Friday 12th Feb 2010 @ The Prom, Bristol

A seventeen piece brass band and no stage…sounds like a recipe for disaster but the Prom’s reopening party was a great night. The staff were clearly knackered after a week of late nights and early mornings getting the venue sorted out but they were in high spirits in their impressive 20’s fancy dress and were in the mood to party! Apart from the missing stage, and slightly patchy paintwork, the place looked good and after my free shot and a couple of (what turned out to be very ) strong fruit punches, I’d forgotten about the not entirely “complete re-furb”.

GBH Big Band were amazing, really entertaining to watch, and the whole evening had an air of an old school party. There was none of the usual Bristol urban cool, just a lot of glitter, feathers, red lippy and a gala element of confetti, balloons and a raffle, announced with a drum roll from the massive band. The vibe was lively and cheerful with all the punters getting in on the swing dancing action - alongside the Ziggy Stardust-esque face painting, the whole night was pretty surreal.

The bar staff had obviously put a lot of time and love into the event and genuinely wanted everyone to have a good night. I really got a sense that the aim was to bring around a change at the venue and inject some life into the place. The refurbishment was obviously rushed in places but let’s hope the new staff can keep up the momentum and enthusiasm to make the Prom live up to its potential. It’s nice to find a bar that is independent from the usual cheap soulless student chain boozers, where there’s a bit of character and the staff clearly want to stage a good party, even if there’s no stage on which to perform it!

I had a brilliant night and would encourage you to get down there and check it out. If you are in a local band, get in touch – they are after some interesting new performers down there. Mad, sparkly, and with more than enough energy to make up for any shortcomings, the evening was a really good laugh.

www.theprom.co.uk

Natalie Burns