Concert Square is Liverpool's go-to destination for stag and hen parties as well as clubbers looking for a big night out - but it wasn't always a hotspot for Liverpool's clubbing scene.
The city centre square is packed with bars and clubs offering plenty of places to enjoy drinks with friends or dance the night away.
But it's not that long ago that Concert Square was a derelict scrap of land with no real purpose.
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The early transformation of Concert Square in the 1990s was the brainchild of Urban Splash which is now one of the world's leading regeneration firms.
Urban Splash's first apartments were above Concert Square in Liverpool. And, while they were at it, the Urban Splash team also reshaped the square below to make it into a space for outdoor drinking.
Speaking to the ECHO previously, Urban Splash's so-founder Jonathan Falkingham said: "We did Concert Square. Even then, people said to us: 'Will people really want to drink outside?'
"We said yes, but nobody believed us.
"Our barometer was: 'Would we live there?' - it was a bit of gut instinct."
Urban Splash founders Tom Bloxham and Mr Falkingham had known each other for some time before setting up their firm in 1993.
Mr Falkingham said: "I was an architect, he was a... serial entrepreneur, I suppose. he worked in the music industry, sold posters at gigs.
"Tom bought a building in Liverpool as a poster shop. But we ended up putting a bar there."
That bar, the original Baa Bar in Fleet Street, became what Mr Falkingham called "the first proper bar in town". And that gave him and Mr Bloxham an idea.
So they set up Urban Splash in 1993 and moved on to Concert Square.
And while people may have initially been sceptical about the area's appeal as an outdoor drinking destination, it quickly cemented itself as one of the most popular locations in Liverpool's night time economy.
JSM Bar & Leisure Ltd now own all but one of the nightspots in Concert Square.
T he ECHO has launched a new 56-page nostalgia supplement in print. It's packed with photos from the recent past and the not-so-recent, from shopping, fashion and music to the Albert Dock – plus an elephant on parade in Woolton. You can order a copy here.
They include the long standing Modo, along with McCooley's, Einstein, Soho Bar, Coyote Ugly and three-floor nightclub Level.
A few years ago, a survey was commissioned to find out where revellers who went to Concert Square on New Year's Eve were coming from.
Surprisingly, they weren't coming from Liverpool, but rather Blackburn, Leeds and Manchester, amongst others.
What the statistics now show is that Concert Square has become a tourist destination in its own right.
It's a must-go place for stag and hen parties.
And in a relatively new trend, foreign football fans, like those following Borussia Dortmund and Napoli - two of Liverpool FC's recent Champions League opponents - have congregated at Concert Square before starting the three mile march to the Red's iconic stadium in Anfield.
September is a crucial month for Liverpool's nightlife, not least because it's when university term time starts again.
Many of the bars employ students to work for them, and some of the nightspots even sponsor university sports teams which further helps their popularity.
And while Liverpool's night time economy is still recovering and rebuilding itself after a protracted period of closures necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, Concert Square is alive and kicking again.
Every weekend the area is buzzing with stag and hen parties preparing for so many cancelled and rearranged weddings which can finally take place in the second part of 2021.
And while the area continues to draw in tourists and visitors to the city, it's still a firm favourite for locals looking for a big night out.
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