Your Hatters Hostel

Ladies and Gentelmen, get on your dancing shoes!

Thirsty for a wicked night out at the greatest indie club in Birmingham? Look no further my friends.. Let me introduce you to the brilliant Snobs.

For more than 30 years Birmingham’s indie nightclub Snobs has been famous for its indie rock music heaven, ridiculously cheap drinks, and dance floors full of friendly guys and gals that have only one thing in mind – to have some seriously reckless nocturnal fun!

So you’ve had a couple of drinks, you are in a merry mood ready to let your hair down and party till you drop.. but you just don’t know where to start? You don’t know the area so well and the places seem random, expensive or just not your piece of cake? Welcome home everybody, Snobs will cater to your every indie need without all the dresscode, boring music, unfriendly crowd, bloody expensive drinks nonsense.

There are two rooms – in the small oldies room you can dance away to Retro Classics, Big Soul and Sunflower 60’s played by wonderful DJs Elison and Mr Paul Cook. It he Big Room charminI DJs Gav Jones, Dave Southam, Gavin Priest and Jimmy Gibson will make your feet surrender to the greatest Indie Rock & Garage tunes out there throwing in some of the great Classics you love.

Snobs is located at the very city centre, only 10 mins walk from Hatters Birmingham. Doors open at 10pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and close at 3pm or 3:30pm on Saturdays. It costs £4 or £5 to get in, however it is cheaper – £2 or £3 if you have a flyer (just ask one of our lovely receptionists!).

There is no dress code, however you might consider not to wear anything too fancy, it can get real sweaty in there! As long as you are not wearing Burrbery or flip-flops, and have a photo ID that proves you are over 18, the lovely doormen will let you in.

Did I mention the cheap booze? Carlsberg bottles are £1 on Wed, £1.50 on Fri& Sat, all house spirits are £1 or £1.50 with a mixer. Sounds good? You won’t have a single excuse for not getting wasted and having the best night out!

If you still have some energy left after your wicked night out at Snobs, you can keep partying across the street at alternative music bar Subside, which is open until 5am. Alternatively you can just grab some quick cheesy chips at the Top Nosh round the corner from Snobs and head back to Hatters Hostel to rest your dancing feet and catch up on some sleep in our comfy beds.

If you happen to be in Birmingham don’t miss out on a fab fun night out and join probably the best indie party in town!

For more info you can visit Snobs website.

Cheerio!

So you’re sitting at home looking at the calendar and realising there is only one week until New Year! Where has 2009 gone?! Until now we have all been praying for a white Christmas and a reason to phone the boss to say ‘‘There is too much snow outside to get to work!’’. You may have been working your donkey off, or studying so much you could write your own encyclopaedia. Now is the time to get your glad rags on, let your hair down and pile into Birmingham for some of the best New Year celebrations you will find this side of Europe! We have events going on to cater for everyone’s needs. From the inaugural Centennary Square fireworks at midnight, to some of the most famous and original UK Dance events.

At the top of our list, the biggest UK New Year’s Eve dance music event and is going to be immense. The NEC plays host to five massive arenas of hardcore, trance, house, and of course drum ‘n’ bass, with state-of-the-art lighting and sound technology. Not only is d ‘n’ b master Andy C going to be there, but so will Goldie, DJ Hype and DJ Sky, with an exclusive 2-hour midnight set from Tidy Boys. Check out www.slamminvinyl.com for tickets and further details.

Also not needing much of an intro, Godskitchen @ Air is always a favourite within the rave world, and the New Year’s Eve offering is no exception, with trance legends Tall Paul, John 00Flemming and Big Al sending you into a euphoric whirlwind of New Year cheer in the Oxygen Room, the Nitrogen Room pumping out all those massive house tunes you want to hear, and a host of other stuff going on in between.

Brum’s central arts hub Custard Factory is being taken over by Belgian electro-giants, 2 Many DJs, who’ll be bringing their cutting edge mixes and headlining the lakeside marquee. Alongside these legends will be a DJ set from Simian Mobile Disco, Plump DJs, with their bouncy mix of breaks and beats, and a whole gang of other electro and indie/alternative artists.

Lest we forget Brum’s very own Ibiza! Gatecrasher will be home to a collective mix of Dance, R’n’B, and Indie across four rooms. With acts like Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Lost Prophets very own Ian Watkins, they are bound to satisfy the gathering of music lovers! www.gatecrasherbirmingham.com/

If you would prefer dining with friends whilst watching some of the UK’s and international best comedy talent, the Glee Club NYE party is the one for you. For just £30 you can laugh your way into 2010 and enjoy the late bar and disco after the show. Check out: www.glee.co.uk for tickets and more info.

If Classical music is more your thing… Try out the Symphony Hall for your NYE celebrations. With guest appearances from the London Concert Orchestra, music conductor Anthony Inglis, and soprano Claire Wild, it’ll be sure to get those hairs raised off the back of your neck! Check out: www.thsh.co.uk/view/new-years-eve-gala09 .

And where better to accommodate yourself than our cosy Hatters Hostel! Be quick though as spaces are filling fast….

…………Plenty of events going on in Birmingham this weekend!

Fancy some Football? Then don’t miss one of the football events of the year – part one of this season’s Second City Derby between Birmingham City and Aston Villa on Sunday! If you can’t get a ticket it is still worth watching it in Brum: there are many city centre pubs that will show the game and where you can soak up that special atmosphere. Ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction!

… Culture? Explore some history during the English Heritage Open Days weekend in the Jewellery Quarter. Plenty to discover in all the historic buildings and sites around the Hatters!

… Music? Our O2 Academy is celebrating the opening of their brand new venue with gigs of some of Birminghams best known acts, starting tonight (Thursday) with The Editors. Klick here for more information.

… Beer? Whether you’re into Real Ale or just want to experience a typical English beer festival and sample a great selection of ales, don’t miss the Birmingham Beer Festival at Aston Student Guild. A free vintage bus service to the festival leaves every 30 minutes from Colmore Row, a 5 minutes walk from the Hatters.

………………….… and the ArtsFest 2009

The biggest event of the weekend and one that certainly includes something for everyone is undoubtetly the ArtsFest, the UK’s biggest free arts festival!

Get ready for a weekend full of music, dance, theatre, street art and much more in places all around the city. A lot of the action is going on around Centenary Square, where you can see various musicians performing all weekend. One of the highlights there is Sunday’s KerrangFest with many local acts and headlined by Athlete and Reverend and the Makers.

There are plenty more bands playing indoors and outdoors all around Birmingham throughout the weekend. It is not all about music though and the is so much more to discover over the next few days! Pick up a program for the best overview of what’s going on or have a look at the website.

Good news for live music fans from near and far: Birmingham is getting a brand new O2 Academy!

In a few days time the old venue is closing down for good and a new bigger and better one will open its doors on September 10th for live music, live music and more live music … not to forget the plenty of club nights!

And is there any better way to celebrate a live music venue in Birmingham than with a selection of great Brummie musicians?

The opening weekend will see four of Birmingham’s most popular bands headlining four successive evenings at the new venue!

Thu, 10/09 – The Editors

The big weekend kicks off with The Editors, supported by Bombay Bicycle Club and The Northwestern. In the wake of their new album ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ the sold out gig in their hometown is The Editors’ first non-festival show in 2009.

Fri, 11/09 – The Twang

The second day is set to be a big big party with no less than 10 bands playing across 3 rooms, headlined by our Jewellery Quarter-neighbours The Twang! They have just released their new album, named after that wonderful part of or wonderful town which we (Hatters) are based in! Rehearsing and writing songs in this creativity-sparking area and hanging out in the pub round the corner, they love “our” part of Birmingham as much as we do. Their Academy gig has been sold out for a while, but maybe you’ll pop into them when you hang out around the Hatters?

Sat, 12/09- The Streets

On the Saturday Mike Skinner aka The Streets will add a bit of rap to all the rock music and entertain the crowd with material from his new album ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ plus hopefully plenty of old classics.

Sun, 13/09 – Ocean Colour Scene

Last but not least Moseley boys Ocean Colour Scene will rock the Academy’s stage together with The Moon. OCS were the first band to headline the old Academy on its opening day 9 years ago and are looking forward to being part of this fresh launch too. They’re playing another special gig a few days earlier (Wednesday the 9th), an accoustic set in Selfridges! Tickets for that are only availbale through a competition – see here for the details. And if you’re not lucky enough: Join the Hatters crew for the gig at the new Academy!