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House

If there’s any House music lovers out there, Déjà vu at The Welly is a must. Yes, it’s a little expensive at the door, but if it’s the best DJs you want to hear it is certainly worth it. This night is one of the longest running dance music nights in Hull and their list of previous DJ bookings reads like a who’s who of House music both commercial and underground. Make the trip down once in a while for a taste of Ibiza in cold, rainy Hull.

Drum ‘n’ Bass

If it’s Drum ‘n’ Bass you’re after then you need to get out to a Shinobi party. They host regular events at both The Welly and Lamp and last year had big name DJs such as Goldie, Adam F, Chase & Status, TC and Black Sun Empire come to play. If you’re lucky you might even get a bit of dubstep (a scarcity in Hull).  Definitely a weekend staple amongst student and local ravers alike. For people who like their Drum ‘n’ Bass a little deeper be sure to check out Dust who host nights at The Attic. These guys are still somewhat off the radar with students but with guest DJs last year including Total Science, Digital and Artificial Intelligence you’d be a fool to miss out. This is a unique night in Hull offering something for everyone from a musical perspective. Both big names and new, exciting acts share the stage at these parties. You can expect to hear anything from Hip Hop and Breaks through to Dubstep and live Drum ‘n’ Bass. Be sure to check out The Funky & Shinobi Alternative End of Year Ball for one of the best and busiest nights of the year.

Joe Ingledew

Classical

Performances run all year round in Hull, but here are a few to help you start off the academic year with a bit of class. First up  is the beginning of a series of events on home turf: a piano recital by Mark Bebbington on Friday 3^rd October on the University of Hull’s new Steinway Piano (a replacement following damage to the music departments instruments in last year’s flood). Moving swiftly on to 4^th November, there is a production of the Nutcracker ballet at the New Theatre, which continues until Saturday 8^th. Later on in the month on the 29^th the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing a selection of popular classics at Hull City Hall, including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture (the one with the cannons) and Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana (the one in Raging Bull) amongst others. The series of piano concerts at the University would be well worth a visit as they may include chances to engage in discussion and avoid huge audiences. However, if you’re after big orchestras doing big performances, the November City Hall and New Theatre events would be fitting and also include good student discounts.

George Cooper

Funk and Soul

If you’re not of an Indie disposition then fear not, Hull offers a surprisingly wide array of wholly alternative nights out. As always, The Adelphi Club is part of this, featuring Payback on the penultimate Friday of the month. Purveying a wonderful selection of jazz, funk and soul, all in the club’s homely surroundings. Think low lighting, candles on tables, eccentric locals, equally impressive eccentric dance styles and a need to jostle for dancing-room; this event is a sweaty delight. Personal favourite though this may be, The Lamp also showcases great DJs playing similar music on selected weekends. The perennial favourite Funky is more popular than ever; a guaranteed gloriously diverse melee of musical genres; find it at The Welly, Asylum, Lamp or Adelphi. Finally, Sundays at the Linnet and Lark sees Mak of The Sesh departing from his usual fare of home grown talent and offering an evening of soul classics. Time for those dancing shoes methinks.

Hannah Corner

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THEATRE
Hull’s two main theatres, Hull New Theatre and Hull Truck, are both situated in the city centre (so you can pick up tickets whilst you shop!).
From 20th October to 25th October, Hull New Theatre is showing The Buddy Holly Story, telling us the story the brief life of the musical legend. In November, they bring us the classic seasonal ballet The Nutcracker Suite, the unforgettable orphan Annie, the energetic musical (and one of my favourites) Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and the utterly eighties Footloose: The Musical.
One of Hull Truck’s October productions, My Grandfather’s Great War, is a solo drama performance by Cameron Stewart, taken from the First World War diaries of Captain Alexander Stewart. Also, BAFTA-winning playwright John Godber’s play Bouncers will be showing on the 15th January to 14th February. In the Autumn, Hull Truck also bring us comedians Jeff Green, Mark Steel and Four Poofs and a Piano (yes, them from Jonathan Ross) who could all make for an amusing and affordable evening.

CINEMA
There are four mainstream cinemas in Hull, showing all the big blockbuster films. Three of these are within walking distance of the City Centre (Odeon, Vue, Reel), and the other is only a bus journey away in Kingswood (Cineworld, next door to Hollywood Bowl!).
Our fifth cinema, Hull Screen, is an independent art house cinema and tends to show more obscure and unusual films. They have been near to closure at various points, but are now looking forward to the possibility of a new home. You can browse their showings online at http://www.friendsofhullscreen.co.uk/

GALLERIES and MUSEUMS
Are you an art lover? Hull won’t disappoint. Ferens Art Gallery is Hull’s artistic highlight. The Autumn exhibition – Above all, the Sky – features work by one of Hull’s most significant artists, Walter Goodin (1907-1992), is running from Saturday 27th September 2008 until early January 2009. Best of all, it has free admission, so you can spend hours wandering around, enjoying beautiful paintings, and it won’t cost you a penny.
There is also the ‘Old Town’ on the west side of Hull’s City Centre which is full of free museums and galleries and, if you like architecture, Old Town has some beautiful buildings.

UNIVERSITY
Last but certainly not least, the University is an exciting place to partake in the Arts. For instance, there are loads of Arts societies to join from the obvious Drama Society to the less obvious Gilbert and Sullivan. For a poetry lover, the English Department’s Phillip Larkin Centre holds poetry readings once a month in Zest on Newland Avenue (ten minutes walk from campus). They have previously played host to some brilliant modern poets and authors, such as Craig Raine and Matthew Sweeney, and up and coming performers include Lavinia Greenlaw and Julian Barnes. Artwork, including visiting displays from all over the world, is showcased on campus our very own Art Gallery in the bottom of the Larkin building. There are also some great plays to look forward to, some exemplary student talent at acceptable student prices. The Drama Society (Drama Soc) are due to put on a Cinderella pantomime, and (in complete contrast) a performance of A Clockwork Orange at Christmas and The Gilbert and Sullivan Society (HUGSS) are staging The Pirates of Penzance in March. The Drama Department will, as always, have a lot to offer – there are always plenty of brilliant University productions, so keep an eye out.

Entering my third year, I still haven’t tasted all the wealth of Arts that Hull has to offer the student world. So go explore, and most importantly, enjoy!

Kristin Bremmer

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The first stop for any fresher should be the Student’s Union. Two bars, a club, the Athletic Union and a wide-range of societies of all sorts provide a ready source of activity for all students. The fresher’s bazaar in the first week is a great opportunity to take a look at the societies and teams that are available to join, so be sure to check it out. The Union runs club nights in Asylum (located within the Union building) on most nights, especially during Fresher’s Week, with Tower on Wednesdays being a particular favourite of the sports societies. The neighbouring bar, Sanctuary, is open every day until 11pm, serving  a wide range of foods in addition to your favourite tipple.

For those staying at the Lawns, the Veranda Bar is in the Lawns Centre and is open every night from 7-11 providing a cheap and convenient alternative to pubs elsewhere. There are quizzes on various nights throughout the week, and they show most big football matches and other sporting events. Cottingham has a number of pubs within staggering distance of the Lawns; the Cross Keys, the Hallgate, the King William IV, and the Fair Maid are all in and around Cottingham village centre.

If you’re staying on Cranbrook Avenue, Cottingham Road, or anywhere else near the University there is plenty to do. Aside from the Union, the Gardner’s Arms and the Hayworth Arms are within easy walking distance, both having a student friendly atmosphere and great deals on food and drink, including a yellow discount card that’s definitely worthwhile for regular customers. Fusion is a relatively new bar on Cottingham Road which serves good food and hosts club nights on certain days.

Whenever you are in Hull you’ll never be short of places to go for a night out, with many clubs either in the city centre or on or near bus routes. The Sugar Mill is popular on Monday nights, but beware of long queues and it filling up quickly. Handily, queue-jump tickets are available from the box office in the Student’s Union, or from Mission and Schnapps, bars located behind the Sugar Mill. Alternatively the Piper, on Newland Avenue, hosts a very cheap night on Mondays, but queues can be a problem here too. Attic can be good on a Tuesday night, and Revolution sometimes has decent offers on cocktails. Wednesdays are unmistakeably Tower night in the Student’s Union, complete with the infamous Asylum Text Screen.

Thursdays give you a choice between Pozition and Welly. Pozition is located in the city centre and plays a wide range of music over several floors, while Welly is on Beverley Road and caters to a more alternative taste, including a Drum and Bass night once a month. Other clubs and bars in and around Hull that are worth checking out include Spiders, Sharkeys, the Adelphi, The Linnet and Lark and the Lamp, while Fuel is the centre of the city’s gay club scene. Many bands play Hull throughout the student year, with the Union, Welly, and the Adelphi all hosting gigs semi-regularly.

If clubbing isn’t really your thing, there are plenty of other options. Hull New Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre both regularly put on acclaimed plays, with the Truck Theatre moving into a new multi-million pound home this year. The Ferens Art Gallery is located in the city centre, displaying a wide range of sculpture and painting; in addition to art ranging from the medieval to the modern, it also houses arguably one of the best collections of contemporary art in the country. The Hull Maritime Museum, located close to the Ferens Art Gallery provides an interesting look into the past of the city and its connection with the sea. No article about activities in Hull would be complete without a mention of The Deep, “the world’s only submarium”. What’s a submarium? You could be forgiven for suspecting that nobody is entirely sure, although Wikipedia probably has a page explaining it, but it makes for a good tagline nonetheless. The Deep provides a stunning look at sea life and really is worth a visit. If your idea of a good day out involves plenty of shopping, even on a limited student budget, you’ll be well served by Hull.

The St Stephen’s complex, conveniently located next to the bus and train station, opened quite recently and offers a wide range of shops including Next, H&M, Topshop, and River Island. St Stephen’s also houses several restaurants and a Reel cinema, one of two in the city centre with the other, a Vue, being situated in the Prince’s Quay shopping centre. Prince’s Quay is bigger again than St Stephen’s with a large Primark, a Zavvi, and a host of other opportunities for blowing your student loan on things you’ll look back on and wonder “why?”. The Prospect Centre is probably the smallest of the three, but includes a Currys.Digital and a Wilkinson’s for bits and bobs for your accomodation. Outside of the shopping centres, Hull has the range of shops that you would expect in any other similarly sized city.

For those of a more sporting nature, there is ample opportunity to support a Hull team. Hull City AFC, playing at the KC Stadium in the south-west of the city, are riding high (well, eleventh at the time of writing, but it’s probably best not to expect that to last too long) in the Premier League, while the city is also home to two top Rugby League sides; Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers. Both play in the Super League and, as you can imagine, the rivalry is fierce. Hull FC have been the more successful of late and share the KC with Hull City AFC, being the “West Hull” team, while Hull KR play at Craven Park in the east of the city.

Hull is also home to the wonderfully named Land of Green Ginger, a street in the “old town” of the city, which is where you can see what is claimed to be the smallest window in England. Unfortunately, Hull suffered badly at the hands of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, but some remains of the old part of the city are on view; located here is the Holy Trinity Church, reputed to be the largest parish church in the country. If you appreciate a nice building, this is definitely a place to have a wander around if you have a spare afternoon. Also in the old town, on Silver Street, is the Ye Olde White Harte. Ignore the farcical spelling and have a pint; upstairs is where the city elders are said to have planned what prompted the first military act in the English Civil War, refusing Charles I entry to the city in 1642. Just round the corner, High Street has several old pubs that have a fantastic atmosphere.

As you can see, Hull is a city that has something to offer everyone, so don’t be put off by its shaky reputation and get stuck in; whether you find something we’ve mentioned above, or a hidden gem of your own, you can be sure that by the time you leave the University of Hull you will have found a city that truly is never dull.

Jonathon Cobbe

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