Stolen Ubers and dance battles: students recall their best and worst nights out

Marina Lazarova’s (22, Communication and Media) favourite place is Ferry, located on Westblaak, for a number of reasons. The entrance is free and she appreciates the wide range hit songs both old and new that are played there which, according to her, is not common for other clubs. Nonetheless, the best aspect of Ferry is the safety and ambience, she says, because it is a queer club. “In other places, I can feel uncomfortable a lot of times by the amount of straight guys who are horrible towards women, but this does not happen in Ferry. Everyone’s super nice and open no matter what their sexuality is.”

Ali* (24, Arts and Culture) really likes Toffler (on Weena), but he had his best clubbing experience in Annabel at Hofplein. “I was high, and then I met this girl and her friends and roommates, and now they’re my coolest group of friends!” Ali also thinks it is funny to observe how people try to get home after clubbing. “Everyone leaves the clubs at around the same time, flooding the streets, probably drunk or high. There are so many young people just wasted.” His most cherished memory is gathering at an eatery after the club closes: “There is this Turkish place at Eendrachtsplein, and having kapsalon there is the best! It is also a great place for an afterparty.”

Mono in the Vijverhofstraat is the number one place for Mercan Uludag (22, Sociology). She appreciates the spaciousness of the club, as opposed to her unpleasant experience at a club called Poing (Schiekade): “That was small, claustrophobic, foggy, and my friend got sick because of that.” Mono typically plays techno and house music. She recalls the night when the mix of alcohol and house music made her night. “I like house music more because you can dance to it. Techno is better when you are high. For house, you have to be blackout drunk. I had a lot of beer and Jägermeister, that helped.”

Maxime Beller (19, Communication and Media) recalls the carnival party at Now&Wow on Maashaven earlier this year, where he was dressed as a poker dealer. He recognised a lot of people and danced with over thirty people. However, he fondly remembers a person he spent an hour with at the club: “I met a dude in the techno stage of the club and he loved my costume. We stayed there for an hour, danced together and went up to other people and created dance battles.” The night took a bit of an unexpected turn, as he and his friends had to walk back home for almost two hours. “We paid for an Uber, but it was stolen by another group of people coming out of the club. We were annoyed at first, but then we just walked back home at 4 a.m. and had good conversations.”