The University of Sussex Students’ Union Summer Ball is set to end term in style on Saturday June 14th at the Brighton Racecourse.

For one night only, the huge Racecourse arena will be turned into a ‘super-club’. Imagine the scene - work weary students turn up at two indoor arenas ready to party the night away, stalls are set up and stages take shape, all punctuated by a balmy summer evening. As the heat of exams dies away to leave a gushing abandon, akin only to the tingling feeling we all had as school broke for summer holidays, the nervous sensation that started in your feet just before revising started – for many of us there was no ‘re’, only ‘vising’ – is lifted to become a smile on your face, and you realise that this is, as organizers insist, ‘the greatest event organized by your Union for around 10 years.’

A super-club is exactly what you need to party the academic year away. Forget your troubles and lively up yow self as 2300 (two thousand and three hundred!) spanking and shiny tickets are on sale from Monday for this party of the year. This outing is a welcome break in more ways than one, as Sussex hasn’t had the greatest of reputations when it comes to putting on good nights in the last decade. Despite a triumphant Fresher’s Ball in October, and the odd star on a dimming radar, Sussex has been known in recent years as something of a wet fish in the entertainment category. Brighton University put on consistently funky nights at their Beat Down concerts at Event II, attracting big names. Sussex has been left looking back forlornly at past glories. There was a time when all the up and coming acts graced this neck of the woods. Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Cream, the Stones and, reportedly, one James Hendrix passed through the dingy outposts of East Slope and the Hothouse. It also emerged in looking into these hey-days of Sussex music - you know those mustachioed security guards you see around have been here for a looong time - that the up and coming Radiohead found their way to the East Slope stage before Creep propelled them into the big time, projecting the group to world fame. Back then the blonde, mullet-sporting upstart Thom Yorke was booed off stage for being too ‘whiny’. And since then? Nothing. The entertainment world of Sussex has seemingly fallen the same way as the West Pier, a charred skeleton, a rotting, worn beacon falling to murky sea, a rusty, seagull faece covered memory of what used to be.

In the process of complaining about the current state of our Union’s entertainment agenda, one inevitably feels bitter describing the glorious green fields of other, smaller universities: "...you know, my mate goes to Cheltenham University, and they got so and so to play at their Christmas thing and....blah blah blah."

However, it appears that the main reason the USSU finds difficulty in organizing consistent, quality nights is not simply due to a lack of funding, or lack of enthusiasm or commitment on the part of the Union, but more because of the competition with an already packed schedule of great nights out in Brighton. Where other smaller Universities can bag big names, it is often because they are the main entertainment spotlight in that area. In contrast, Brighton hosts nightly quality shindigs, from the funk of the Big Beat Boutique to showcases at the Funky Buddha, from great nights such as Meltdown and Substance to mainstream attractions at the Dome and Pavilion. Indeed, despite compelling argument about competition, it must be true that what Sussex simply needs is a bigger concert venue on campus to attract bigger acts; you just can’t expect good bands to cram into the Hothouse or East Slope any more. Entertainments Co. Chair Lori Culora described the ordeal of organizing such a massive event, "...all the staff at the Union, part-time and fulltime, have been working so hard to make this happen since just after Christmas.... we’re all really excited at the prospect of putting on such a huge event." Excited yet? Just glance at the checklist. A race course being transformed into a mammoth festivalstyle outdoor party, with two separate arena stages, fun fair rides, ‘funky’ food outlets and even a chill out area with onsite masseurs. And don’t forget the music. Aim (live), Nightmares on Wax, DJ Yoda, a Madness tribute band, Bad Company, MC Det, DJ EZ and resident DJs from different nights from all over Brighton, and Sussex’s own conscious hip-hop funkers, the irrepressible, and always delightful, Bad Science will be performing alongside Underground Alliance. Also playing are the Roots Garden crew and DJs from Substance, Meltdown and The Rub. Culora, Welfare Officer elect for next year, went on to assert his predictions for the show: "...the night....it is going to be Phat!....no wait...don’t put that in...um, tell them, um, yeah!...its going to be wicked!"

TICKETS GO ON SALE FOR £20 ON MAY 19TH FROM THE STUDENT UNION RECEPTION, AND OTHER SHOPS AND BARS ON CAMPUS. YOU CANNOT BUY TICKETS ON THE NIGHT, BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.