The New Normal Noticeable When Navigating New England

New England has always been a particularly intriguing part of the country for clubs. In spite of a conservative/puritan vibe, historically there has been good fun to be had particularly near Providence. A recent business trip provided the opportunity to visit and revisit a few places. A great thanks to many TUSCLers who provided suggestions and advice. More deets will be provided in specific club reviews so this article will more articulate the general trends observed. In the old days, New England had three classes of clubs. First, there was the so-called fancy schmancy gentleman’s club like those near Chinatown in Boston. The main advantage to these was the accessibility to anyone in the city. The clubs are literally near the intersection of most of the subway lines so it’s an easy ride down for anyone staying in the city. The biggest disadvantage was the tameness of the stage and backroom experiences. The focus was more on the formality of the facility with performers in gowns. Looks were ok but mileage was absolutely on the low end. It literally was the accessibility that was the main reason to go. Second, there was a class of neighborhood shacks. These were located in various suburbs and often oddly next to banks, parks, malls, bakeries, etc. Think of them as 7-11s for clubs. They aren’t fancy, not that clean, and not that great overall. They’re just convenient and local. Looks were a big gamble since generally the recruitment was just based on performers who were local to the club. Mileage wasn't often that bad actually since the clubs were so far out of the way of normal visibility. Finally, there was a class of industrialized clubs. These were the ones that looked and smelled like any national chain club, even if they weren’t chains themselves. While more rare in quantity than the shacks, they historically provided the maximum balance of club formality, performer looks, and VIP mileage. There is technically a fourth class of clubs too where mileage is consistently in the extra territory, but this article won’t discuss that. In the old days, the industrialized clubs were shockingly quite good. The clubs themselves felt more like regular bars to hang out in. It’s fairly common for these clubs to have non-performers who provided neck and chair massages. The relaxed nature of these clubs had a very positive effect on recruitment where it would not be uncommon to find 7-9s who were attending nearby schools, were very personable, and provided remarkable mileage. It was not uncommon to see model quality performers with very open and naughty attitudes. In a recent trip, though, it appears this has changed quite dramatically. First, as many have noted in specific club reviews, pricing has gone up as it has throughout the country. It’s fairly common for a 2.5-3.5 min in an open area to run at least $25-$30. For VIP, it ran around $160-$200 for 15 minutes and $300-$360 for 30 minutes. It’s consistent with the club inflation around the country but still a sticker shock from the old days of $20 lappers and $100-$120 for 15 minute VIP. While in some other cities, club inflation has wiped out lower end PLs and created more aggressive selling to higher end PLs from performers, a different dynamic has happened in New England with the more affluent PL base. In every club, there was way more demand from PLs than supply of performers. As a result, the performers were never not busy and had no incentive to sell. It was a super weird feeling to be in a club where performers did not circulate to chat and offer services at all. In contrast, it was literally impossible to transact if the PLs did not make the first move, buy a drink, and earn the opportunity to transact with a performer. Sometimes even that wasn’t enough. The few 6s and 7s often had regulars that monopolized their time, so it was not unusual to be turned down by a performer you caught in the hallway who was really only there to hang with her regular. There’s nothing specifically wrong with all this other than the awkward question of how this club was now anything different than any other regular bar in town? This would also not be terrible if the performers were still 7-9s. Unlike the rosters before the pandemic, it was clear that overall looks had deflated from before. The hot models and young students seemed to be replaced by a wider breadth of looks (with “wider breadth” being a very appropriate operative phrase). The net result of price inflation, not enough performer supply, and a deflation of looks leads to a highly YMMV environment. Club vibes are changing very dramatically too. The music isn’t the same classic music from before. There were way more couples and mixed groups in the audience than just PLs. Stage performances seemed more like a necessary chore than the vibrant environments of the past. The effect is clearly not unique to New England. The pandemic induced a huge shock to the system that has resulted in serious inflation of pricing with serious deflation of looks and mileage overall. What’s unique to New England is the much higher affluence of the PLs. This messes up the supply/demand dynamics even more than the rest of the country. It’s not that fun cannot be had anymore, but it was a lot easier to randomly run into it before. It requires a lot more patience, a lot more money, a lot more effort, and a lot more perseverance to navigate an increasingly YMMV environment. Get to the club early because what few 7s or 8s may be there will spend their entire night in the VIP. If you spot someone, get off your ass and make the first move before some other PL does. Plan on buying drinks and tipping much more well for performers than before. You can still make it happen but you have to reset expectations that you have to do a lot more work than before. Hopefully 2019 won’t be for clubs what malls were in 2007, but this recent visit to New England was definitely much less fun than it was before. Besides a stronger game, I’m not sure if there is anything else PLs can do to navigate the new normal.