Overall, I was impressed with this place as a venue judging from our Reader Bar and Club Awards. The acoustics were decent, the interior well designed and the place relatively spacious. I even find the grungy back alley-cum-converted-factory complex setting charming, in that gritty Beijing sort of way. Plus it's a five minute walk from my place, which always garners extra points in my book.

I also give the staff props for handling the capacity crowd relatively well (with a lot of help from our volunteers, staff and sponsors). But to be fair, I can't really honestly judge their usual service or drink selection based on just last night's experience.

However I can say this: They damn-diddly-do indeed need to sort out the ventilation problem. As it was obvious to all who attended last night, this place is hot as hell, even in moderately breezy springtime weather - so they'd be well advised to invest in a top-grade AC system (or at least crank it up).