This time I visited Bournemouth which is as lively as most cities and has a number of bars to visit for a good old gossip before going to a club. Locals will know their favourites, but the city centre is a good place to start. As a University town there are a variety of cheap and cheerful watering holes or slightly plusher bars depending on your preference. It goes without saying that this is of course a coastal town with huge expanses of golden beach, and year round weekend visitors looking for a party. I spent several hours walking along the seafront; even though it was cold, it is a great way to spend a bit of time either before a night out or the next day if you are staying in the area (really clears a fuzzy head). If it is nice weather, well, even better, cos when the sun comes out the sea lights up a bright blue and a myriad of summer holidays come flooding back!
Let us move our discussion to Kandi’s coastal host, Crank, which is walking distance from most of the city centre bars.
Crank is a fairly plain building from the outside, but once inside you quickly realise what a fair size it is. There is an entrance hall which leads to a large ground floor which comprises the main dance floor and has bars and seating around the edges. The DJ box is at the end of the room. Up stairs is another large room which is in fact a giant balcony around the dance floor below. There is a bar at the back and a private seating area on one side, which comprises of several booths, tickets for which can be purchased from one of the ticket outlets in advance or alternatively contact the club for a further heads up. There is a very different feel to this upstairs area as it is bathed in a soft blue lighting and feels much brighter than the dance floor darkness below.
I really liked the layout of the club. The very elevated DJ box provides a real focal point although the stage for the live musician is inside the DJ box. Although this is well lit so you can see them in action, I do prefer it when they are at the front of the dance floor for a good old fashioned bit of crowd interaction. The Kandi décor looks great packed into the space overlooking the dance floor. This is particularly the case for the ‘Back to Love’ bike… I want one…in fact I spent some time in discussion with the nice man who brought it with him. Despite my imaginative attempts to find ways that it might go missing (without him loosing his job) he would not be persuaded, so if you have one knocking about the office at Kandi Towers, you know where I am!
The evening I visited the dance floor filled up nicely but there was still room at the bars or the lit upstairs area to stand and have a chat or to buy a drink without a long queue. This allowed for the usual dance floor mayhem but also somewhere a little more peaceful to retreat to. I found the new Kandi beauty booths in full swing nestled in the upstairs area, providing somewhere to pick up something shiny and get dishevelled hair tamed.
This venue did fill up but it also began to thin a little before the end of the night. Generally speaking the crowd were up for it and there was a really good atmosphere, with the usual cheers and waving to hands to the onslaught of Kandi anthems. There were several hen nights booked into the upstairs booths, but don’t worry, the door staff had done their work well as they were not cringe worthy hens, but those who wanted to go out with a group of friends have a laugh and a really good dance. If this sounds good to you then consider a trip to the coast for a night out. As it happens you are in luck, this is a monthly rendezvous and the next is this Saturday, 7th June, so if you haven’t made your end of month plans as yet this could be something to think about. X