The Best Bar To Ever Exist

It's late, I'm bored and my mother has about 10 middle aged women getting smashed in the house. Time to write a blog about literally anything.

What about that incredible bar JPs from about 3 and half years ago?

If you started uni at Aberdeen in 2009 you'll probably remember JPs as being the only bar in the city for about a month.Other bars just didn't compare. It was ridiculous, fish bowls were about £3, everyone danced on tables from about half 8 onwards, literally no one was ID'd and not a single fuck was given- it was amazing. 

Kinda sad the logo features 'established 2009 when it's the same year it died

It might not be too ideal now, what with the waves of under-agers and studenty students studenting up the place but when you're 18 it was ideal. University starts at the stupidest time when half your friends are underage so it was nice to have somewhere where everyone could get in no questions asked. It's weird to think of a 17 year old being only a year younger than you in town and you not really noticing. I'm so old :( . 

Everyone always seemed really up for going totally nuts, no matter how early in the night. I remember a group of about 10 girls being asked to stop dancing on the high bar tables and the staff clearing room on a slightly lower table so they could dance there instead. This was at about half nine at night. 

My finest hour was getting up on a pool table, by myself, and dancing to Flo-Rida's Low as people cheered. Ordinarily this would get you kicked out of a normal bar but at JPs it was met with applause and 'what the fuck are you doing Chris?' from people who knew me. Nothing more.

One of my oddest memories was a large bald guy standing on the stage [well, a raised piece of ground at the back of the bar] and blowing a huge ball of flame just inches over the heads of everyone dancing. And nothing was said about it- there was a cheer and the party continued. I think this may have happened a few times, it was bizarre

Probably the same guy who goes round bars almost setting folks on fire

. 
Beer towers. The only time I've ever seen multiple beer towers being sold in a bar was at JPs. For those unfamiliar a beer tower is basically a beer tap attached to a a 3ft tower of beer, quite self explanatory. You don't exactly see that in Revolution. Sure it ain't too classy, guys lying down underneath it as a half yard of Tennents is poured down their throat but the weird thing was inititally JPs didn't attract the wrong sort of crowd.  It was stuff like that that set it apart from the Union- the other student bar. They sold crazy stuff like that and booze was still unbelievably cheap. 

It was all going so well. At freshers week it was so much fun- every themed night everyone turned up in full fancy dress. There was karaoke and the sonic animated series on TV and it felt like you could stay there all night, it was a bar-club hybrid. For weeks after it was still the go-to place for nights out. 

So where did it all go wrong? 

Possibly 60p vodka-mix week. It was then I noticed JPs had gained a few more undesirable fans...

These guys were sitting at the table next to us

JPs got kinda well known for it lack of age checking and they tried to shed this reputation. Instead of the high five you'd usually receive at the door with an accompanying 'GET TRASHED TONIGHT LADS OK?!' you'd get an arm in your chest and a giant security guard grunting at you for ID. With that it lost the neds but also half it's customers, 17 year old students who couldn't drink anywhere else. 

After that JPs started to give up a little. They kept talking about re-doing the whole place [about 2 months after it opened] but it never happened. People got less excited about it and instead of me dancing to Flo-Rida on the pool table actual games of pool were played. 

I remember my friend being really stoked to go to JPs for his first night out in town after all he'd heard about it- the beer towers, the table dancing, the madness. What he got when we arrived were about 20 people in there drinking regular price drink with zero atmosphere. Was sad really. 

After that it just disappeared. It did stay open for about a year longer but then people just stopped going and it closed without anyone properly realising. Apparently it got tunred into something called Sanctuary and was recently a Polish bar but they've both closed down too. My friend was saying the building must be cursed. 

JPs will always be my favourite bar though. The closest thing we have now is Campus but I don't think it'll ever have the mad atmosphere JPs- the king of bars- once had.