The Opera House

The Opera House is a fantastic nightclub in Bournemouth, UK. Whenever I am in the area, I like to plan a visit, as it is such a good nightclub.

As the title suggests, The Opera House is a venue inside an old opera house, in Boscombe, a Suburb of Bournemouth. From the outside the place seems reasonably large, but go inside, and the places seems huge.

Physically, The Opera House is divided into 2 main rooms, the first, incorporating the stage and stalls area, and the other smaller above the entrance. The first room is what makes the clubbing experience so great. Firstly the seats in the floor area have been removed, to build a dance floor. Pretty standard stuff. However the stage remains, where, official club dancers' dance. With so much space, they can put on great routines, and have many props - cages and so forth. Around 3 stories up there is a semi circle of seats (the upper circle, I believe in theatre terms), so if you fancy a rest, but still want to listen - and watch the dance floor and the stage, this is a perfect place. Hanging down from the ceiling is a giant disco ball - Around 2 meters across. The place is lit up by lights, some of which flash to the music, others which don't. There are strobes, and lasers, most of which are directed onto the disco ball, which creates a tremendous atmosphere of light and sound, which few places I have been to have been able to recreate. The music, depending on the night, is usually Dance/House chart (think Ian Van-Dahl, DT8 Project, Paul Van Dyk etc), perfect if you've spent some time in the club scene. Despite the 2200 capacity (of the entire venue) this main room rarely feels claustrophobic, with seating (and bars) in the wings, focusing on the music and the dance

The second room is much smaller, with a capacity of maybe 2-300. The music also depends on the night, but is always different from the main room - usually cheesy music - Abba, Steps, but also plays some UK chart. (Just after the release of Sisqo's Thong song in 2000 I was in here chillin' and a young lady started groovin' in front of my friends and I. At the appropriate time in the music she pulled up her skirt to show a very pert backside, and a black thong!). This room is decorated, in warm colours, back up with a some lighting effects. It also has a rather small dance floor, surrounded with comfortable seats, and a bar.

For those really in the know, (and probably not reading this!) There is a VIP lounge. Having never in my time been a VIP of the club, I have never been into this lounge, but it looks quite nice. There's also a small room, playing chillout music, next to it.

Dress codes at the Opera House are open - I've seen girls wearing nothing more than bikinis and furry boots, but with all these places, dress code for gents seems a bit tighter - You can get in wearing a T-Shirt and Smart Jeans, with Smartish trainers, but most guys are generally wearing shirts with collars, and shoes. Doors open around 8:00ish, kicking out at 3. Before 10:30 it is cheaper, prices depending on which night of the week you go on. Usually, there is some drink promotion on, so it doesn't usually end up too expensive.

One sour point in the gents toilets (or bathrooms to my American friends), they are usually in a pretty poor state, although given that 6,000 people may come though the doors on a Friday night, this doesn't suprise me

There are alternatives places to go clubbing in Bournemouth, another favourite of mine being Elements, which has a distinct advantage of being in the centre of Bournemouth, and easy to get to, but, for a serious night out, I always head to The Opera House.

The Opera House is in the centre of the pedestrian zone, in the centre of Boscombe, and the address is