Clubbing: Generator @ Kambar, Cambridge

Following five days hard labour, the weekend is finally here and what better way is there to let off steam than to dance until you drop? Tonight's club of choice is Generator at the Kambar located opposite the Corn Exchange Box Office.

A quick look on their website reveals that the Kambar is housed in a Grade I listed building made up of beams salvaged from wrecked sailing ships dating back to 1624. In its long history, the building has been used as a butcher's, a tea shop, private housing and a restaurant.

Tonight it's a nightclub run by husband and wife team, Richard & Sue Reynolds, and a very successful one judging from the number of revellers inside. Kambar regular, DJ Neil Ogden, is on the decks playing a mix of punk, pop and rock. The music ranges from oldies like Velvet Underground and Joy Division, through The Smiths and The Cure right up to present day anthems from The Killers and The White Stripes.

The décor isn't quite what you'd find in any other nightclub, mainly a dirty brown, with most of those ship's beams still poking through, some coated in anti-vandal paint, and the furniture looks like it fell off the back of a lorry. Then there's the bar which is replete with cans, not a pint glass in sight. Shots come in those little plastic cups you get out of vending machines.

Some may go so far as to describe this place as a "dive" but this place isn't short of supporters. In fact a good share of tonight's clientele pay the Kambar a visit at least once a week to let their hair down. The alcohol is cheaper than most of Cambridge's other clubs (I heartily recommend the Sex On The Beach), the music's treble isn't drowned out by the bass, the entry fee is a mere £3, and there's no dress code (barring the ridiculous).

Song of the night goes to The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" which has me bouncing around linking arms with smiling strangers. I think this may be the moment when I understand what the Kambar is all about - being yourself. I spend half the night slumped in a bean-bag tapping my foot to the music and chatting with friends, and the other half throwing shapes to all my favourites. All because that's just what I felt like doing. I'll certainly be back to do more of what I feel like in the future.

© Johnskibeat

Commissioned by the Local Secrets online magazine...