The fiercely loyal Pint Night community were in shock last week after U-Bar staff announced that Pint Night would be cancelled. The announcement comes after U-Bar was closed on Wednesday the 8th of May, for “maintenance work and improvements.” U-Bar management have reported that they “know very little” about these works, with their priority being “trying to keep as many events going as possible upstairs.”
This was the second week in a row of Pint Night disruptions. On May 8th, Pint Night was moved to Auahi Ora with staff finding out about the scheduled change that very day. The venue change was reported on U-Bar’s official Instagram, and sound checks were conducted in the room that evening. Last Wednesday, May 15th, U-Bar again announced a last-minute change – this time at 1:30pm, and a cancellation rather than change of venue as Auahi Ora was already booked.
Students have been encouraged to seek Pint Night alternatives in the form of U-Bar’s entertainment on other evenings, advertising a Thursday event on their Instagram story with the phrase, “We know it’s not a Wednesday but Pint Night 2.0 on a Thursday?”
Critic Te Ārohi reached out to U-Bar management for further comment but were told that the turbulence of the current circumstances were taking up their time. Keep fighting the good fight team.
To see what the (freakishly loyal) Pint Night community has thought about these turbulent times, Critic Te Ārohi yarned to Molly, a student who boasts attendance at every event this semester. Molly said, “I think that Pint Night is such a cool time and that being in U-Bar is half the fun. I personally love how gross and sticky U-Bar is and Pint Night is obviously the best night of the week, so I was quite sad when I found out it was gonna be in Auahi Ora.”
Molly added, “I am also so confused as to why they waited so long to say there was no Pint Night. My friends were hosting a huge pres for it because this is kind of the last week everyone is still going hard on the drink before wind down for the exam grind.”
Emma, a member of Dizzy who performed on May 8th in Auahi Ora, stated that she was “pretty shocked” when she was told that Pint Night was moved upstairs. “The main fellow that does the mixing for the bands was only told in the middle of the day on Wednesday, so we only heard it soon after that. Pretty bloody last minute.” Despite the last-minute switch up, Emma said that she reckoned “it was pretty cool playing in a slightly different venue and low-key, the sound was much better as I could actually hear myself.”
Speculating on the renovations, Emma said, “From what I’ve heard, the renovations that are happening currently are very much needed as there were some health and safety issues. Also, it would be awesome to get better sound quality out of one of the last decent band venues in Dunedin.”
With Pint Night being one of the only hopes some students have to cling onto this close to exams, these turbulent times have been stressful for many. Fingers crossed that the dustiest part of our student body gets their hump-day ritual back to its sticky, sweaty home.