can go to 1 of 2 bars downstairs for your drinks.

More or less directly opposite is Popworld. This is like Boom, another 90s music fun dance kind of place. Drink cheap drinks,be 13 years old again by listening to The Real Mccoy and drink more shots!

By This time you could go to a club. The closest one would be Blu Bambu. This can cost upto £8 to get in depending on the night, and because of their “selective” door policy you might not get in.

If a club is not your thing then when coming out of Popworld you can turn to your left, walking down the hill of the bigg market, and go to Reflex. They play 80s-90s music and sell more cheap drinks. By this time i would imagine you are very drunk