By Denny on Sun 15 Aug 2004 at 22:31
I finally made it back to Compulsion this month, after having my plans for a faster return foiled by the motorbike accident last summer. The venue remains one of the best laid-out I've ever seen for a fetish night, and the event has built up a solid crowd in two of the three areas it seems to be aiming at. For a relatively small event, this is definitely one of the best I've been to.
The club has very good separation of various areas within it, allowing for two different dancefloors, both a good size, as well as a sprawling dungeon complex with public(ish) and private(ish) areas. There's also a small area with a couple of stalls, this month one selling BDSM accessories and the other selling hair extensions and braids for cyber-goths.
All of these areas have bars in them, so you never have to go far to find a drink - and at £1 for a lemonade and £1.50 for a pint of cider, it's not that expensive either. The club is also well supplied with toilet areas, especially for ladies - another bonus for a fetish night, I've never seen anyone queueing for the loo here.
The club has built up a good crowd of regulars in both the 'alternative' dancefloor area and the dungeon area. The main dancefloor, a stomping hard house area, was sadly underpopulated on Friday for no apparent reason - perhaps people just don't know how good the music is at this place. The sound system is good and the lighting's not bad either, so I really think this area would fill up with the right advertising.
The alternative dancefloor seems to attract a mostly goth crowd - no bad thing, as goths tend to be young and attractive, and of course they like to dress up 
Again the sound quality and lighting are pretty good, and there's a gallery around the top of this room allowing you to look down on the dancefloor. The club's layout gives you various routes to just stroll around taking in the sights, which is something I really like in a venue.
The dungeon has a good mixture of people, both serious players and those 'just experimenting' - and with some areas with a 'spectators gallery' and others in curtained off alcoves, people can pick a privacy level that suits their style of play.
Finally, there's even a cafe tucked away upstairs. The cheeseburger I had was pretty nasty, but the chips were particularly good and I'll happily sample other bits of the menu next time I'm there. They sell glowsticks too
All in all, this is a fantastic venue and a great event - I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone within travelling distance of Birmingham.
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