Home to York’s longstanding unofficial York Sport club night every Wednesday, Mansion is another venue independent of YUSU’s club timetable. The club formerly known as Ziggy’s underwent an apparently expensive refurb at Easter and rebranded itself as ‘Mansion’. Wednesday nights still go by the name of Ziggy’s, though, and as far as the refurb goes I think they might have repainted a wall or two, leaving its notoriously grotty feel intact.
More a house than a club, Mansion boasts three floors, two dancefloors, too many lethal staircases, lots of dark corners and a lack of fire exits. Its more, erm, casual feel is helped by the fact that fancy dress is the dominant attire. Ziggy’s is the night for all over body paint, not your most dressy number.
With the sporty types preceding Ziggy’s with a substantial bar crawl, and everyone else with a substantial amount of pre-drinking, it’s unsurprising that Ziggy’s has a reputation for being one of the less sophisticated nights of the week. It’s also one of the most fun though, so get your fancy dress on, leave your dignity at the door and feel safe in the knowledge that you can defend any humiliating actions you’re later reminded of with the words “Well it was a Ziggy’s night” and be met with understanding and sympathetic nods rather than judgmental side eyes.
Location?
Over the river, up Micklegate street.
Famous for?
The walls. They sweat. This is fact. It is not a fact you want to test. The feel of the clammy dewy moisture that inexplicably oozes out from Ziggy’s walls is not anything you ever want to experience.
Bargain Booze?
Thursday nights offer 69p drinks, but on a Wednesday VKs and shots stand at around £1.50. As a massive bonus for any penny-scraping student there’s no entry fee. Remember to bring your York University student card though. The bouncers get pretty insistent about that.
Most likely to encounter?
Every sports society known to York. Plus any particular aficionados of fancy dress.
Least likely to encounter?
People with “standards”. And anyone who believes strongly in the importance of health and safety laws.
Sounds like?
Standard chart fare downstairs. The Baywatch theme tune upstairs.
When to go?
Wednesday night is Ziggy’s night. It’s an earlier night than most and past 10pm the queues get long and the bouncers mean. To save yourself a long and chilly wait you’re best heading off heading to Ziggy’s early, getting a stamp and hitting one of the nearby bars for a bit to save yourself having to fill an empty dancefloor with your moves. Rumours, Nags Head and Reflex are all good bets. Especially Reflex because it has a revolving dance floor.