Cardiff University Students’ Union

Students of Cardiff’s mostly highly regarded University are blessed by the high quality of Students Union they have that at their disposable. Not exclusively for students, the venue can also be enjoyed by the public for various musical gigs and performances. The Union shop provides students with all the essentials and day-​to-​day products they could possibly need, with freshly prepared sandwiches, stationery and hoodies just some of the things available.
The Union bar comes to life on both Friday and Saturday nights, as well as on some week nights when various events take place. Attracting vast numbers of students, the Union is something of a night club, with large amounts of alcohol consumption and student orientated music played until the early hours. As a venue, it really is a great place, particularly for the younger generations.

I’m too biased here, I was a student of Cardiff University and in fact am still part of the student’s union and the media here. Therefore, I obviously love it, but let me explain why.
You have the taf, this is not the most spectacular place to drink but it’s REALLY cheap to eat and drink, reasons that are good enough for my attendance on a regular basis.
You have the Solus nightclub, this is a little dark and dreary, but it’s CHEAP, so cheap and the music can be pretty banging. I have had so many good nights here and I’m such a regular that the bouncers are beginning to remember me…
You have the Great hall, a fantastic gig venue, also in the cheaper range of gigs.
There are other shops that can come in very handy, such as a general shop, a book shop, a hairdresser and lets not forget the amazing Magic Wrap for your snackage needs. If Magic Wrap aint your thing, then you can eat in either The Kitchen, CF10 or the Taf.
There is a lot going on in the union and I recommend you give it a try, after all, it has been ranked as one of the best in the UK.

I’ve only ever been here to see gigs in the Great Hall so if you are considering a visit for this reason this is what I have to say.
If you think the fact that it’s called the Student Union Bar means you are going to encounter a room full of students then you are mistaken. The refreshment prices are just like any other venue you might visit to see a live band perform in Cardiff, the CIA or the Stadium springs to mind. However, although this is the smaller venue of the aforementioned, that fact should not confuse the calibre of performances you should expect to bare witness to.
When you get inside to the main hall you will instantly notice how up close and personal the stage is. For me, seeing a band perform live here is very much like seeing an up and coming band down at your local before they make it famous. It is the closest you will get to that experience in a venue that can boast big act names on such a regular basis. I would rather see a band I like here than go to a much larger venue and spend half the night looking at the big screen for a better view, the ticket prices tend to be cheaper too. I still can’t say I fully understand why.
This place has all the facilities you would expect but the only real difference I notice is that it’s not smack, bang in the centre of town. A 5 – 10 minute stroll from St Mary Street and you are here. If you want to see a band in a venue that offers a really good sound, excellent up close views of the band along with great crowd interaction with a varied range of characters (not just students) then this is the place to be.

With every big city university usually comes a music venue complex that, thanks to funding and seasonal captive audiences, thrives with more success than most independent ventures. Cardiff’s premier educational establishment is no different and although it doesn’t compete with similar unions in, say, Manchester in terms of the sheer quantity of bands it brings through, it does still attract its fair share of big names. The Great Hall is the largest of the main spaces, playing host to the level of bands normally gracing music mag covers across the UK. Its sonics leave something to be desired on occasion and drinks prices are hardly undergraduate friendly on nights where the non-​student population can attend. But it fills a void in terms of having few similarly sized alternatives in the city. The Solus takes on smaller shows, with much better sound despite its crash barrier-​strewn stereotypical students’ union décor. The whole building isn’t only a music venue of course, hence why every night isn’t filled with touring acts. The main bar, café and shop are all vital parts of the student community, but not really sufficiently of note to take the trouble gaining access to if you’re not studying there.

As an ex-​Cardiff Uni student I can’t emphasize enough how brilliant the Union is. It’s a student’s one stop shop for pretty much anything you need while you’re in uni, and even if you’re not a student you can still come to gigs and events in the Great Hall and even the club nights as long as a student signs you in.
The building itself is a red-​brick monster that’s four floors tall and straddles a railway. It houses a small shopping mall, a nightclub, a bar, a café, a gig venue that doubles as a lecture hall, a radio studio, a media office that produces a newspaper and a magazine, a games room and loads of student student services including advice and representation, societies, the Athletics Union, the student letting agency and a graduate centre. I could go on (there’s also a computer shop, a regular shop, a book shop and a Magic Wrap), but I think you get the gist. Cardiff University’s Student Union is undoubtedly one of the best in the UK as well as apparently being the ugliest (some people really don’t like red-​brick buildings), and the sheer variety of what goes on in there will make any Cardiff student proud.
If I list everything that’s on offer here then this review will be way too long, but I will say a bit about Solus, the Taf and the Great Hall because they’re the areas that get the most use. Solus is the Union’s three-​room nightclub and the regular club nights here are extremely popular (and they’re on every week day apart from two). Come Play on Saturdays is easily the most popular night but I’d highly recommend Fun Factory on Mondays as it’s the only Union night that’s free, it plays much of the same music as Come Play and it’s normally not as crowded, which is great if you’re going with a group of mates and want to pull some shapes.
As well as Solus the Union’s bar, the Taf, is open every weeknight providing a bit of a quieter alternative to the regular club nights. The best night for the Taf is Thursday when all the drinks prices are linked to a stock exchange system and vary according to demand, leading to exceptionally good value drinks. The rest of the time though the Taf serves very cheap drinks in a proper pub environment complete with pool tables and quiz machines. It even does proper pub food too which is easily good enough to compete with the CF10 café on the first floor.
The area you’re most likely to experience if you’re not a student is the Great Hall. As a medium-​sized gig venue it’s great for seeing up-​and-​coming acts like the Noisettes, La Roux and Ellie Goulding or for experiencing bands and DJs from the local music scene. It’s a very decent venue with 2 bars and nearby toilets, and puts on gigs very regularly and which are almost always open to the public as well as the students. The list of upcoming performances is published nice and early too so it’s definitely worth a look in case there’s someone coming in a few months that you wouldn’t mind seeing.
If you’re a student then this Union is absolutely brilliant. Even if you’re not into clubbing you should check out what’s on offer here because the societies, the sports teams and the student media centre are top notch and very popular, and if you like your night-​time entertainment then look no further. I’m really going to miss everything about this place now that I’m no longer a student but as I’ve got friends who still are I’m not done here yet.

Not being a Cardiff University student, I don’t have much experience with their Student Union. But I have seen a couple of gigs there. The gigs I’ve been to were held in the Great Hall of Cardiff SU, and that’s exactly what it is: a great hall. Well, big hall, really. I’m not aware of exactly how big it is, or its capacity, but it’s one of the smaller live music venues. Smaller than Cardiff International Arena, but bigger than Bristol Carling Academy. Still, not a bad size for the type of gigs I went to, and we weren’t at all crushed in — unless we wanted to be. There was plenty of room to walk around the outside, to the bar, toilets, smoking area, or to the café to sit and chill out while the support bands played.
Being quite tiny, I never really see that much when I go to gigs unless I’m right at the front or the stage is really high. This stage was a pretty good height though, and as I said, plenty of room around the edge to stand back for a better view.
Not the worst place for a gig, but definitely not the best. It’s fine if you like a band but don’t want to travel that far. If you’re a huge fan, though, it may be worth paying a bit extra and going to a better venue.

Cardiff University’s Students’ Union is a big purpose-​built complex completely dedicated to the social life of its students!
Everyone who studies at Cardiff automatically becomes a member of the Students’ Union when they enrol — and inevitably ends up spending a LOT of time in this building because it offer so much: bars, events, student advice services, university clubs and societies, and so on.
Whether you’re buying books from your reading list at the union bookshop, sorting out your student finances at the bank, downing a pint in one of the bars, or buying a snack or some concert tickets — this building is pretty much always a hub of activity during term time.
There are many different parts to this large complex, including several drinking and eatin venues. The Great Hall is a big venue hosting regular big gigs by popular bands. Solus is the union’s 1600-​capacity nightclub, hosting various club nights plus comedy evenings, cinema nights, clothes and poster sales, and other one-​off events. Then there’s ‘Café Seren Las’, which is good for coffee or lunch, and is also available for private hire parties. And finally there’s the Tafarn — a HUGELY popular late bar that serves cheap drinks — and food!
Another good service provided by the union is the free evening minibuses which run from the Students’ Union building to all university halls from the time lectures finish until right after the Union closes. Priority is given to female students and, after midnight, the service is exclusively for women.