Gatecrasher or GB (Gatecrasher Birmingham) as it's already becoming known, is situated on the site of former club The Works. The new ‘hyper’ club has used nothing but the latter’s shell and invested five million pounds on refurbishment. The anticipation around the club has been huge but is the result worth the hype?

The Venue
Gatecrasher sits towards the Five Ways end of Broad Street and it’s hard to miss with extravagant lighting and a glass greenhouse-like main entrance. As you enter there are bizarre egg shaped ticket booths, perhaps design for design's sake but different anyhow. Then a swift ascent to the reception bar, a multi coloured tunnel to the right and main room to the left. The main room is spectacular, a minimalist, warehouse inspired colour fest. It has touches of art deco, post modernism and Sixties' inspired plainness yet still maintains a feel of freshness and an underlying disco/club persona.

The showpiece here is a huge 20 feet tall LED screen cut into T type shapes laid out over the main bar, it alternates colours and patterns with the music and is truly a spectacle to behold, there is nothing else like this in Birmingham. Where there is new technology there are also the classics - massive mirror balls sit above the main dance floor creating a fantastic fusion of light and visual extravagance which really presents a unique feel. Elsewhere in the club are different themed bars from comic/Andy Warhol to stylish French boutique, a barrage of imagery and design genius that overwhelms and fascinates. The sound system resonates with crystal clarity and bass to make your soul shake, again no other Birmingham club will even be able to come close.

There are a few quibbles but they are minor problems. As the toilets are placed so close to the bars, congestion for both builds extremely quickly and can get very frustrating. Luckily, the rest of the club is good enough for this not to affect the night and Broad Street can once again boast having the premier club in Birmingham.

The People
Anyone can visit Gatecrasher, once a dance/trance exclusive brand they now offer a multi-taste venue featuring numerous rooms offering different styles of music. This means the clientele is varied to say the least and it makes a refreshing change: house, trance, RnB, disco and pop fans are all present and the club attracts a wide range of ages too. There are also plenty of seating and chill out areas for people wanting a less hectic night. It's not just the clubbers who are extremely friendly, the helpful staff are too, seemingly there to enjoy the night as much as the punters.

Generally it’s a fantastic atmosphere, the dynamic, extravagant infrastructure gives everybody a thrill and the assortment of people only adds to the fantastic energy that the club's decor and sound system creates. Everyone at Gatecrasher Birmingham feels like they are sharing a passion for fun, a definite feeling of unity in enjoyment fills the air. This club is more of an experience than a simple night out, music and performance complement each other perfectly to give an awesome entertainment event each and every time you attend.

The Music
The different rooms allow Gatecrasher Birmingham to offer a vast choice of music. The spectrum spans dance, trance, chart, RnB, classic pop and the all-important anthems but it's only the cream that makes the cut. On offer for the week Monday and Wednesday student nights (cheesy pop, chart etc as you'd expect), Fridays take a more indie rock approach (with alternatives in other rooms) and Saturday is the flagship night with music for everyone spanning RnB, soul, house, disco, rock, pop and classic club anthems. The options are fantastic with no single genre given too much attention. Also, being the huge name it is Gatecrasher Birmingham is attracting a swathe of big name DJs including Pete Tong.

The Drink
When it comes to refreshment after all that dancing, Gatecrasher Birmingham once again ticks all the boxes: wine, spirits, beer and cider all on offer with many variations of each. Prices are reasonable for a club. On Saturday night expect to pay £3.30-£3.60 for bottles of lager, £2.80 for spirits and £14 for a bottle of wine. Student nights are piled high with offers to make that student loan stetch further including £2 for vodka and energy drink, £2 on selected bottles of vK and £1.50 on selected bottles of beer.

The Last Word
It's hard to give somewhere five stars but Gatecrasher Birmingham really do deserve it, the money spent has been worth every penny and they really are going all out to try and please people. It’s about time a company has been brave enough to invest in Birmingham nightlife again and for this they deserve every accolade. If they continue as they have started there's no doubt that it will remain the best club in Birmingham for many years to come.

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