Ever had the urge to go clubbing but have an intense hatred of dance music?   Are your tastes more Rock than R'n'B?   Don't have enough money to get into most clubs in any case?

If so, Manchester town centre offers a night out that you might find perfect...

Which Night?

The weekend - that special time of the week when there are no lessons and hour upon hour can be spent in the pursuit of glorious insobriety. Except for the fact that weekends are the most popular times for part-time work, so getting absolutely hammered on a Friday night can lead to shifts of hangover hell. The answer is simple - Thursday! Ah... Thursday, (as the T-Shirt says), is the new Friday.

Getting There

A tram to St Peter's Square is the way to go¹ for a cheap and quick ride to Oxford Street, which is your destination of choice. Buses to Piccadilly are also a good bet² although this will involve a bit more walking than the tram. Taxis are not recommended for the inward journey, but you'll want one later on.

The Bars

Your first destination is Grand Central on Oxford Street for cheap alcopops, sambuca, and a two-pint cocktail called 'Skittles' which will loosen up those beer-drinking muscles that you'll need to utilise later on. Here's also a good place for a game of pool, although best keep the beer off the table as a broken nose from the staff often offends. The jukebox contains such bands as Nirvana, Faith No More and Motorhead, and not a dance tune in sight. Once fully started on the road to drunken oblivion, as long as it's after about 9:30 it's time to head up and across the road to tonight's club.

Your goal is Jilly's Rockworld, also on Oxford Road. Its clientele have included such luminaries as Marilyn Manson, as well as students and bikers, and as such it makes for an interesting and surprisingly tolerant atmosphere. Thursday's 'Cheapskate' night is just that, it'll cost you a pound on the door and then a pound per bottle of Fosters or Carlsberg³ or £2:40⁴ for a shot and coke. Vodka and Jack Daniels are the spirits of choice although there is a range available. Once inside and suitably drunk you'll want to dance, gamble or attempt to meet members of the opposite sex. Aside from the foyer which contains the only fruit machine in the club, a sweet dispenser, the toilets and groups of students talking, there are four rooms in Rockworld.

Room One plays a mixture of Ska, Hardcore and Emo and the Main Room - with its stage, pool tables and overcrowded bar - plays modern and classic rock from The Darkness, Rage Against the Machine and Korn to Alice Cooper and quite surprisingly Bryan Adams. The Fishbowl will be playing alternative and Gothic tunes and the small and secret Room Four plays garage rock and is the best place to put a song request in.

Food and Getting Home

At 2am when you stagger out of Rockworld, it's time to grab some food and head for home. Turn left down Oxford Street and about a hundred yards down on the opposite side you'll see a Kebab House called Monsoon's. After grabbing a kebab or some chips you'll want to either jump a black cab for an extortionate fare⁵, or head back towards St Peter's Square to 'Kick-a-Cab⁶' opposite the Ritz. It acquired the name 'Kick-a-Cab' due to the method of kicking the shutters next to LaserQuest and shouting your request up through the open window. Your minicab will usually arrive within the time it takes to eat your kebab, and you get good value for money on your trip.

Once safely in a cab, all you have to worry about is tomorrow's hangover - but that's what Friday mornings are for right?

Variations on the Theme

Don't think that Manchester is a two-venue town, there are a number of other places to go for a drink and some guitar-driven music. And it's not just Thursdays, by varying your destination you can rock on all week long!

• The Star and Garter on Fairfield Street provides either live student and unsigned bands and a disco playing some decent tunes. It also has pool tables and fruit machines for those more inclined to gaming and gambling.
• Satan's Hollow, on Princess Street is another good club, with metal and rock on the system and cheap and plentiful drink. For those inclined to try different things, it has a bhangra night on Thursdays with the pure Rock night being the Tuesday.
• The Ritz just off Oxford Road provides you with another Rock night on Mondays for only £3 in and cheap alcopops at £1.20 a bottle. It's also conveniently right next to 'Kick-a-Cab' so you can drink more as you don't have to stagger as far to get a minicab!
• Fifth Avenue on Princess Street is possibly the best value-for-money club you'll find on a Friday night. Pick up a flyer from one of the people handing them out near Monsoon's and before 11pm men get in for £3 and ladies get in for free. After that it's a pound for a vodka and redbull to set you up for a bit of air guitar to Oasis and Radiohead with a bit of running up and down on the spot⁷ to Madness thrown in for good measure. It does get crowded but the atmosphere is top notch.