The return of Manning: scrapes through the vibe check but lacks solid sing-a-longs
Bella Sträuli reviews Party at Manning
Wednesday night saw the reopening of Manning Bar after its effective closure in 2020. Anticipation was in the air. The hype was palpable. USU Board Directors went ham on the Facebook sharing. The return of USyd’s legendary establishment was near. Did it pass the vibe-check though? And will students be keen for its permanent return?
The evening kicked off well as I made my way through the winding stairs and was greeted by an unfamiliar but welcome figure, shouting, “Do you want free beer?” Solid start.
Manning is a massive venue including stage, dancefloor, open plan kitchen and plenty of space outside for chatting and socialising. I particularly love that the live music and friendly atmosphere were perfect for students who’d just come from class and the event finished early enough to catch public transport home at the end of the night.
The music was maybe blasting too soon too early and as a result, everyone seemed to be huddled on the balcony trying to catch some fresh air and quiet chats with friends. But as I made my way through the venue, everyone appeared friendly and chatty. Plenty of partygoers stopped by to say hi and pose for some highly exclusive Pulp Instagram story features (check out our reels).
Security guards and a laid back atmosphere made for what felt like a safe environment. Everyone seemed tipsy, easy going and apparently enjoying themselves. As the music continued to pick up, some migrated to the dance floor – and a good song even saw the whole crowd getting involved. But when the songs weren’t so good people tended to hang around awkwardly, waiting for the next good beat.
By the end of the night, DJ’s opted for electronic remixes of songs which didn’t seem to quite to match the dynamic of the crowd, who were hoping for some singalongs. One person sternly held out their phone to the DJ, displaying in big bold text: “PLAY MR. BRIGHTSIDE”. Alas, it wasn’t to be. The DJ replied meekly, “Sorry, I don’t have it” and went back to mixing as if they hadn’t committed a major offense against the nightlife industry. The whole room sighed in disappointment.
Jayfel Tulabing says “mannning not playing brightside = biggest stitch up this semester”
Later in the night, angry USyd students took to Facebook to express their frustration with the lackluster end to the evening. Jayfel Tulabing wrote “manning not playing brightside = biggest stitch up this semester”, with one commenter calling to “Boycott manning”. Time will tell how the USU respond to such criticism.
This noticeable absence of Mr Brightside brought down the event, but I also would have loved to have heard some ABBA, Queen, The Kooks, and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. Or you know, anything with some lyrics.
All in all, it was a decent return to university nightlife. Despite the aforementioned genre-clash, it certainly passed the vibe check. If Manning is to return to its true former glory, however, organisers will need to seriously reconsider their commitment to the tunes.