Calling All Insomniacs
Late night shopping
Our 24-hour Capital of Culture is not too hot on opening after the offices are shut, although a few of the bigger places are at least trying on Thursdays. Resurrection (25 Bold Street, 0151 709 2676) is one of those places that so love to sell you great stylish clobber, they'll happily stay open way after 6pm, and sometimes as late as 7pm. Perhaps it's the pumping Vince Noir electro music that keeps them going. In a similar vein, Probe Records (9 Slater Street, 0151 708 8815) can often be found open after 6pm, perhaps because the staff really love the music and the joy of serving it to you, or maybe because they just don't want to go home.Fags at 4am
Now we all know we shouldn't smoke. And thanks to the smoking ban, it's now almost impossible to run out of the tubes of death on a night out. But after you've burned through a whole pack while catching up after being kicked out of the club, you might need replacements. Swift Drinks (44 Duke Street, 0151 707 2045) is the perfect centrally-located repository of smokes, drinks and sweets, and reasonably priced too. It'll make you regret buying those overpriced fags from the cigarette machine. Further out of town, depending on where you're heading there are 24-hour garages on Edge Lane, Ullet Road and Prescott Road. Just mention their existence to the taxi driver and they'll know where to go. Cough.
Late night drinking
Rampant alcoholism usually causes a raging thirst when the pubs shut. Solve that thirst and give your liver a real hammering by visiting a New Labour-sponsored 24-hour bar after you've been kicked out of the place you've been comfortably ensconced in for the last seven hours. First off, head to The Bumper (14-18 Hardman Street, 0151 707 9902), which is cheerfully open 'til 4am on Saturdays and even Sundays (contain yourself), and has plenty of great music to boot. Then, after you've been kicked out of there, head across the road to The Magnet (45 Hardman Street, 0151 709 6969), which has erratic opening hours but usually contrives to be open well after most sensible, non-alcoholic people are safely tucked up in their loved ones. With their loved ones. Same difference.Post club action
We were given the brief of finding somewhere to go after the clubs had shut that wasn't a bar or another club. We searched high and wide and couldn't come up with anything. So why not try one (or all) of these? Fancy some late night shouting? Join the drunks and druggies in the grounds of the Bombed-Out Church (Leece Street). It's best not to antagonise them. How you do this we don't know. Alternatively, head down the docks and admire the view across the water. There's usually a ship or two going by, as those salty sea dogs work all hours. Or how about a trip to a cemetery to impress that goth you've just met? The one on Rodney Street has pyramids...Food now!
After a night on the lash, you may find your club-soiled shoes taking you in the direction of a takeaway place, guided there by your stomach. Involve your brain in this process by following our guide to late night takeaways. It's pretty much impossible to get away from the kebab/pizza/burger axis of evil, so if your way home includes passing by Hardman Street, then pop into Shiraz (47 Hardman Street, 0151 708 8724) which is open 'til the sort of hours Alan Partridge is on the radio. If you're nearer Berry Street, then the small but perfectly formed Hot Chillies (36 Berry Street, 0151 709 7575) should provide all you need. They do curries too.Other late night indulgences
The sort of entertainment you can get later on might not be beneficial to one's health and wellbeing, but they can be an eye-opener. Why not blow a week's wages, as well as your flatmate's rent, with a visit to Stanley Casino (45-55 Renshaw Street, 0151 708 8866), which is open all hours to divest you of dignity. The 147 (17-21 Fleet Street, 0151 709 3498) is a disreputable but hard-to-resist snooker and pool hall-cum-bar that's open as late as the nearby bars on Concert Square. For entertainment of an entirely different sort than knocking balls around, why not try the Curzon (8 Temple Lane, 0151 236 5160) most weekends. Liverpool's most notorious (and best) gay bar has strippers, porn on the TV and other wholesome pursuits.
del.icio.us 
digg 
newsvine 
reddit 