One of the good things about the nightlife in Newcastle is you can pretty much walk around all of the areas, as in distance they are all quite close, but in style all very different. But which is the best?

The main areas of Newcastle can be broken down to: The Gate, The Diamond Strip/Central Station, The Bigg Market and The Quayside.

What is considered cool/popular has changed alot. A few years ago the Quayside was a cool place to go, everyone went, clubs like Sea and Baja would be packed with massive queues. Then the people outside of Newcastle found out about it. Now there are stag and hen parties as far as the eye can see, and the locals by majority go to other places. I was in Quilted Camel a few months ago, 21:00 on a Friday night, and there was a handful of people there. Rewind a few years and you wouldnt be able to move. Have the Stag and Hens spoiled the Quayside, or are there now just more/better choices?

Blu Bambu @ the Bigg Market was also considered one of the best Saturday nights out in Newcastle. With big queues, a packed club every week, it was doing good for itself. They destroyed all that themselves by not moving with the times, and forgetting that all the people they would not let in went to other places, never to return. Soon enough they lost the ability to draw a crowd.

Today the place to be is the Central Station area, aka The Diamond Strip. Bars like Madame Koo, Perdu, Bijoux etc. People have a love of trendy bars at the moment, with nice decor, ‘posh’ feel, and a “no cheese allowed here” view. The problem i have with them is the price tag and attitude which goes with some of them. If they are upmarket, why do some of them sell cheap spirits? I hate the places which sell cheap vodka or cheap Martini, to me its like a shop selling a fake. If you go to these places and pay more you expect to get better standard drinks, which is why we go, to drink!

So i would say the best area is The Diamond Strip. BUT, it does depend on what kind of night you want. If you are into a cheesy mood, try The Gate and bars around the Bigg Market.

Leave a comment to have your say

If you are a promoter of a bar, event or basically anything on the internet please take note. PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE SPAM!!!

I am a member of lots of groups, forums, websites, Facebook groups and pages on the internet. The correct and best way to utilize this marketing is not to spam people, not to piss them off…You should want them to keep reading the things they have decided to opt into. It seems like some people forget that these services are an opt-in, which means we can leave and then they will have 1 less person on their mailing list.

I get LOADS of messages from Madame Koo from a person in charge of their Facebook page/group…The problem is, i get multiple messages, all the time!! This is very annoying, and instead of getting people to go to the place like its supposed to, it just annoys people. Dont they realise sending 3 emails/messages which are EXACTLY the same in the space of 10 minutes will make people unsubscribe/leave their group. I have noticed people leaving all the time, more than half the people who were in the Facebook group have left, probably because, like me, they are sick.

It is a great tool if it is used correctly. If it is not, it is counter productive, i dont think they even realise how much damage it could do. They might aswell stand outside and shout at every passing person COME IN OUR PACE!! COME ON!! I have not left yet, but they are doing a good job to drive me away.

Check out this screenshot below…These are messages sent to me all within the space of 11 minutes; The Same Message!

Koosday, Madame Koos flagship event is now too big for its venue says its promoters. Koosday is the new word for Tuesday if you hadnt heard.

They have now extended the Koosday experience to next door, Floritas, so there is more space for you to get in and enjoy the party. With its mix of cheap drinks and VIP style table service and full bottles of spirits available, it is the place to be in Newcastle on a Tuesday night.

If you want a reason NOT to go check out the video below. This is Charlie who was in Big Brother. Why does Madame Koo want this as a promo? Tup Tup gets people like Alesha Dixon, and Koos has BB Charlie?!?!  He tries to cling onto some sort of ‘celebrity’ status, but his ‘douche’ status shines much, much brighter. What a twat.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apHbLhTCT0A[/youtube]

Madame Koo has officially changed the name of the 2nd day of the week. It shall no longer be called Tuesday, but now called Koosday.

Its another night for the Students, yes they are back in town for another year. They are playing “funky dirty disco” which means house. Entry is £3-£4 and doors open at 22.00 till 03.00 As it is a student night it offers cheap drinks, Jagerbombs for £1.50, doubles £2.50

According to their Facebook page, The team behind Floritas, Baby Lynch and Madame Koo are looking for shooter girls to sell drinks to their customers.

What are they thinking?! These places are supposed to be classy bars, and now it looks like they are following the trend of the lower class bars by having people come round and annoy you and pressure you into buying more drinks.

I personally HATE these kinds of things bars do. You are the customer, and have chose their establishment out of many that are in Newcastle. You buy their drinks, but now that is not enough for them. They now have people going around trying to sell you more. Shots are cool! I love them. Sambuca, Jagermeister, Tequila, i love drinking shots. But, if i want one, i know where the bar is. Why do the bars feel the need to have this kind of gimmick.

They do have their place. I can understand them being in a place such as City Vaults, Chase and ‘fun bars’; But The bars on The Diamond Strip are supposed to be more upmarket, and have class. There is nothing upmarket about having a girl come round trying to sell you something.

One of the good things about these bars is that they dont (or didnt) have girls coming round bugging you and interrupting your night. That seems to have now gone, and these three bars are now copying the trend which is the shot girl.

Boutique brings together a mix of RnB and Funky house under one roof. It takes place in the latest bar on The Diamond Strip, Madame Koo.

It is advertised as offering a whole different vibe to the usual places, and is a welcome addition to a Thurday night. If you dont want to go to Lovedough, you can go here. They offer a good selection of drinks including cocktails.

Doors open at 22.00 and you can party the night away until 3am!

Newcastle nights out is all about the weekend. The bars are usually always full, for the last few weeks the bars on the diamond strip have had pretty big queues outside them. So what happens through the week? NOTHING! Its amazing to see places like Perdu and Floritas which get queues reguarly on Saturday night, being empty on a midweek night. I was in Perdu and Floritas, in each bar there couldnt have been more than 20 people in at any 1 time. I was gonna go into Baby Lynch but it was so sparse (i mean no staff aswell as no people) i didnt know if it were open or not.

Revolution was doing slightly better, but nowhere near what its like at the weekend. Still it got a few people in it which was more than any other bar around the area.

I guess if you wanna go out through the week the only place to go is the Gate, which does get decent numbers of people in.

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

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

Newcastle was probably the busiest its been this year last night, considering its the middle of the month and the weather didnt help matters either since it was raining most of the day and in drabs on the night.

The bars had queues! Even bars which dont normally have queues, such as Destination, were packed. The standard queues for the diamond strip bars especially early on, Perdu, Floritas and Revolution all had pretty big queues outside so i thought better of going to them at that point of the night.

I did go into Revolution, where some fucking muppet spilled more or less a whole pint down the back of my jeans, what a dickhead. He actually said “i’m sorry there’s not much else i can say”. What a cock. I used my I Heart Vodka card and got 12 shots and a jug of Absolut Chambles which only came to £22. Not bad for 6 glasses of drink and 12 shots

Baby Lynch was pretty quiet early on, and the latest entry to the diamond strip, Madame Koo was open for a pre-opening kind of thing. Unfortunatly the place looked like a building site outside, why have a pre-opening like that? They should of kept the place closed till it was ready, but maybe they are just testing the water or something.

Blue down the quayside is now closed. This might just be for refurbishments, but it was not open and looked like it was getting a makeover or the place may be gone for good.

There was also police everwhere. There was apparently some trouble after the Newcastle game. Police were dotted all over the town outside bars, subway etc.