My first visit to the Skin Two Rubber Ball, one of the biggest and best known events on the fetish calendar. I don't know about the rest of the people there, but personally I was a bit disappointed... bored, in fact.
The outfits, while in general good, weren't as amazing as I'd expected - I have seen a higher level of fetish fashion at random Torture Garden events in the past. There were also at least half a dozen guys wandering around in normal street clothes - I really wasn't expecting that, how the hell do they get away with that, especially at an event of this reputation??
A special mention has to go to whoever was wandering around in a spacesuit style costume with loads of lighting effects attached... now THAT was impressive!
The shows, never my favourite bit of a fetish event anyway, were particularly obtrusive here as there is only one main area - so the dancefloor had to die each time the stage was in use. This was not popular with anyone I spoke to - okay, the TG clothing was pretty cool, and Midori's show was full of cute girls, but people wanted to have a choice, and if they'd been given that choice everyone I spoke to would have been jumping around to hard house, not standing still and watching a show.
The music was okay, although it was only after the last show that a few anthems crept in and the dance floor really picked up - perhaps a few definitive tunes earlier in the night would have helped things get rolling sooner, but then any enthusiasm generated at that point would have fallen foul of the stage show interruptions anyway.
The venue seemed to have pretty strict rules, with any public sex or SM play being stopped by venue staff. I think this might have been one of the things that made the event feel dull - fetish nights usually ride on a wave of sexual tension, whether you're actually taking part or not, and this one didn't have that at all...
In summary; for £31 and only lasting five hours this event definitely wasn't what I'd call value for money - I don't imagine I'll bother going next year.
My group split up at the 3am finish, with some going on to the Club R.U.B. after party while I drove the rest of us home - apparently the after party was really good, so maybe someone else can comment on that as I missed it...
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