Goodbye TigerTiger Croydon, I’ll miss you

I don’t care what anyone says, sixth form were two of the best years I’ve had of my 20 years on earth. It was care-free looking back: the stakes weren’t as high, you knew everyone you bumped in to, the novelty of getting drunk on a school night was fresh. Oh, the carelessness of youth. Sigh.

TigerTiger Croydon epitomised this experience. Nothing was better than a Thursday night Tiger and despite the thrills of university, nights spent in The White Room were some of the best of my life.

Throwback x

Tiger wasn’t just a club, it was a rite of passage. It was a place where countless CR-post-coded teenagers rocked up and said “I am 18 and I’m going to get drunk”. A place where you’d bump in to the kid in your physics class you’ve never spoken to, but dance to Toploader in Groovy Wonderland like you’ve been best friends for years. A place where you’d chuck in £20 each with the squad for a Mayfair table experience. A rose among the dreary grey thorns of the Croydon metropolis.

Even as a fresher you’d be back with a vengeance in the holidays – you’d reunite with the lads from school and chat awkwardly with the sixth formers you remember as children.

Everyone had a picture here

As long as the camera picks up jaw lines like this still we’ll be fine

Second year was more difficult as you’d try to justify going the day you returned home home. Yes, you’re probably too old but where else are you going to go? You’d always say no, but you’d always find yourself at the cash-point on the corner getting out a tenner.

And now it’s gone, and I’m really upset about it.

People were even happy in the queue </3

It’s moving to SLVR and it’s launching tonight and I really want need it to be good.

Drinks are £2 all night, it closes at four, tickets are £5. The organisers tell me: “No other venue opens now on a Thursday and with croydon’s nighttime industry in jeopardy, we hope to keep it alive. Even if its just for the students.”

The Thursday night flame must be kept alive: never say die, Croydon – we need this.