The Engine Room wins for heart and soul. This alternative music venue/ club attracts a very friendly and eclectic regular crowd, happy to chat with pretty much anyone, whether they be dressed as a rocker, goth, punk, pirate, superhero or Johnny Normal! Having said that, The Engine Rooms is not a place for playaz or troublemakers. The security will kick out anyone causing annoyance or aggravation to other club-goers.
The Engine Room puts on frequent gigs, primarily metal and punk. Ticket prices seem generally be to reasonable and occassionally some quite big names have played, although the club is fairly small and could do with a little TLC (there are infamous problems with the air-con and there is usually at least one toilet cubicle out of order).
Drinks prices are cheaper than most other seafront clubs. Their regular Friday night slot, Deviant (metal), features good drinks promos. As far as I remember, a vodka and mixer is £1.70. There are also drinks promos offered at other nights such as their new Exile (EBM/ industrial) and Redeemer (metal) club nights.
The club has suffered slightly during the past few years. When I first started going in around 2007, Deviant was packed every week and was a great social event in the alternative scene. While many other alternative nights have failed over the past few years, Deviant is still running but turnout has not been as good during the recession. It seems the club is now trying to liven things up by introducing new nights, etc., which may prove fruitful as there are signs that the economic crisis may be coming to an end now (there are a lot of new alternative nights starting up in Brighton which can only be a good sign). I really hope things pick up for the Engine Room as it would be a sad day for me to see Brighton's only dedicated rock/metal/alt venue shut down.
Keep on rocking, Engine Room!