Absolution run regular fetish nights in the Milton Keynes area (see previous reviews [ 1 ] [ 2 ]). For last night, their second birthday party and early Xmas event, they obtained a bigger and better venue than those they have previously used to put on their events.
The new venue, the Pink Punters in Fenny Stratford (just south of Milton Keynes), let the promoters put on a much better event, and although both the promoters and the venue said that this was a one-off trial to see how things went, I think it's a combination that is very likely to continue.
The venue has very recently rebranded itself as a gay and lesbian members club, an interesting move from an establishment which previously had a reputation for attracting some of the nastier elements of society, but it seems to be genuine, judging by the number of gay/lesbian couples I saw enjoying each other's company in a very physical way, with no-one around them looking even slightly bothered.
On the night, the upstairs half of the venue was operating as per normal, with the usual Pink Punters members sitting around drinking and listening to their jukebox - the downstairs was set aside for the fetish event, although Pink Punters members were allowed to venture down at no extra cost, as long as they were complying with the dress code. This seemed to work fairly well mostly, although there were a few guys wandering round in jeans or combat trousers just checking out the women in fetish gear... something for the Absolution staff to keep an eye on in future (and a little odd in a supposed gay/lesbian venue?). Some of the (venue?) staff were making an excellent effort to fit in with the fetish theme, others unfortunately weren't.
Previously the venue was known for a while as 'the Bletchley nightclub' (before that 'The Kilrush') and their sound system certainly bears resemblance to a good club system - plenty of speakers, plenty of volume, and decent sound quality. The DJ is in a raised booth where they can survey the effect they are having on the dancers, who are spread around them on a split-level dancefloor. Absolution had added a nice touch to this area, with two fixed poles on the raised part of the floor which attracted some enthusiastic amateur pole dancers of various levels of ability. The DJs on the night were all good, with excellent taste in music and some reasonable mixes going on (the music was all hard house / techno stuff).
Bar prices seemed a bit high to me, with a pint of Strongbow costing £2.50, as did a Bacardi Breezer. A double vodka was £2.30, but the can of Red Devil my girlfriend wanted to mix it with cost me another £2.30 which seemed particularly extreme!
Moving across from the bar and dancefloor, you walked through a fairly spacious dungeon area to get to either the cloakroom or the 'play' area. The dungeon had several items of furniture including crosses, stocks and benches, and the flyers promised a professional dominatrix although I didn't notice her (we did leave early though). The play area was basically just a curtained off area with not a lot in the way of cushioned surfaces, plus an excellent grope box which looked like a lot of fun. Again, these areas weren't really in use by the time we left, but I imagine they did see a lot of use in the latter half of the night, as there was a good atmosphere to the event, with lots of couples who where all over each other in one corner and another.
The venue has a 3am bar license, and a reasonable amount of parking (although I got blocked in at the far end of the car park, but that'll teach me not to sneak off early next time!). It also has a good 'feel' for putting on fetish events, with the fact that the event was in a basement area seeming to lend an appropriate ambience to the proceedings. All in all, I think this new venue will enable Absolution to continue to grow and improve - next time, I hope I can stay the whole night and enjoy the full effect of Absolution!
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