by Melody Lau
Greasy, sweaty, and grimy. To your surprise, I’m not talking about an 8 hour work shift at Mcdonalds. Those three unholy attributes were some of the characteristics associated with London’s former infamous club, Prohibition. However, “Pro” used to be packed to the max, most students wouldn’t dare to be seen there if you were already legal.
Some of you in first-year may now know the club as Lost Love Social House, where one of Toronto’s popular social clubs, Love Child Social House, purchased and remodeled the area as their ‘sister club’. Believe me, a lot has changed.
Prohibition resembled a speakeasy in the 1920s since the consumption of alcohol was also illegal with most of the clubgoers being underage first-year students or even as young as high school students. It was a weird, alternate universe for upper-years if they somehow stumbled into Prohibition.
There is no wonder that the club was eventually rebranded to “Fifth Avenue” last year for a short period, but they still couldn’t escape their notorious reputation. Finally, they successfully revamped the Lost Love Social House this year.
Unfortunately, with the new club actually following regulations, under-aged students can no longer slip a $20 for a mediocre night of regrets or tell everyone and their mom on Snapchat that they snuck into a club. But as a PSA to first-year students: you’re not missing out at all, you can put your money towards a nice meal off-campus and away from residence food.
On a side note, I did have a positive experience in the line for Prohibition once when I was trying to go with my underage friend. She slipped a $10 and we didn’t realize that there was an actual event that night where you had to pay an extra $30 for admission. There was no way we, or anyone really, would pay that much to go to Prohibition or any club in London. I shamelessly told her to get her money back from the bouncer and he ended up giving her $20 back, so she made money by the end of the night! This was definitely a one-time thing.
I personally never felt the need to sneak into any clubs during my first-year, since I found that there was so much to do in residence, on campus, and around London that doesn’t just involve partying. I recommend having a picnic at Victoria Park during this wholesome sweater weather and grabbing your skates for when the ice rink opens in December (all great opportunities to explore this new city you’re in and get some cute Instagram content!)
Likewise, Louise Wong, a first-year student in Health Sciences, shares a similar mentality of just going with the flow and that the partying scene is losing its appeal to her. “I don’t really try to find things because I think it wastes time, so I just wait to see what pops up,” said Wong. “I used to drink a lot and now I get bored of it.”
For activities outside of drinking in a room the size of a shoebox, just look at the Western event page or search, “Tourism London” on Google. You would be amazed at the free concerts at Talbot College, hiking trails or beaches nearby, and the markets or cafes that you can explore with friends. You have the ability to make any day or night fun, even if you’re just at Club Weldon.