Odder gets Odder

"Please don't review us tonight" said the diminutive manageress of Odder. Despite the launch last Thursday it seems they've still got a few things to do at the Oxford Road bar, namely the addition of lights and some extra artwork. In the short space of time between Zumbar closing and Odder opening they've managed to change the venue beyond all recognition. Downstairs the bar has been moved to the side, and seating added to provide space for 80 or so people. Deceptively, upstairs is the bigger of the two areas, with a complete gutting of what used to be a nightclub and is now a barspace for another 150 or so people. Whilst downstairs could be described as a little sparse, which we're told will be remedied by additional lights and artwork, upstairs is a hotpot of memorabilia and weirdness.

Manageress Megan told us that they stumbled upon the giant vase (6ft high and big enough to fit her in) and the giant lizard at the same time. "It was an impulse buy" she explained. Shopping with Odder owner Cleo must be fun.



The decor is unsurprisingly off the wall, and there are striking similarities between the original Odd bar and the newly formed Odder. Firstly they are full of odd artifacts, with Odder having a 'clock' wall with a variety of timepieces followed by a 6ft high clock, the aforementioned giant lizard and massive vase.

There's also an obvious crossover in clientele, with Odder attracting the well-to-do students and Northern quarter-esque boho babes. The sheer volume of women blew us away and they all looked stunning, whilst the majority of men - excluding us, of course - dressed like they were doing the decorating.



The soft launch last Thursday attracted the celebrities and press but last night was refreshingly devoid of the Hollyoaks/Corrie lot, although there were a few notables in the midst. Former City Lifer and El Diablos DJ Marc Rowlands was downstairs and man-about-town Dan Sodegren spotted us at the bar and promptly bought us a drink and then managed to insult poor Megan. She took it on the chin and invited us back over to see the place in a weeks time, with the offer of a free drink if we brought something odd into the bar with us. She politely explained that although I was odd, I couldn't turn myself in for a free pint. What a jobsworth!

Odder is a welcome addition to the 'Souther Quarter', a phrase that was already coined to describe Hulme but now apparently describes the area around Odder. There are no legal definitions for this 'region' so we're assuming that it starts around Pure Space/Font, and ends over at Kro2, possibly taking in Po Na Na and the nearby Revolution. This is one hell of a drinking area, and after a few hours in Odder we ended up in Font and Pure Spare to refresh our memories of these great holes. We can report that they are still awesome. We even ended up in the sweatbox called Sub Space, which kept us up till the wee hours with classic funk and soul.