Manchester

Johnny Maylor says...
I have had both the pleasure and the pain of venturing into Arq since it re-opened. I partied hard in the basement all night long on it's re-opening weekend in July, and had hoped for more of the same music and atmosphere when I strolled in recently. I regret to say that I was hugely disappointed, which makes Arq a real puzzler for me. The face lift for the venue has gone some way to inspire a new and unique atmosphere, which I felt had entertainment to match on my first experience there. However, on my return, the atmosphere and entertainment that pulsed on the first night was gone! Generic, bland and formulaic house upstairs, combined with desperate, poorly put together RNB downstairs. with nothing to stand out. Needless to say, I didn't hang around. Arq seems to be a venue still de-crypting the launch codes for take off. Yet, The strangest thing of all is that the flames were well and truly lit that opening weekend. If Arq can find that early formula again and quickly, they may well have the makings of a great venue. Following the current path, its hard to see Arq ever getting reaching the atmosphere.

rob says...
agree with the fact that its fairly unremarkable as a bar, it looks nice enough but it doesn't have a "wow" factor about it. its certainly improved since you reviewed it, however, the popular kat club has moved from Berlin to this venue on a Thursday and Saturday nights have become very busy over the last few months as they have started playing an r'n'b set in the basement to complement the house upstairs. Fridays are quiet but I think that's the same all along the locks, Saturday has taken over as the big night out. all in all you could do a lot worse than to give this place a try.