Sober night out is a no-no?

by Billie-Jade Thomas

We all know the inevitable feeling that follows a ‘good night out’ - waking up in the morning with a pounding headache, a mouth that still tastes of sambuca and a sad-looking bank balance.

This is usually followed by you stumbling out of bed still half-cut to scramble around for some paracetamol and much-needed water.

We have all been there when those embarrassing memories from the night before suddenly come flooding back.

The times when you cannot help but cringe at flashbacks of yourself dancing drunk on tables, making new best friends in the toilets and talking complete and utter rubbish to the slightly annoyed taxi driver all the way home. Sound familiar?

Good times

Although, for many, these are all just signs of a good time, some students are now choosing to stay sober while out and about, avoiding the dreaded hangover and enjoying a night that they will actually remember the next day.

This year some of the UK’s worst binge-drinking cities have embraced the idea of a ‘sober night out’ by opening alcohol-free clubs and bars.

Dublin’s first alcohol-free nightclub opened its doors this summer, offering students an alternative to their usual boozy Saturday.

Because of its pricy entrance fee – €10 euro instead of the usual €5 ­– many have deemed it unlikely that students will pay the price in the name of sobriety.

Sober nights out

Liverpool also opened its first ‘dry-bar’ earlier this year, with the aim of combating the city’s widespread drinking problem. So far the bar has become popular with single women wishing to avoid drunken chat up lines, but has failed to attract a student crowd.

In the name of journalism I embarked on my first ‘sober night out’ to see if an alcohol-free evening can still be fun, or if staying sober really is just one big bore.

As I arrived at my friend’s house, for what would normally be pre-drinking time, I could see that abstaining from alcohol was going to be a challenge.

Everyone drank shots and played drinking games while I tried to avoid the temptation. I reconciled myself to the knowledge that every shot downed meant a slightly worse headache in the morning for my friends, while I would be as fresh as a daisy.

Feeling slightly bored and out of the loop, I was relieved when we finally headed out two hours later. But my relief was short-lived, after returning to the flat twice, for forgotten phones, Oyster cards and cigarettes, and then journeying to the local corner shop to buy beers for the journey. We finally got to the Tube, with me feeling more like a mum than a mate.  

As we all piled onto the train, I could not help but feel embarrassed by the dirty looks given to my drunken friends, who were now singing Moves Like Jagger badly, at the top of their voices.

Clubbing

After being eyed suspiciously by the bouncer, probably for being the most sober looking person in the queue, we finally hit the club.

I immediately felt out of place as everyone else swarmed to the bar for shots, while I was left choosing between water or the exciting range of soft drinks they had available – the majority of which actually cost more than my usual spirit and mixer.

I spent the rest of the night feeling uncomfortable as I attempted to actually dance while sober, just to discover that my inner-Beyonce only makes an appearance after a tequila or two.

Once I had grown tired of people stumbling into me, drunken talk and cringeworthy chat up lines, I decided to leave in time to catch the last Tube home.

Okay, so maybe going out sober with drunken friends was not the best idea and is probably not what most fans of an alcohol-free evening have in mind, but with friends like mine it is the closest I will ever come to an actual sober night out. Many people base their social lives on alcohol without even realising it, which makes staying sober all the more difficult.

Benefits

I actually did benefit from my night of sobriety in some ways; on the whole I saved money; spent my Sunday being productive and most importantly, did not have to spend hours de-tagging the various unflattering photos that my friends would usually post on Facebook. 

If you are yet to try a sober night out, why not give it a go?  You never know, you might actually enjoy it and wonder why you have been wasting your time getting wasted when you can have just as much fun being sober. As for me, I will be in the SU bar if anyone happens to need me!