RICHARD BELL chills out as the curtain goes up on an amazing line up of acts for Creative Tuesday @ Café Tarifa.

Café Tarifa’s eclectic and exotic ambience wouldn’t withstand a thumping electro night, couldn’t cope with a grimy drum and bass night and would be utterly desolated by a mashup rave.

And that’s great!

The venue is all about stylish comfort, chilling out in cool surroundings as the hustle and bustle of the Cowley Road screams past, silent and unnoticed.

A Mediterranean milieu, if you will, designed to be flooded with sunlight, while its customers take long lazy sips from ice cold beers as they sweat their way through the latest heat wave.

And, as the afternoon turns to evening, the humid taunts of the night air tease you into the kind of submissive lethargy that only a really hot environment breeds.

Wow, am I on a roll or what...?

Of course, getting back down to earth, this is Oxford and as such is nowhere near hot enough for this to really take effect, but Tarifa goes a long way towards fashioning that feeling that you’re on holiday somewhere wonderful.

Creative offers a different sort of a night to Oxford’s usual clubbing fare, a night founded upon the belief that a whisper can be heard just as loudly as a scream, and often to greater effect.

An inventive and interesting array of musical acts and poets makes for a varied and engaging evening, and provides a mix of entertainment you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

One enormously appealing aspect of Creative is that while the unfailingly amazing acts are in a standard line-up format, it never feels as though the night is building towards a headliner.

That each performance has its own merits and that you aren’t simply passing time until the main event.

This charming element seems to be shared by all the performers, who support each other with the kind of enthusiasm you rarely get at a standard gig, and lends the night an irresistible appeal.

The host of quiet and excellent acts may well be what makes up this night, and yet the event itself has that wonderful, ineffable quality of personality that for some is so effortless while others will face tortuous difficulties just trying to chase and perfect.

This relatively new night simply oozes personality, and has arrived on the scene with the sort of quiet confidence the night itself puts across so well.

Creative boasts itself as an interactive environment in which budding performers are encouraged to get in touch beforehand so that they can share their gift, which is precisely the sort of warm and welcoming approach that fits this laid back and friendly venue.

Did I mention that it’s free to get in?

Probably not; after visiting Creative Tuesday it’s easy to forget that not all club nights are as generous and genuinely open as this...