On Saturday Torture Garden put on a one-off event at an alternative venue rather than their usual monthly event at Mass. The venue was the Colosseum, I was there, and it was really good

I was planning not to go to this event, as my last two experiences with TG and new venues have been less than impressive (witness the 'excellent club night, what happened to the fetish?' event that was the 11th birthday party (particularly the 2 foot wide dungeon) and also the not easily forgotten opening night of Club Flesh last year). I figured maybe TG might have 'teething issues' each time they go somewhere new, and I didn't want to try for third time lucky at a cost of £30 round trip and ticket if it all went wrong again.

Then I got bored on Saturday

A quick ring around of my friends and other reprobates I'm familiar with managed to gather some company for me as I set out on this abruptly planned excursion (if planned is the word for it) - and then we were off.

After a two hour drive, I was in central London. Another hour of trying to find a sneakily hidden bit of road that would take me across that damned great river that bisects the capital (I gave up and asked a policeman in the end - I love driving in London, it doesn't give me intense stabbing headaches at all, honest) and before you could say 'party' a really incredibly large number of times, we were there!

As we were unfashionably late (midnight), there weren't any queue hassles at the door or the cloakroom. In fact, one of my main impressions of the night in general was that it was the only TG event I've been to that wasn't over-crowded. I presume this means it undersold from the promoter's point of view(?), but I wonder how much more tickets would have to cost to make it worth having this kind of crowd density at all their events, because I think this was the single biggest factor that made the evening so good - I could wander around sightseeing without having to watch every step carefully (and there were some great sights to see, as always at TG events!). Even better than being able to walk around freely, there was enough room that I could stay clear of smokers... HOORAY!!! This allowed me (a) to breathe (always helpful) and (b) to keep my outfit (and my skin!) free of annoying burn holes (why do people carry lit cigarettes at hip height in a club full of expensive latex clothing??? I think it's bloody inconsiderate personally, but maybe I'm not entitled to an opinion as I don't smoke?)

Other good factors - several large rooms, great for creating different 'feels' for different areas - and loads of seating both near and far from the 'action' areas, so you could spectate in comfort, or chill out at a safe distance.

I think if this was TG's regular venue, it would quickly become a better event than Mass currently is, although probably not by a massive amount - I just liked the layout and think it was slightly better suited to a fetish event...

Once again, I didn't notice a single stage show, so I can't comment on what happened in that respect... I just find the customers so much more interesting than paid performance artists personally - I really don't see a need for a stage show when there seems to be a performance going on in almost every direction you look anyway! I'm sure they're the highlight of someone's evening though...

The music was the other noticable factor of this event - always good at TG, but particularly good at this one - I didn't once walk through the main room and think 'That's alright' - they all seemed to be really good tracks The sound was slightly crisper than Mass as well, although that was probably due to there being less bodies soaking it up.

10 out of 10 for this one - hopefully TG will take another side-trip to this venue at some stage this year and build on this success... oh, and I'm really really glad I went out after all