Nightclub entertainment in Europe
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A
Teatro Joy Eslava
The only things guaranteed at this grand old Madrid dance club (housed in a 19th-century theatre) are a crowd and the fact that it will be open. (The club claims to have opened every single day for the past 29 years.) The music and the crowd are a mixed bag, but queues are long and invariably include locals and tourists, and even the occasional famoso.
reviewed
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B
Sankey's
If you're a fan of techno, electro or any kind of nonmainstream house music, then a pilgrimage to Manchester's best nightclub should on no account be missed. Sankey's has earned itself legendary status for being at the vanguard of dance music (Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and others got their start here) and its commitment to top-class DJs is unwavering: these days, you'll hear the likes of Timo Maas, Seb Leger and Thomas Schumacher mix it up with the absolutely superb residents. Choon! The best way to get here is to board the free Disco Bus that picks up at locations throughout the city from 10.30pm to 2am Friday and Saturday, and between 10.10pm and 1am the rest of the …
reviewed
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C
Central Park
Hidden off in the leafy Parco delle Cascine, Florence’s largest disco brings several acres of Ibiza to the city’s western edge. The sprawling club has two outdoor dance floors, an artificial waterfall, VIP lounge seating raised a metre or so above the common folk, plus a pair of indoor dance floors. Move back and forth between pop, dance, electronica or disco kitsch, as the mood dictates.
reviewed
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D
Twice
Mainstream fun is on tap at this venue that starts the night as a wine bar and then turns into a dance club after 11pm (hence the name). The clientele tends to be Pretty Young Things in search of same. After the aperitivo buffet closes down, the DJs start to arrive with their iPods stuffed with hip-hop and Top 40 dance hits.
reviewed
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E
Palacio Gaviria
A recently renovated palace converted into one of the most popular dance clubs in Madrid, this is the kind of place where the crowd can be pretty young and boisterous and the queues long. Thursday is international student and house music night – international relations have never been so much fun.
reviewed
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F
YAB Club
Yes, at YAB, You Are Beautiful, and this sleek, mirror-lined nightclub won’t let you forget it. Crowds skew young, and the best sound system in the city centre have made the Monday hip-hop party a Florentine classic.
reviewed
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G
Les Trois Diables
Music is a mix of trip-hop, house and electro at this small local club. Thursday is student night (show your ID); Wednesday is karaoke.
reviewed
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H
Twice
DJs and amateur stripping are part of the hip-to-hip youth dancing to two beats in two rooms. Prepare to sweat.
reviewed
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Voodoo
This vast club is the centre of Letterkenny's nightlife. Check the website for events.
reviewed
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Adraba
This nightclub has history. It was one of the most famous nightclubs of la movida madrileña until it burned down (killing 81 revellers in the process) in 1983. It finally reopened to much fanfare in 2010 and has rapidly re-established itself as one of the city’s best. The designer decor is stunning, the safety provisions second to none and there’s five nights of dancing with a sophisticated crowd. Thursday night is ‘Vanité’ (which comes with the attached subtitle of ‘The Most Fashion Night’ and is devoted to glamour and lounge-bar sounds), while Friday and Saturday take you through the last three decades of dance tunes. Bookends to the rather long Adraba weekend are prov…
reviewed
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Nasti Club
It’s hard to think of a more off-putting entrance with Nasti Club’s graffiti and abandoned-building look. Its staple, appropriately, is a faithfully grungy approach to the 1970s (pop, rock and punk), both in terms of music and decor. But it’s not as nasty as it sounds and the crowd can span the full range of 1970s throwbacks from a Who’s Who of Madrid’s underground to some surprisingly respectable types. Above all it’s a place with attitude, and as its own publicity says, it’s not from Barcelona, it doesn’t play electronica, people who come here are cool and no one’s ever heard of the live acts who appear here until they become famous two years later. Says…
reviewed
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J
Plastic People
Taking the directive 'underground club' literally, Plastic People provides a low-ceilinged subterranean den of dubsteppy, wonky, funky, no-frills fun times.
reviewed
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K
FAC 251: The Factory
Tony Wilson's legendary Factory Records label HQ has been converted into a brand new club and live-music venue part-owned by Peter Hook, ex-bass player of Joy Division and New Order. The club nights have a pretty broad appeal, from Monday's Hit & Run (drum 'n' bass, hip hop and dubstep) to Stoned Love on Saturday, which features the music of the ribald days of the late '80s and early '90s. Ex–Stone Roses bass player Mani is on the decks for Wednesday's Fuel.
reviewed
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L
Cool
Cool by name, cool by nature. One of the hottest clubs in the city, the Phillipe Starck–designed curvy white lines, discreet lounge chairs in dark corners and pulsating dance floor are decked by gorgeous people, gorgeous clothes and a strict entry policy. Thursday is given over to ‘Sunflower Dance Sessions’ (house music and a fashionista crowd), Friday is ‘Stardust’ (electronica and techno), while Saturdays are called ‘Royal’ with new house music and a predominantly gay clientele. Things don’t really get going until 3am.
reviewed
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M
Cargo
A popular club with a courtyard where you can simultaneously enjoy big sounds and the great outdoors. Hosts live bands and gay bingo too.
reviewed
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N
Cavalli Club
Call it what you will – glamorous, over-the-top, vulgar – but you can’t deny that this club has character. The latest addition to Roberto Cavalli’s empire hides slyly within a deconsecrated chapel built into the flank of Chiesa del Carmine. At night, a chaste wooden door swings open to reveal a pink, heart-shaped entrance. Inside, the chrome-and-mirror nightclub is equipped with a killer sound system, get-cosy alcoves, and a louche crowd of 30-and-up fashion types and their iffy financiers.
reviewed
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O
Sala Flamingo
One of the most ‘in’ places in Madrid for many years, Sala Flamingo is famous above all for its Friday night ‘OchoyMedia’ session, which seamlessly blends indie rock with electronica to create its own genre, rockotrónica – this is the night when local celebrities flood through the doors. For a complete change of pace and clientele, ‘Darkhole’ on Saturday is all black and Gothic, while Thursday kicks it all off with ‘Playback’, where dressing down seems to be the only requirement.
reviewed
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P
Stella
If you arrive here after 3am, there simply won’t be room and those inside have no intention of leaving until dawn. The DJs here are some of Madrid’s best, and the great visuals will leave you cross-eyed if you weren’t already from the music in this heady place. Thursday and Saturday nights (‘Mondo’, for electronica) rely on resident and invited DJs, while Friday nights (‘The Room’) is usually the preserve of Ángel García, one of the celebrated stalwart DJs of the Madrid night.
reviewed
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Q
Pachá
This megaclub is one of the international chain of clubs that earned its fame in Ibiza and became a major Madrid club during la movida. As serious clubbers have moved on, the oh-my-gosh, barely out of school set turns up in droves for the fun mixture of house, Latin and Spanish music, and mixes it with 30-somethings who never grew up. The name still has a certain cachet on the Madrid nightlife scene, so the odd celebrity turns up here.
reviewed
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R
Libreria Café la Cité
Already an institution of Oltrarno cultural life, this combination cafe, bookstore and cultural centre was founded by a collective of young Florentine intellectuals. Sip an espresso, access the free wi-fi, read in the quiet mezzanine, or attend the free evening events that usually include jazz jam sessions on Monday, tango lessons on Tuesday, literary readings on Wednesday, theatre and dance on Thursday and live music Friday and Saturday.
reviewed
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Kapital
One of the most famous megaclubs in Madrid, this massive seven-storey nightclub has something for everyone: from cocktail bars and dance music to karaoke, salsa, hip hop and more chilled spaces for R&B and soul, as well as a section devoted to ‘Made in Spain’ music. It’s such a big place that a cross-section of Madrid society (VIPs and the Real Madrid set love this place) hangs out here without ever getting in each other’s way.
reviewed
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T
Button Factory
A top-class sound system, a carpeted back bar and a big main stage make this an excellent venue to hear some of the more interesting visiting and local acts.
reviewed
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U
Spy Bar
The former ice-queen of the club scene has reinvented itself. Gone are the reality-TV brats and stuck-up staff, and in their place is a mock-baroque look and chilled-out combo of media types and indie fashionistas for whom well-mixed drinks and smooth electro tunes matter more than Prada mules and sports cars. It’s not as cool as it used to be, and that’s a good thing.
reviewed
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V
Copper Face Jacks
Chart hits and established favourites provide the musical backdrop in Dublin's favourite meat-market, the nightclub of choice for country lads and lasses, nurses, the odd GAA star and even off-duty cops, who are often the biggest miscreants of the lot.
reviewed
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W
Charada
Charada took the Madrid nightlife scene by storm in 2009 and has never looked back. Its decor is New York chic (with no hint of its former existence as a brothel), the cocktails are highly original, the clientele is well heeled and often famous, it’s the home turntable for some of the best house DJs in town. Thursday’s ‘Future Disco Jams’ (disco-funk) is our pick of the nights.
reviewed
