Pulse

Night Club in Southwark
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7 / 10 from 5 reviews
Address
1 Invicta Plaza
Southwark
London
SE1 9UF
Map
Telephone
0207 403 9643
Region
Southwark
Nearest Station
Waterloo East
0.14 miles
Category
Night Clubs

The largest and most centrally located nightclub in the city, Pulse is about teasing the senses to a new level, whilst giving its visitors a raw and underground musical experience. Fitted with a Void soundsystem, similar to that of DC10 in Ibiza, not to mention state of the art lighting, Pulse is ready to introduce itself as one of the best nightclubs that the capital has to offer.

All In London Review

Does London need a new superclub?

The superclub is dead, or at least it has been for the last four years since the demise of Turnmills and The End, while Ministry of Sound has made a leap towards the more commercial side of dance music. Dingy basements of shops/galleries, lofts and bars turned miniature dancefloors have become the norm, usually located in the E1 vicinity. The grand opening of Pulse, a nightclub near Blackfriars Bridge with a capacity for 4,500 people (even more when the third room opens) goes completely against the current tide for fashionably DIY discos, so does London really need a new superclub?

First the bad points. The biggest complaint by punters is regarding the heat, as this enormous arched venue seems to be entirely devoid of any form of air conditioning, which is akin to opening a supermarket and not having a till. Thousands of people stagger around drenched in sweat attempting to fan themselves with discarded flyers, while the cold taps are sneakily switched off, leaving overheated clubbers to mop their damp brows with hot water or buy expensive bottles at the overcrowded bar.

On the opening night the toilets flooded, leaving punters to splash around in puddles of dubiously coloured water. The septic issues have since been remedied, but it’s still annoying that the ladies’ are downstairs and the men’s upstairs, with no signs to indicate which is which. Moreover, for a club this size there aren’t nearly enough cubicles, therefore it’s necessary to head there in plenty of time for the lengthy queue to avoid embarrassing accidents.

Dripping ceilings are a common occurrence at warehouse parties, as storage rooms and car parks aren’t built for raves and the heat causes condensation, however this supposedly carefully engineered building also suffers from this problem. To top it all they have the cheek to charge £20-£30 entry; the purpose of a club this huge is undoubtedly to make money for its owners, but at these prices it would be courteous to provide air, cold water and signs for the toilets.

So far, so off-putting, and many have vowed never to return, but Pulse has one major plus point. Unlike the trendy clubs of the East, there is none of the hanging around clutching a glass of white while chatting about what everyone does for a living; people are here to dance through the night until 10am, aided by the state-of-the-art Void soundsystem. As long as the problems get sorted this is what could make Pulse work, and the superclub may very well reign supreme once again.

Reviewed by Leila
Published on May 4, 2011


User Reviews

Nat1985

Dec 15, 2011

Was here twice last month for Back to 95 and Soul Heaven, both fantastic nights. Hardly any queues and speedy service at all bars and the cloakroom. Everyone was really polite and the atmosphere was fantastic.
clifton2

Dec 5, 2011

Best club that I have been to in a very long time. Fantastic place, can not wait to go back. Perfect night, no probs at all. Friendly staff, no huge queue's for the bar or toilets, drinks reasonably priced for the city, great sound system and lasers, great atmosphere... well done Pulse.
andyreed

Oct 11, 2011

Hi Guys, I was here for the Trance night Elixir of Life and I had one of the greatest nights out in London that I've ever had. The crowd was great and the atmosphere was fantastic. Security was friendly, bar staff were quick and the sound system blew my socks off. Smoking area was a bit too busy but I put that down to the night being really mild (freaky weather for October). The club itself is very grand and my friends and I didn't experience any issues with toilets, air con or aggro. Just a brilliant brilliant night. Would recomend this club to everyone and anyone who likes to party hard (it closed at 11am and I have to admit I was one of the last to leave).
Gillian
from London

Mar 19, 2011

SHOCKING! What a disappointment! after spending £30 for a ticket (well over priced) I could not believe how unorganised the security was, considering it was a sell out night surely you would you make sure there was enough staff/security to control the crowds. We queued for over 1 hour whilst watching over 100 people pushing in the line, where was the security? there were numerous occasions where myself and my friends were terrified we were going to get crushed. Once in the club we soon realised that there wasn't any air conditioning! Again when building such a huge club you should consider how hot the place can get, just seems to me the club is more interested in ripping off their customers and not thinking about the health and safety issues. Everyone in the club seemed stressed and agitated with heat and the constant pushing and shoving. Around 2am the toilets flooded in the club and there was a brown stream of urine and god knows what else pooled outside the toilets. this basically meant there was around 8 toilets in the whole club for their sell out night. I would not recommend this club to anyone, someone seriously needs to address these problems fast because I can see this club closing in a couple of months!

Name: Gillian
Location: London
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