Sydney University and the infamous Manning Bar have always been known to throw pretty good parties. When you mix fresh uni students, cheap drinks and great music, you can’t really go wrong. One of the first parties of the year at Sydney Uni was Beachball, which was promising to bring together some of the best music acts Sydney has to offer. Two of the main highlights were Purple Sneakers and Midnight Juggernauts.

We got to Manning around 9pm to discover a pretty massive line, not to mention that the skies had opened up and absolutely drenched everyone outside. Once we got in, the place was absolutely packed, and the crowd was your typical mix of uni students. We got upstairs to the top floor and discovered that the Purple Sneakers night usually at the Abercrombie every Friday was making a special visit to Manning. The music was the typical mix and it was good to see the crowd was enjoying it. The majority of the dance floor was pretty packed, as well as your normal mix of people standing on the elevated areas taking a break. The lines for the bar were typically busy and it sometimes took a while to get a drink. It was great to see that the Purple Sneakers night at the Abercrombie was able to make a successful transition to Manning.

We then made our downstairs to the ground level to witness a transformed area. Normally, the ground floor of Manning is a mix of tables and chairs, and a coffee lounge with couches and comfy chairs. Instead of the normal après lecture set up, it was transformed with a huge stage and awesome speaker and light system. Midnight Juggernauts played to a packed house and it came across really well. The crowd certainly enjoyed it and it was surprising to see that the sound system could be so effective in such a weird space.

There year’s Beachball was even better than your typical back-to-school parties, helped along in particular because of the great mix of live acts.