By Denny on Sat 11 Nov 2000 at 17:33
A month ago I reviewed Tight Laced, a small fetish night in the Cambridge area. I said at the time that I would definitely be going to the next one, and amazingly I actually managed it!
This month's Tight Laced event was held on Thursday the 9th, at the same venue as last time, the Q club. I didn't make it until 11pm (planning not a strong point here) so I had to pay £3 to get in... which still seems extremely cheap to me.
I took a couple of friends along this time, as the last one had been such good value for money... sadly, I don't think this month's event was as good as the last one, although we all had a pleasant evening, and my friends both said they will probably go again. Apparently a lot of the regulars went off to some big bi-annual goth event in Whitby, so that thinned the numbers out to a dangerously low level... there were just enough people to maintain a club atmosphere, but only just... if any large groups had left, it would have looked seriously underpopulated.
We arrived in the middle of what was apparently a very long and deeply unpopular set of drum and bass... not that there was anything wrong with it, it sounded pretty good, and was well mixed, it was just that almost no-one wanted to listen to it... the set lasted at least from when we arrived to about midnight, and had been going for 'about an hour' before that according to the people who complained to me. I did wonder if anyone had actually mentioned their apparent boredom with the music to the promoters, as the four people on the dancefloor were having so much fun that they might not have noticed that they were the only four in the place who liked the music at that stage. Still, new(ish) events have to try these things - one of the things that impressed me about this venue was the different styles of music, mainly dance but with industrial and some oddities thrown in for good measure... another style was worth trying, and (given appropriate feedback) I don't imagine they'll have a drum and bass set next time, or at least not a very long one.
When the DJ switched at around midnight, things really kicked in, with more than a dozen people swarming for the dancefloor the minute the hard house and techno tunes started to sound out (a dozen is quite respectable for a dancefloor this size, in case you were wondering!). From here on, the music was the same excellent mix as last time, and I danced quite a bit all the way from here to closing time (which was about 20 past 1, with the venue owner really pushing his 1am licence as far as he dared - top man!)
The people who were there seemed a similar mix to last time - most people were making a really good effort to dress up, and some were really not making any effort at all... in fact I suspect some of them might not have got in had the place been a bit busier. On the plus side, as with last time, those who weren't dressed up didn't seem to be the usual 'jeans and tshirt and stare at the girls' brigade, so they weren't ruining anything other than the look of the event - the mood was good. I didn't get to speak to so many people this time, as I was with friends, but those I did chat to seemed very friendly, including the venue owner who was going around chatting with the customers, always good to see.
I'm told the dungeon equipment is due to arrive in time for the next event - I didn't get to speak to the promoters for very long so I don't know what sort of thing they have ordered... they are planning on curtaining off the area off to one side of the dancefloor to make a slightly more private play space as well, which I think will go down well (and those I mentioned it to on the night certainly liked the idea).
There is a danger that the next couple of these events might be a bit quiet, as any students (and most people at the club seem young enough to be students) will be on holiday, and therefore possibly not in town. Still, at £2 to get in (if you manage to get yourself organised better than me) it might be worth getting down there to see the new dungeon area before the crowds get to it in February! And of course, I could be completely wrong, I don't know how many of the customers are actually students, or if they plan to go home for Xmas either.
So, all in all, although this event wasn't quite a good as the last one, I think Tight Laced still shows plenty of promise, and I think the arrival of the dungeon kit will really mark the start of a new era for the club, distancing it from the goth and rock clubs it shares a venue with... so once again (if I can get myself organised three months in a row!) I'll be going to the next one... see you there?
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