What is the reason that strip clubs in the mid-Atlantic region have their stages behind the bar? Is it legal issue? Do any of the traveling TUSCLers notice this type of setup in other areas of the country?
First club I ever went to was like this. Novelty Lounge in Oneonta, NY (https://www.tuscl.net/stripclub.php?DID=…). A tiny little bar where the stage seemed like an after thought to draw in anyone they could from the larger college bars.
There was only one dancer in her 30's and a shriveled old lady behind the bar. We knew the place was a hole but when your 19 and half way through a night of drinking just not getting turned away at the door makes it a decent trip.
This was 16 years ago. Recent reviews seem like they atleast have more action now.
The new Boudoir Rouge in Calgary has this configuration. Personally, I like it. But, Alberta is the home of the loonie/toonie toss. Drunks tossing coins at strippers' gaping vaginas over the bartenders and waitresses working between the bar and stage is just a serious accident waiting to happen.
To be safe, bartenders and waitresses should wear hard hats and eye protection.
I think one of the bars I went to in Rockford, Illinois had this type of setup, but I can't remember which one, being it was in 1995 when I went there and its probably different now.
In some locations it MAY be due to a local "more than arm's length" ordinance, in others there may not be a rule but it's just done as a matter of security concerns; for some places it may be just not wanting to remodel the main room, perhaps a legacy from a past life as a GoGo bar; and a derivative of this last one, where since "everyone in this town does it this way" already, then any new joint does it the same way.
In the Florida clubs with that arrangement then you get the "tip walk" after each girl's set. I've also seen clubs with a combination of BOTH front-&-center AND behind-the-bar stages (e.g. Flashdancers in NYC)
@farmerart - I've wondered about that myself... those things must sting...
Cheerleaders in Pittsburgh has 3 stages that are connected. Two of them are behind the bar and the third one is the only one where you can tip the dancers directly instead of throwing money at them. I don't like the setup.
every club in Philly is this way. Either the bar srrounds the stage with a walkway for the bartenders and dancers to walk for a tip walk or there is a walkway for the dancers after the stage dance for a tip walk. I once asked why and was told it was local regulations for no tipping or touching while on stage. There is no tip rail in Seattle clubs. If you wish to tip the dancer on stage you must lay the bills where she can see them and come pick them up later. I was in a club in Florida south of Miami that the stage was the bar and the dancers would walkaround and squat down in front of you for tips. (watch out for your beer bottle!!)
I live in south Florida and I see/visited both types of SCs. What I have noticed is that often the smaller dives are the ones with the stage encircled by the bar. I “assume†it may be a space issue in the smaller SCs since a lot of times these dives will also have an additional smaller stage where you can go up and tip the girl – though the smaller stage is not always used.
To piggy back on this subject. I recall a small SC in Dallas that did not have a main stage that I can recall – may have had a small stage or two but don’t recall it being used. The best thing about this small SC was its “stage†dances. The “stage†consisted of the actual tables where the customers sat. The tables were long continuous slightly arc shaped tables about 30 to 40 ft. in length – similar to a large university auditorium style classroom.
The dancers would walk thru (actually on top of) each table during their “stage†set and if you extended your hand, then they would come down and ride you, i.e. give you a mini lap dance for about 15 to 30 secs. – all for the same cost of regular stage tipping! - I freaking loved it – and if you tipped a couple of extra dollars, or the girl digged you, she would often ride you for a good minute or so.
Unfortunately, this SC was forced to close due to city/ordinance issues back in 2007 or so and never reopened – I was disappointed to say the least.
RE: The quick LD. I saw this once in Texas as well, Austin. The dancer would do a 10-15 second dance then move on. If you liked those few seconds, give her a couple of bucks and she would return afterwards. I liked that a lot!!!
Clubber - On my last visit to PP, they started doing that. They called it the $2 lap dance. Before they started, they sent two bouncers around with a bunch of #2 bills to make change for the customers.
I too saw this mini-lap dance variation at a different club in Dallas.
The DJ would announce it 1 or 2 songs prior (so guys could get their $1s if they needed to) - the dancers would all be called to the back (dressing room area) and then would come out in force! - I "think" the dancers would be called to the back to get a pep talk/rowel-them-up b/c the dancers would all come out at once like a freaking "stripper stampede" and with a lot energy and aggressiveness - again I freaking loved it! Mostly likely the club did this to give the customers a taste and encourage them to get LDs afterwards.
I totally get your point. The cool thing about the mini-lap dance is that it was totally optional – like stage tipping. Actually the girls would get a lot of No’s and they would just go on to the next guy and ask if they wanted a “quickie†- or they often would just go to the guys who were “flagging†them down with their $1s. There was no pressure and no obligation at all – it was a nice way to sample a dancer’s skill and get a quick and cheap thrill!
Just to shed a bit of light into why the dancers at this particular club may have had “enthusiasm†for these mini-lap dances.
This club was a BYOB club in Dallas, TX. It was mostly a Latin club - mostly Latina dancers with a handful of African American dancers and a handful of trailer-trashie Anglo dancers. The clientele was mostly Latin (mostly Mexicans and central-Americans) day laborer type guys – and one thing I learned about Mexicans while living in Dallas – they like to get their drink on!. This was definitely a blue-collar type of club. A large portion of the clientele that would go there were usually large groups of Latin day-laborer guys who loved to drink (bring in their own booze) but did not spend too much money on LDs – most likely b/c they did not have too much $$$ and/or b/c many of them supported families in Mexico/central-America.
So, b/c of this atmosphere, sometimes there were not too many LDs being gotten from the dancer’s point of view and the club’s point of view (the club would charge a one-time $20 charge to get into the LD area of the club; since it was BYOB, the club needed to make $$$ in other ways). So the clubs would “rally†the dancers and get them pumped up for the mini-lap dances probably by telling the dancers that this would be a good way to get LDs later in the night (i.e. if a guy said yes to the mini-lap dance and tipped her extra $1s, then this guy would be a good potential LD customer) – and the club would benefit as well from selling LD-area passes.
Probably more than you cared to hear, but just my 4 cents!
I can't stand the stage behind the bar setup. You can't get a good view and the dollar toss BS is retarded IMO.
In some cases there are local laws that encourage such a setup (i.e. the so cal moats). In some places, I think it becasue of a differnt business model. Places that sell alcohol want you sitting at the bar buying drinks, and aren't worried about the dancers making bank.
You state, "I thought it was a nice change but honestly today I would hate it with all the less than attractive dancers working. Who wants to be subjected to an ugly woman dancing on you expecting a tip only to be followed by yet another fugly?", and yes they were there. As they approached, I just waved them on and said no thanks. None stopped.
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There was only one dancer in her 30's and a shriveled old lady behind the bar. We knew the place was a hole but when your 19 and half way through a night of drinking just not getting turned away at the door makes it a decent trip.
This was 16 years ago. Recent reviews seem like they atleast have more action now.
To be safe, bartenders and waitresses should wear hard hats and eye protection.
In the Florida clubs with that arrangement then you get the "tip walk" after each girl's set. I've also seen clubs with a combination of BOTH front-&-center AND behind-the-bar stages (e.g. Flashdancers in NYC)
@farmerart - I've wondered about that myself... those things must sting...
To piggy back on this subject. I recall a small SC in Dallas that did not have a main stage that I can recall – may have had a small stage or two but don’t recall it being used. The best thing about this small SC was its “stage†dances. The “stage†consisted of the actual tables where the customers sat. The tables were long continuous slightly arc shaped tables about 30 to 40 ft. in length – similar to a large university auditorium style classroom.
The dancers would walk thru (actually on top of) each table during their “stage†set and if you extended your hand, then they would come down and ride you, i.e. give you a mini lap dance for about 15 to 30 secs. – all for the same cost of regular stage tipping! - I freaking loved it – and if you tipped a couple of extra dollars, or the girl digged you, she would often ride you for a good minute or so.
Unfortunately, this SC was forced to close due to city/ordinance issues back in 2007 or so and never reopened – I was disappointed to say the least.
RE: The quick LD. I saw this once in Texas as well, Austin. The dancer would do a 10-15 second dance then move on. If you liked those few seconds, give her a couple of bucks and she would return afterwards. I liked that a lot!!!
I too saw this mini-lap dance variation at a different club in Dallas.
The DJ would announce it 1 or 2 songs prior (so guys could get their $1s if they needed to) - the dancers would all be called to the back (dressing room area) and then would come out in force! - I "think" the dancers would be called to the back to get a pep talk/rowel-them-up b/c the dancers would all come out at once like a freaking "stripper stampede" and with a lot energy and aggressiveness - again I freaking loved it! Mostly likely the club did this to give the customers a taste and encourage them to get LDs afterwards.
I totally get your point. The cool thing about the mini-lap dance is that it was totally optional – like stage tipping. Actually the girls would get a lot of No’s and they would just go on to the next guy and ask if they wanted a “quickie†- or they often would just go to the guys who were “flagging†them down with their $1s. There was no pressure and no obligation at all – it was a nice way to sample a dancer’s skill and get a quick and cheap thrill!
Just to shed a bit of light into why the dancers at this particular club may have had “enthusiasm†for these mini-lap dances.
This club was a BYOB club in Dallas, TX. It was mostly a Latin club - mostly Latina dancers with a handful of African American dancers and a handful of trailer-trashie Anglo dancers. The clientele was mostly Latin (mostly Mexicans and central-Americans) day laborer type guys – and one thing I learned about Mexicans while living in Dallas – they like to get their drink on!. This was definitely a blue-collar type of club. A large portion of the clientele that would go there were usually large groups of Latin day-laborer guys who loved to drink (bring in their own booze) but did not spend too much money on LDs – most likely b/c they did not have too much $$$ and/or b/c many of them supported families in Mexico/central-America.
So, b/c of this atmosphere, sometimes there were not too many LDs being gotten from the dancer’s point of view and the club’s point of view (the club would charge a one-time $20 charge to get into the LD area of the club; since it was BYOB, the club needed to make $$$ in other ways). So the clubs would “rally†the dancers and get them pumped up for the mini-lap dances probably by telling the dancers that this would be a good way to get LDs later in the night (i.e. if a guy said yes to the mini-lap dance and tipped her extra $1s, then this guy would be a good potential LD customer) – and the club would benefit as well from selling LD-area passes.
Probably more than you cared to hear, but just my 4 cents!
In some cases there are local laws that encourage such a setup (i.e. the so cal moats). In some places, I think it becasue of a differnt business model. Places that sell alcohol want you sitting at the bar buying drinks, and aren't worried about the dancers making bank.
You state, "I thought it was a nice change but honestly today I would hate it with all the less than attractive dancers working. Who wants to be subjected to an ugly woman dancing on you expecting a tip only to be followed by yet another fugly?", and yes they were there. As they approached, I just waved them on and said no thanks. None stopped.