After the club we're going straight to my house

Friday Feeling, 5th Avenue, Manchester

5th Avenue bills itself as “Manchester’s No.1 Indie Venue” and is the main rival to the town’s other major indie club, the trendy scarves-and-haircuts haven of 42nd Street.

Let’s take a look at some of 5th Avenue’s indie credentials:

1) It is predominantly underground.
2) The music is deafening.
3) The drinks cost LESS THAN ONE POUND.

Basically it is what Steve Lamacq sees when he closes his eyes at night.

Friday nights at 5th (as local scenesters refer to it) is ‘Friday Feeling’, with “a mixture of indie and alternative dance to suit your taste”, which basically means you can expect to hear a bit of Fatboy Slim thrown into the usual mix of 2003’s latest indie smashes.

It’s not so much that the club is stuck in the past, as it’s tentative to embrace the future (no Hadouken!, Patrick Wolf or The Sounds, for example). They don’t take many risks. We know that ‘Banquet’ is great to dance to, but where are its successors?

Indeed, the main criticism of 5th Avenue is the static playlist, which makes regular visits a very predictable affair. You’re pretty much guaranteed to hear the same songs every week, with very few surprises or newies. This is fine if you just want to dance to your favourite indie records, but not so good if you’re looking for brand new tunage. Apparently they offer requests too, but we’re yet to see one fulfilled.

The best thing about the place is that they know to only play the most danceable indie records, and the forays into more electronic territory, while limited, should keep you bopping along nicely as well.

Also, the club is ridiculously cheap and fairly relaxed, and we have experienced some fantastic nights there. If you’re a student, an indie obsessive, or someone who doesn’t mind sticking to the floor if you so much as stand still for a second, it can’t be faulted.

Just be careful around the bouncers.

5th Avenue, Princess Street, Manchester
Friday Feeling: £2 before 11 with NUS/flyer, £4 after.