I tried a new VR clay pigeon shooting bar experience and had a blast
FROM boozy bowling alleys to bars with elaborate and often 'junkyard' themed crazy golf courses, just sitting down with a cocktail in hand is becoming a thing of the past.
Experience bars are becoming an increasingly popular attraction, with many popping up across the West Midlands in recent years, however, none quite like this.
Clays Bar opened up in the Picadilly Arcade in Birmingham City Centre at the end of 2024, offering a virtual reality (VR) clay pigeon shooting experience – something I can safely say I never thought of trying before.
When the opportunity arose to head down and try it out for myself, I was immediately intrigued.
Clays uses real decommissioned shotguns in its games (Image: Newsquest) From the moment I stepped through the door, I felt the luxurious vibe of a sophisticated country estate.
The bar area was beautifully decorated, with the countryside-esque colour palate and fake foliage that was dotted throughout really adding to the theme.
The VR experience in the 'Clays Arcade' consists of five quick-fire shooting games, with players using real decommissioned shotguns to play.
After getting used to the surprising heaviness of the props, I can safely say I had a blast.
You get two goes at each game, meaning there's plenty of chance for redemption if you struggle to get to grips with the technique.
The bar was beautifully decorated and had an equally beautiful menu to match (Image: Newsquest) Each game was fun and unique and overall was a great way to have fun with friends with some healthy competition!
If I had one critique, I would say the shooting was over quite quickly, however, it is designed to be 'quick fire' fun after all.
That being said, aside from the technological fun, Clays at its core is also an incredibly enjoyable bar with some delicious food offerings as well.
With a menu centred around small plates designed for sharing, my group and I opted to try the dirty loaded fries, seitan sliders, the breaded lemon sole and a margarita 'pizette', all of which I can say I would order again.
The bar has an extensive menu with wines, beers, spirits and an abundance of cocktails. I liked 'The Ruby' so much I simply had to have two!
The food was also excellent (Image: Newsquest) Overall, Clays proved to be an incredibly enjoyable night out, unlike anything I had done before.
It brings something a little bit different to Birmingham's bar scene that I did not even think was missing!
Olivia was invited down to Clays Bar and was gifted the drinks, food and experience free of charge.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
14 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Olivia Munn Doesn't Let Her Kids Watch Ms. Rachel
Olivia Munn won't let her kids watch Ms. Rachel. In an interview with People, the Your Friends & Neighbors actor shared why she doesn't let her children watch Ms. Rachel's videos or most children's programs, and it's pretty reasonable. Ms. Rachel is a popular YouTuber and Netflix star, famous for making videos that help kids with language development. Olivia has two children, whom she shares with husband John Mulaney — Malcolm, 3, and Méi, 8 months. "I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can't watch it, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy," Olivia said. "These kid shows drive me crazy." For Olivia, it's not just Ms. Rachel. She's not here for most cartoons in the household. "Malcolm asked for Blue's Clues [recently], and I don't know who showed him Blue's Clues, but they are on my shit list now," Olivia said. "I said, 'Hell no. Not in my house.'" Olivia described how John got Malcolm into the Spider-Man cartoons, which she didn't find "interesting." Her preference is the updated live-action movies. "I put on Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Homecoming and was like, 'If you want to watch the real-life ones, then we can watch that.' It might be a little too old for him, but I can't take the cartoons." But don't worry. There's at least one children's show that makes the cut with Mama Olivia, and that's the PBS children's show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood for one specific reason. She believes it's a "great program" because it was vital in helping Malcolm understand what it's like to become a big brother to Méi, who was welcomed via surrogate last September. "Daniel Tiger has a little sister, and we'd tell him, 'There's a baby sister coming,'" Olivia said. Even though the typical children's programming might not be on the television when Olivia's around, she's found a system that works for their family. Talking with People, she said when she first introduced Méi to her big brother, she and John made a point not to "change his world and indentity and responsiblities." "A lot of times people will be like, 'Oh, you're a big brother now. You're not the baby anymore. Now you can help mommy get the diapers.' So, all of a sudden, he has all these responsibilities, and he doesn't just get to be carefree anymore," Olivia added. "Instead, we would say, 'Now we have two babies. There's baby Méi Méi and baby Malcolm.'" In the interview, Olivia shared that she and John focus on providing their children equal attention, so, in my opinion, it makes sense that she might not want to throw that balance off with too much Ms. Rachel and animated Spider-Man. Olivia said about her 3-year-old son, "He would say, 'Mommy, come over here. Daddy, come over here,' and if we were holding the baby, we would put her down so that he wouldn't feel that all of a sudden now we can't be there for him." "It's not that we were trying to teach him that everything he says goes, but we wanted him to have the transition with her to know that we're still here whenever he needs us. Then, eventually when he'd say, 'Put Méi Méi down,' we'd say, 'No, she wants to see her mommy too.' He smiles, and he understands," Olivia said. It sounds like Olivia has a system down, and Ms. Rachel (as popular as she may be) might not be for every family. And to be honest, I support Olivia keeping cartoons outside of the house for now, especially when her husband is literally part of a cartoon series that has scenes like this: And this: Perhaps they should wait until Malcolm and Méi are full-grown adults before they start showing them cartoons, in case they become interested in their dad's show. Read the full interview here.
Cosmopolitan
16 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Olivia Rodrigo Owned the Governors Ball Stage With Her First U.S. Headlining Set
In case you were curious, Olivia Rodrigo casually made a major milestone in her career at New York's very own Governors Ball Music Festival this weekend. While O-Rod has graced the stage for crowds at Glastonbury in the U.K. and Lollapalooza in South America, her main stage gig at Gov Ball marked her very first headlining performance at a U.S. festival. (And, before you clock me, she did play Austin City Limits in 2021, but it wasn't a headlining performance. Moving on!) You don't need me to give you a TL;DR on Olivia—she's one of the biggest Grammy-winning singer-songwriters who blew up with a heart-wrenching account of getting her driver's license. Since her Disney exit and mainstream debut, Olivia's snarky and honest songwriting prowess has transcended generations. She's made fans of everyone from Avril Lavigne to Billie Eilish, and she's one of the only Gen Z girlies who can bring in a massive crowd of angsty teens who grew up in the social media age, 26-year-old teenagers on the edge of another crash out, and millennials who desperately crave the good 'ol days of pop punk. Even with thunderstorm warnings and weather delays that pushed her set back by an hour, the proof was in the pudding at Flushing Meadows Corona Park during her headlining set at Gov Ball on Saturday, June 7. This marked my first time seeing the star live, and it definitely exceeded any and all expectations I once had. When it comes to attending Olivia's shows, I've had 'almost' situations too many times, and to be fair, tickets for both her SOUR and GUTS tours sold out instantly. So, I was just happy to be one of the thousands there to catch her Gov Ball gig. She kicked things off with her deep cut-turned-fan favorite 'Obsessed,' and without hesitation, everyone in my section—especially my Cosmo girls—screamed all the words back at her. Once she flew through her guitar solo and too hot to handle camera angles, she declared it was 'time to party'...and proceeded to play two of the most heartwrenching tracks of her career, 'Drivers License' and 'Traitor.' Of course, a standout moment was when she casually brought out The Talking Heads' David Byrne, another musical legend who has influenced artists from Lorde to Miley Cyrus, as a special guest. The duo performed the band's 1983 hit, 'Burning Down the House,' as they skipped around the stage and playfully danced with one another in matching red outfits. It was a moment of one iconic rockstar passing the baton to another, and, above all else, it reminded me that Olivia's music taste is truly top-tier. If the Grammy winner has mastered anything aside from her songwriting chops and live vocals, it's commanding a crowd. We were all wrapped around her finger for the 1.5-hour set. Whether she's belting to 'Favorite Crime' or letting loose on 'Get Him Back!' she doesn't miss a beat. She's in the moment, feeling every emotion, and radiating off the crowd's reactions—and trust me, we felt it, too. Shedding tears during her ballads and releasing all our grievances by screaming at the top of our lungs to 'All-American Bitch' almost felt like a form of therapy. Most child stars embark on a tumultuous journey out of their innocent images so they can burst through the box they're inevitably placed in. As a woman, it's a more layered experience because once they break out of that box, they're placed into another. Olivia crossed over at 17 and made a name for herself with the intimate intricacies of her lyrics, but she got ahead of becoming known only as that 'little Mexican girl that be crying.' (For the record, she's actually Filipino-American.) It's a rarity that someone's debut single becomes an instant classic, and 'Drivers License' did just that. In a couple of decades, SOUR will be seen in a similar vein as Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and Carole King's Tapestry, if not already. Our kids and grandkids will know Olivia Rodrigo's name and associate her with the highs and lows of their own stories as they put her records on. Her ability to embrace messiness and channel her angst into tracks like 'Jealousy Jealousy' and 'Love Is Embarassing' harnesses the human experience by scratching a certain itch in our minds—particularly that of young women trying to find their place in the world. Undoubtedly, she's found hers with nearly 46 million monthly listeners on Spotify and Billboard chart toppers that solidified her as a Main Pop Girl—but the crowd at Gov Ball proved that she's a bona fide rock star.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Namco-Backed AI-Powered Light Gun Brings ‘Time Crisis' To Modern TVs
The G'AIM'E light gun could finally be the gateway back to classic shooters that so many people have ... More craved. One of the great casualties of modern technology was the demise of the light gun, which demanded classic CRTs to work properly. Sure, the Wii came tantalizingly close to replicating the experience with The House of the Dead: Overkill and Link's Crossbow Training, but it wasn't the same. Luckily, the powerhouse behind the gun-based arcade revolution — Bandai Namco — has backed a new light gun that promises to bring the experience to modern TVs, with in-built games including Time Crisis, Point Blank, and Steel Gunner… so long as it meets its soon-to-be announced Kickstarter target. The G'AIM'E gun, created in partnership with Namco by established Japanese electronics firm Tassei Denki, claims to have solved the conundrum with a plug-and-play setup that contains proprietary technology, replacing traditional infrared sensors with a high-resolution camera and AI for more responsive gameplay. What's more, the G'AIM'E promises to eliminate manual recalibration by automatically adjusting the experience to movement and angle, ensuring performance remains consistent regardless of your setup. Those backing the entry-level gun will receive a custom-licensed version of Time Crisis, recreated from the original arcade ROM. Point Blank, Steel Gunner, and Steel Gunner 2 will be available in expanded packages, which also include additional bonuses such as foot pedals and keychains. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder On the face of it, the G'AIM'E gun looks great, if not a bit on the cheap side. The gun is only available in blue outside of Japan, which gets a black option – potentially to avoid replica gun restrictions in other countries. The unit supports multiplayer modes with two gun connectors, essential for Point Blank. The one major thing it lacks is a recoil slider — a staple of the GunCon and a few of its rivals. That said, I don't think I've seen a working recoil in an arcade in about ten years, so maybe it's just one less thing to inevitably break. The Japanese bundles will likely be replicated for other markets, albeit with a blue gun, not a ... More black one. There's no information as to whether more games can be loaded at a later date — you'd hope the Bandai Namco partnership might lead to the inclusion of series like The House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, Crisis Zone, and even the other Point Blank and Time Crisis titles. However, presuming the Kickstarter succeeds (which, let's face it, there's basically no chance it will — pending its cost, or course), it's probably only a matter of time before someone mods the unit so people can play other classics of the era: Die Hard Trilogy, Resident Evil Survivor, Area 51 and, if we're lucky, the delightfully baffling Puffy: P.S. I Love You. Given that this is Tassei Denki's first-ever original product — and presuming it's successful — one can only hope the company will lean on its existing partnerships to create something for consoles, reviving niche genres in the same way CRKD is with its Les Paul-inspired Rock Band guitars. The G'AIM'E Plug & Play Time Crisis Gun System for Modern TVs will go live on Kickstarter at 12 noon EST on June 24. Pricing isn't available just yet, but given it's already touting ¥4,000 ($28) discounts for early-bird backers, chances are it'll be on or over the $100 mark for an entry-level kit.
