Going out with a BANG! – Graduating student organises one final club night to say goodbye

On Saturday 21 June, hundreds flocked to the Copper Rooms for a special farewell club night called BANG!, organised by one Harry Williams, the Maths and Physics student dubbed the ‘Prince of POP!’, to mark the end of his time at Warwick.

Featuring circling from seven till 10 led by all manner of sports clubs in all manner of costumes, followed by music and dance in the upstairs Copper Rooms till 2am, the event was, by all accounts, a resounding success. The night saw 341 tickets sold, 12 sports clubs in attendance, and a potentially unquantifiable number of drink sales, not to mention the presence of Disco Dave, who led from the front with a fantastic medley of songs, which went above and beyond his usual exemplary work. Dave’s charisma and crowd work were particularly exceptional. The extra closeness provided by Copper Rooms 2 made it easy to see the genuine bonds he has with many students.

One of the highlights of the night was the crowd laying down en masse across the club floor to the tune of ‘Chasing Cars’ […] in a scene so powerful it allowed many, myself included, to forget just how contaminated the Copper Rooms 2 floor is

Most of all, it became clear that Harry Williams has a special place in Dave’s heart. This is perhaps unsurprising given Harry’s unmatched commitment to Dave’s weekly set and his faultless POP! attendance over his four years at Warwick, assuming the gods don’t strike him down between now and next Wednesday.

One of the highlights of the night was the crowd laying down en masse across the club floor to the tune of ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol sometime around 1:45am, in a scene so powerful it allowed many, myself included, to forget just how contaminated the Copper Rooms 2 floor is and merely enjoy the moment. Other high points involved Disco Dave high-fiving the VP for Sports in a significant moment for athletes worldwide alongside the advent of a new circling game, which went as such, ‘One fat shark swam into the freshers: BANG!’, which felt fitting given that ‘sharks’ was the chosen theme of the WUAXC circle I attended.

At one point, Dave called Harry a “king” in one of his many personalised shoutouts throughout the night. Whether this means Harry has been officially promoted from his existing position as the so-called Prince of POP! remains to be seen – though it would certainly be an appropriate crowning achievement to cap off his time at Warwick.

Making it to 2am in the Copper Rooms is no mean feat. Nonetheless, the energy, music, and people were all sufficiently on form to avoid any potential fizzling out, ultimately ensuring Harry’s farewell event ended not with a whimper but a BANG!

I think it is important to note that this event could have easily failed. Organised by one man in his final year, depending on a single bar and the prospect of people enjoying themselves in the Copper Rooms, all set against the backdrop of Term 3 Week 9 on one of the hottest days of the year so far. However, it is a testament to Harry Williams and the mark he has left on many at the University that so many people came out in force, and stayed for so long.

Making it to 2am in the Copper Rooms is no mean feat. Nonetheless, the energy, music, and people were all sufficiently on form to avoid any potential fizzling out, ultimately ensuring Harry’s farewell event ended not with a whimper but a BANG!. Stewarded by Disco Dave and Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’, the night ended with Harry swaying in a group huddle full of people he’d befriended across his 100+ Pops! and beyond, in what was genuinely a very heartfelt moment.

Harry reflected on the event, saying: “It ended up better than I ever could have imagined, we filled out CR1 for circling and then so many people stuck around to the end in CR2. The whole energy of the night was just great and it was amazing for me to have all the people I love in one place. It was quite a lot of work to put on but it couldn’t have been more worth it in the end. All the profits are going to be split evenly and given back to the clubs who took part.”

Dave came in to do this especially for Harry, which shows the strength of their genuinely lovely friendship, formed over a hundred Wednesdays across four years

I also spoke to Disco Dave after the event in between one of his many generously afforded photo opportunities. He noted the unbridled success of the event, calling it “awesome” and easily as “good as POP!”, emphasising Harry’s remarkable success in organising this completely off his own back. Notably, Dave came in to do this especially for Harry, which shows the strength of their genuinely lovely friendship, formed over a hundred Wednesdays across four years; the mutual respect and appreciation between them is very apparent.

Former VP for Societies, the Warwick Grapevine’s Most Aura On Campus winner, and W-WOW Person of the Year 2024 nominee, Max Pike, noted, when asked about BANG!, that he “loves that it exists.”

For Harry, it’s been POP!, POP!, POP!, (103 more POP!s after that), then BANG!, and there’s certainly some poetry in that. While some doubted BANG! would be a success, I can firmly say that it exceeded my expectations and then some, and for that I owe Harry my gratitude.