Richard Bell tries out Fuzzy Ducks @Academy in Cowley Road, Oxford.

Well, I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but I think winter might be upon us.

The record-breaking freezing temperatures in the middle of an absurdly long and bitter cold snap are, of course, my first clue. I’ve seen icicles and, most recently snow, which are both very wintry indicators.

Plus, the Christmas lights are up, and looking decidedly tasteful this year, if I might say.

In any case, the weather has left me in my scarf, coat and gloves as I’ve layered up to the maximum and braved the wind chill factor (yup, there’s nothing frail about me).

Thus, sporting the aforementioned sartorial ensemble, I shivered up to the O2 Academy for Fuzzy Ducks last Wednesday to a terrible sight – a mammoth queue taking up most of the space outside the venue (appropriately enough for this time of the year, my heart couldn’t help but go out to the poor souls lost in it).

Indeed, this weather would elicit my sympathy for anyone who had to queue for more than 10 minutes, but that these guys had prepared themselves for Fuzzy Ducks in typical fashion caused my heart to ache, as they shivered in their tutus and strappy tops (and as for what the girls were wearing...).

The reason the queue was so enormous was that the night hadn’t started yet, but when the doors did open, wow! It was like the walls of a dam collapsing; a veritable tidal wave of pink clad patrons flooding into the venue, darting either for the dancefloor or the bar to stock up on good deals.

Fuzzy Ducks always has a theme, and this theme was pink. Why? Well, because it was a celebration of the Brookes rugby team gaining victory over their Oxford rivals.

That the Fuzzys’ team were able to communicate the theme to everyone in time for the night really was astonishing, but it also said something very clear about this venue.

This is a night for Oxford Brookes students, and even then only for the types who like dressing up, week in week out.

They have a dedicated army of fans who will be there for every single Fuzzy Ducks without exception and that kind of loyalty can’t fail to impress.

I just hope – for their sakes – that the next theme is bears or eskimos, so those stuck in the queue don’t freeze to death on the way in.

That said, I’m sure the regulars will find a way to make dressing as a bear both sexy and revealing, so forget I mentioned it...

You know how young people are.