Campus Social Life - Plays, Pop Music, and Pubs

Campus Social Life – Plays, Pop Music, and Pubs
By: Luke Saenz de Viteri

There is nothing like finding a place like home when home is just about as far away as you can possibly imagine. Freshmen year is a trying time for all teens. Being an ocean away from your friends and family makes things all the more difficult; finding someplace to feel welcome becomes imperative to one’s social survival.

The Belfry, home of the Digby Lions, and the perfectly concocted Snakebite has become my haven during my time here in London. The idea of a pub on a college campus within 100 yards of the dormitories certainly might seem a bit foreign to us Americans, but here in England (and the rest of Europe, really) it is the standard. The culture of the college social life is universal and it revolves around having a good time.

At Roehampton University, the epicenter of the social scene is almost exclusively within the gates of the university. The pubs on campus are open until 11:30 p.m. everyday except for Saturday, and on any given day you are likely to see five or six of your mates having a pint. Thursday nights are big nights on campus as well as they alternate between acoustic night (an event at which New Haven’s very own Luke Saenz de Viteri brought audience members to tears with his rendition of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here) and band night at Barcode at Whitelands and the Belfry at Digby Stuart respectively. Friday nights are always chaotic at Roehampton, because Friday night’s event is the Bop, the weekly event at Froebel. Think school dance meets dance club plus weekly themes to base your attire on. Themes like Pirates and Wenches, S.H.A.G., 90’s Night, and Toga Party help the Bop sell out every week.

Being a music industry major, I made it a point to check out the local music scene and some of the small up and coming clubs in central London. I made an excursion into central London to see my friend’s band For Ramona at a night club called Metro. It took us quite some time to arrive, but when we got there we followed stairs down into the main room where we heard the band playing. The sound quality was impressive for a medium sized venue, everyone in the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves, the bar was big which meant a short wait for drinks, and after the band played, the DJ put on some great music that everyone could dance to. All that entertainment only cost us a modest two quid. Alternatively, I found myself excluded from playing or attending shows at certain clubs; however, London offers many more opportunities to the eighteen year old music enthusiast.

The better concert experience came on our second adventure. The venue was called Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Imagine aspects of a club, a bar, and a restaurant all mixed in with a bowling alley and you have a good idea of what this venue is like.