There’s a new night club on Oxford Road, upstairs from Odder Bar. Before it was called The Function Room, it was a bar with a sofa-cushy-peach beer vibe. Now it’s a lot more modern, with space for a sizeable dancefloor. Think of it as a lighter version of 5th Ave – but unusually combining intimate and industrial, with its many metal roller shutters. The atmosphere was a bit more relaxed as well, and its clientele isn’t solely student-based. The bar doesn’t offer a particularly wide variety of alcohol, then again, what it does offer is good: dark and light bottles of Krusovice beer, some nice flavoured Stolichnaya vodka, Weston’s Stowford Press cider on tap, rum cocktails and so on. The prices are mid-range – a £3.30 Becks is the cheapest pint of lager, the Stowford Press is the same price. A glass of red or white wine costs £3.40.
I was at The Function Room for their ‘More Bounce’ Thursday night, described as hip hop, funk and soul. In reality, DJ Lee Majors only played us hip hop; bring back the funk and soul. The Function Bar prides itself on its club nights, playing combinations of hip hop, funk, disco, electro and house. As well as More Bounce, Friday and Saturday nights have Murkage, Thank FUNK, Consortium, Chips With Everything, Disco Transisco and Clique on rotation.
The busy bar staff were very friendly and offered me advice me good advice about the beer. But in all honesty, I’m not sure I’ll be back soon. If I wanted a night out dancing with my friends, I’d go somewhere where I liked the music. That isn’t to say the music is bad; just not to my taste. If I wanted to talk and drink with my friends, I’d go to the nearest pub, where we wouldn’t have to shout at each other to have a conversation and where there were enough tables to guarantee a seat. This bar offers a mix of both bar and club worlds, a bit like Fallowfield’s 256. To students who like to dance to hip hop, house and electro and occasionally want a sit-down, this bar is for you.
Event Listings
Thursday 29th November– More Bounce (weekly) – Hip Hop
Friday 30th November – Consortium – Alex Coulton, Hodge and Brunks
Saturday 1st November – Get It On – Manchester DJs on rotation
Friday 7th November – Thank Funk It’s Friday – Funk, Soul, Groove, R&B
