The Wrong 'Un, Bexleyheath

It ain't anything fancy, the decor is shabby, the patrons mainly chavs and football shirt wearers, there is little or no atmosphere and pushing to the bar can sometimes be like wading through a fog of smoke but for drink prices this cheap who cares.

Ideal if you want to get smashed, or at least well on the way, before hitting another destination. When younger (and a little tighter for cash) I'd get wrecked in here for a �10 on ten bottles of Red reef before heading into the breeze bar and dancing it all off.

15 Aug 2005 17:06

Affinity, Bexleyheath

I started going to Affinity when it was the Breeze bar and truly thought my prayers had been answered. Somewhere decent and intimate in Bexleyheath that was staggering/walking distance of home, if it came to it, and played enjoyable dancey 70�s and 80�s music. Wow it was great. Not everyone knew of it and it was a real find. It then turned into Affinity and it did begin to lose something. They started to play more current tunes and R�n�B which is fine but it took away the fun, party element and introduced an element of attitude to the atmosphere. It sounds like I�m a boring kill joy but light hearted tunes like Footloose and Let�s hear it for the Boy are fun and encourage people to dance rather than R�n�B which encourages people to glare at each other and slowly move but not really let go.

I went back recently though and confess to having a great time, just like the Breeze Bar days. It can get crowded and you do get jolted on the dance floor but I still find it fun. The current DJ (on Saturdays) is taking the tunes back to the cheesy 70�s & 80�s, which bearing in mind the age of the crowd makes sense, acts as a further disincentive to the younger masses and lets face it is more of a laugh.

My only gripe is them letting in denim. I know the management want to make more money but this can be the slippery slope to trainers and t-shirts in my opinion. Bearing in mind they are appealing to an older audience, asking guests to pull on a pair of trousers isn�t that much of a headache and making people feel that they have to make an effort in their appearance if they want admission adds an air of respectability to the bar. If they can improve on this, the bouncers attitude (who take themselves a little seriously and could do well to learn the manners and professionalism of the OHM bouncers who are amazingly polite if you treat them with courtesy) and try to curb (or even not admit) the scruffy, burberry shirt wearing crowd then it could return to it�s former Breeze glory days. As it is I�d still recommend it to the older, more respectable clientele who want to have some fun and dancing without the fights and histrionics that you can get at other venues.

15 Aug 2005 16:55