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Description: Classic retro anthems from the residents.
Times: Mar 20, 10.30pm-late
Price: inc meal £20, £12.50
Trains: Tube: Great Portland Street 
, Tube / Bus: 18, 27, 30, 205, C2 
Phone: 0207323 7229
Website: www.229thevenue.co.uk
Extra info: Pub
It's a gloomy Saturday night and the capital is in the grip of the 'storm of the year'. So what can be done to lighten the mood? Well, why not roll back the years and head to the school disco.
The famous themed club night at Great Portland Street’s 229 club is now celebrating its 10th year, a glittering run that has attracted a host of celebrities including actress Kate Beckinsale and 'The Hoff' himself David Hasselhoff.
Strictly Come Dancing's Kristina Rihanoff was also spotted paying a visit to the club last month.
And if there isn’t already something of a St Trinians vibe going down, it is substantially enhanced by the event taking place within the walls of a bona-fide old girls school.
You would think that preparing for a school disco would be a fairly routine exercise - but the fashion criteria allows for enough scope to modify your outfit - leading people to go to some fairly extreme lengths.
Celeb fanbase: Strictly's Kristina Rihanoff enjoyed a night at the school disco earlier this year
As it was, I chose to play safe and not risk detention, opting for the staple diet of cheap white shirt (cheap in case partygoers mistook it for a blank art canvas and began scrawling offensive messages), retro school tie and comfy trainers. The girls in our group were a touch more daring, with fishnets, pinafores and even a hockey outfit making an appearance.
There were a variety of modifications to traditional uniforms on show but one reveller must have misread the rulebook as she deemed herself to be so relaxed (drunk), she spent the majority of the evening milling around in her bright pink bra. This, I used to think, only happened in those all-girl institutions.
Making our way through to the main hall via a makeshift cloakroom, we were immediately greeted by the sight of a posse of guys dressed as schoolgirls and performing PE-style push-ups on the dancefloor.
The hall itself is in parts a fairly intimate setting but also has the feel of a much larger venue.
A major plus is that all amenities are on one level, meaning if you lose any of your friends you won't spend the rest of the evening attempting to track them down... unless they’re intentionally hiding round the back of the bike sheds.
Added to this was a heady mix of 80s and modern-day tunes which were enthusiastically blared out of the sound system, an enthusiasm that even extended to one of our group members enjoying a spell on stage with the DJ.
However, after a request of Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer and a few raucous shout-outs, his time at the top was swiftly ended.
In summary, the event may be straightforward in its format, but it is highly effective and hugely successful. It also shows no signs of falling by the wayside like so many other themed nights. Here's to another decade of school disco debauchery!
• This Saturday (November 21) sees school disco hold their official anniversary night. The club is also releasing an album to mark the occasion. 'The Best of School Disco.com' is out on November 23.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
