Audio

Audio is one of the best dance music venues I've been to, its got both a dark basement club set up for pulling some shapes and then a nice polished bar upstairs with a mega decking area that over looks the seafront.

The downstairs can seem a bit dingey particularly if you rock up after the clubs been open for a while and there's a inch of beer on the floor. That said is often perfect for the regular nights held there like 'Glue' and 'New Slang' both popular with students. Its also a really nice bar in the summer because of the massive decking area with sofas for cocktails in the sun!

Audio is one of Brighton's premier gay bars, and offers a variety of activities. Those with a greater constitution might enjoy boogieing downstairs, or the upstairs bar provides tables and chairs and plenty of nice alcoholic beverages. There's nothing really wrong with Audio: plenty on offer, lots of nice drinks to choose from, although the prices are quite inhibitive for quaffing a huge amount of drinks on any given night.

The downstairs club is a little rubbish, but seems to offer consistently high quality acts: not quite sure how that one works, but good on them for getting the big guys to come down and play. It's quite dingy, overpriced and the stage space is tiny and awkwardly situated within the room, but it's not bad if you consider some of Brighton's more cramped nightclubs.

The upstairs bar is much more sociable, with plenty of seating, a fully-stocked bar and a nice vibe. Drinks are quite pricey, but the selection is impressive: this is almost the quality and demeanour of a high end cocktail bar, and deserves to be classed in the same category: it is a very nice place indeed for a drink. I recommend popping in her for a drink on a night, or checking out their acts: they do get some big names in here.

I'm not really a fan of Audio itself, but the bar above it with it's outside seating isn't too bad. We popped here last night for a drink after a gig at the Three and Ten. It was pretty quiet, both inside and out, but it meant we got the best terrace seats outside. You get great views of the sea, the pier and the wheel (assuming you can ignore the busy road directly in front of you).

I wasn't drinking at this stage of the evening and the choice of soft drinks seemed limited. The bar itself was OK, but both this and the loo's had a bit of a grungy club feel about them.

To be honest, I would probably only come here when the weather is good enough to utilize the terrace, which in this country isn't going to be that frequently.

Audio is one of Brighton's better indy and alternative nightclubs and music venues. I've come a few times to the 'dirty pop' night where you can expect to hear Brit Pop and the best indy crossover's from the last decade.

As a live music venue, Audio is also pretty good. Despite being underground, the acoustic's hold up well. I saw Alphabeat here last year and had a brilliant night. The venue is so small that you can really get involved and feel part of the atmosphere.

They regularly have guest DJ's on the weekends with various more specialised nights, so if you're in to things like house music then this could be a good venue for you.

When I saw Joan As Police Woman play Audio a couple of years ago she had the whole crowd grinning when she started the encore with the immortal words: 'This song is about doing it up against a wall'.

Needless to say, the crowd loved her and although there wasn't much shape-throwing that night, everyone seemed to leave happy. I've been to a dozen or so gigs at Audio since and every one has been just as memorable. There's something cosy and atmospheric about basement venues and Audio has it in spades. The moment you walk in - it feels like its going to be a great night!

When it's really busy, you can wait a good 15-20 minutes to get to the bar and be served. And the bar staff can act like they're doing you a favour just acknowledging your existence. My only real grumble though is the bathrooms - which tend to be grubby, run-down and out of soap & toilet paper. If you come prepared with tissues though and you don't mind getting hot and sweaty, Audio rocks!

Check local listings or the Audio website to find out about their forthcoming shows and club nights.

Technically, Above Audio was the first place I ever went to in Brighton. I was with my Brother, seeing my Favourite Band Ever (TM) for the second time, and it was probably the third gig of my life... We got a couple of drinks at the bar, and our change was handed to us on a little silver plate, which we both thought was exceedingly pretentious...

After the gig was over (which took place downstairs and had me standing within stroking distance of the frontman... but common courtesy held me back) we returned to "Above Audio", where I had my first experience of Brightoners. Thoroughly disturbed, I left without really thinking I'd ever be coming back... But here I am! And loving every minute of it...

You'll have seen Above Audio if you've ever felt tempted to pop outside for a cigarette, but probably won't have paid it much attention. When Its not all kicking off downstairs though, and the sun is out... Its actually a decent enough place to sit with some good company and admire the pier stretching off into the sea... Lovely... There's probably better places to drink around, but seeing as you get the sea view thrown in for free this place makes a very nice way to spend an afternoon... Or of course just steam across it on your way between smoking and dancing! Whatever floats your jetty.

What I like about Audio is that it tries to cater for all sorts of minority groups that do not often get to hear their sorts of music for a whole night. Obviously they do this on seperate nights so you won't be getting spice girls with drum 'n' bass following it. The place itself is good with a bar upstairs and a somewhat cosy dance floor downstairs.

Drinks prices are not that cheap but then again most clubs do the standard double rates on a weekend so there is never too much variation on price except for the odd occasion.

check out the website to see if they have any nights coming up that tickle your fancy...

Audio is a little overrated in my opinion. It's in a great location, a little further down than most clubs on the seafront. There is plenty of seating and it's a good sized venue with two bars, however it still seems to take a while to get served here. The music is probably the best thing about it - it ranges from DJ sets to indie, house and electro. It's fairly cheap and gets full of students on weeknights, especially Thursdays.

The atmosphere is lively, friendly and pretty laid back. Overall, there's not much a great deal to write home about this club, but if you want somewhere to go for a laugh and some good music, audio is another option from the current choice of clubs along the seafront.

My word the cocktails are lethal. I'm blaming the cocktails for my slightly hazy memory of Audio and what will be a limited review!

Our downfall was reserving an area for a little birthday celebration that was right next to the bar. We only had to turn 180 degrees to get served, and the bar staff were pushing my adventurous buttons by suggesting cocktails I might like. Challenge accepted. The problem with cocktails is that they're not cheap (no different in here) and given I'm used to drinking pints of beer, they disappear all too quickly. The end result is an expensive, blurry night.

Great music, fun atmosphere. A much better option than the huge touristy chain pubs and clubs on Queen St.

Above Audio is a really fun place to hang out for an evening, either before heading down to Audio (the club below), or just for drinks. In the summer, this bar has an amazing atmosphere, which is greatly aided by the outdoor decked seating area, which has tables and chairs as well as sofas. Right on the seafront, this bar is the perfect place to relax with a drink on a balmy summer's evening. You can even sit outside when the weather's not so great, as the patio is covered, though it can get a little breezy!

Inside there is limited seating, with a couple of areas big enough for groups and some smaller tables. There is also ample room for dancing, if you fancy getting your groove on!

The cocktails are good, pretty standard these days, but you can get a good mojito or caprihina for about £6. During my student days, I spent a large chunk of my student loan in this place- the cocktails were incredible back then...one summer there was an all-Australian team of barstaff who made the most amazing fresh fruit mojitos- they would crush raspberries and blueberries into the bottom...divine! Every summer I pray that they'll be back, but alas, the scrummy fruit cocktails are no more! Nevertheless, Above Audio remains my favourite place to sip a cocktail and watch the sun set over Brighton pier! Magical.