What is a dive strip club? How do you define it? If you can't define it, what are some indisputably dive clubs that might be known by multiple tusclers? What are the characteristics that make those clubs indisputably a dive?
As an example, is Follies day shift a dive club? I don't think of myself as going to dive clubs. But I like Follies.
Anywhere the furniture is older than the dancers.
Follies is not a dive club. I'll post a few that are when I get a minute.
It's small. It doesn't have a lot of glitz or fancy things which define a lot of money was used to make the club look nice.
The dancers could be the waitresses instead of an actual waitresses. A jukebox plays the music instead of a dj.
Those are some things which come to mind.
McDoogal's in Baltimore would definitely qualify.
Ancient furniture, spotty (sometimes very good, sometimes very mediocre) talent, very odd stage layout.
Fantasy Island, Duncannon PA. Adjacent to a truck stop, no stage, just a circle of tables.
And finally, Club Fred, Montoursville PA. Down an industrial road right across the street from the worst Super 8 motel ever. (Not the worst I have ever stayed in, but definitely in the bottom 5!) I just couldn't make myself go in, not even out of pure curiosity. :-/
I can't define a dive club but I know one when I see it.
Dive Club is a group of dedicated divers who meet regularly to talk scuba, plan local dives and dive trips.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com a real dive club
A club adjacent to a truck stop is always a dive.
A small club, often a neighborhood club, little to no glitz or fancy things. Parts of the club are broke. Restrooms are often horrible. May or may not be waitresses. What waitresses there are, are likely old or heavy, often over the hill ex-dancers. One club I was in, there isn't even waitresses, customers and dancers just picked up their drinks and leave the tip in a jar
The dancers you find in the club usually run are one and at most two hot young dancers who bank on the fact they are the hottest their and get a lot more attention than the other dancers. A few 7's or 6's. The rest 5's and less. Lot of older dancers. Club also doesn't put on nearly as much airs. You will also see dancers walking around topless, or sitting at a table topless with a customer smoking a cigarette and relaxing.
There is often no DJ. You also might see a jukebox that the dancers put dollars in to play their sets, or and automated DJ. In some cases the dancers will handle the sound system themselves.
Go to most of the Washington Park, IL clubs, Adult World in Harrisburg, PA, or Blue Moon in Phx, AZ.
Informal place where you can dress casually, let down your hair, and have a drink.
...but there's one goofy guy in the corner wearing white polyester, who's soliciting the dancers and asking them out for dinner at Applebees.
^ Yes! Blondie's, Cheeks, C-Mowe's, Wise Guys, and certainly Dollie's in Washington Park, IL are dive clubs. So are Patty's Showbar, Lenny's, and Paradise Cove in Indianapolis.
I agree with those Indy dives duece...but don't forget club Venus, harem house and do you remember wild cherry?
A dive club is defined by the same characteristics as a dive bar. It's not the quality of the product or the appearance of the staff but rather a minimal attempt at maintaining the physical aspects of the facilities that define a dive. Common characteristics might include furniture that emits a puff of dust when you sit down, a bar/stage that leaves splinters, light fixtures that lack light bulbs, or toilets that give inspiration to Trainspotting.
Dancers might be really hot and engaging at a dive club. The beer and food might be amazing at a dive bar. I have been in dive bars on the west coast that serve doppelbocks and Belgium trippels along with killer ethnic food, but had milk crates and buckets for people to sit on.
A relevant story: I was at Bogart's (in Detroit) on Tuesday night with wongy, Jackslash, and vincemichaels when a mouse ran through and freaked out a number of dancers. The thing is, I don't think Bogart's served food. So the mouse must have been checking out the dancers' menu. rimshot
100ber, Bogart's does serve food. I have eaten there. But I've never taken a Bogart's dancer--shudder-- to VIP.
Yeah, slim pickings for $10 dance day. Even Bogart's dancers had the PHC/FC attitude when we were there this week. I would tip them and ask that they come by after their stage set, and they would slink away to their regulars. Maybe I should have asked the mouse for a dance.
I agree 100% with MrDeuce on the WP clubs. They were the first ones I thought of when I saw this discussion.
If your shoes stick to the floor, it's a dive club.
You know a dive when you walk in. Your feet stick to the floor.
No bathroom troll LOL.
If I feel like I might not get out of the club unharmed with my wallet, keys and clothes on me, it's a dive in my book. Some of the old Clancy's clubs in DC were like that.
On the other hand, you are in an upscale club if there is anyone who expects a tip besides the dancer and waitress.
ButterMan, I'm [not] embarrassed to admit that I've been to Club Venereal and Buster Wild Cherry a couple of times each -- and to Harem Scarem many times :)
Uncle Paulie's Pub in Glendale Heights, IL Any club on the west bank in New Orleans- KJs Lounge, Cherry Bombs, the Green Door, whatever the fuck they're called now
Ok. I don't go to dive clubs, cause I've never heard of any of the clubs mentioned. Except Bogarts, but that's because Heck lived there and talked about it all of the time.
et says: "Anywhere the furniture is older than the dancers."
No. The true dive club has furniture 30 - 40 years old--but not older than dancers.
The vip couches are so worn and so nasty the dancer brings a clean towel to cover it with. No waitresses, no bathroom troll. Old Christmas lights around the stage. No smoking in the club, but three plastic chairs right outside the front door serve as the smoking area.
The 3 clubs in duncannon PA are dives. Adult world in Harrisburg PA is a dive in the back of a porn store. Adult world had a few decent strippers though.
You ask them for a craft beer and they say they have 2 kinds.
Busch and Busch Light.
Dollie's Washington Park IL Outhouse Lawrence KS Blue Moon Phoenix AZ I usually have a lot of fun in dives, but afterwards can't get the shower water hot enough to truly feel clean.
Clermont Lounge, Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta GA.
/discussion
"The door girl might give you a BJ at the front door"
That might not be a bad deal since the door girl might be hotter than any of the dancers.
A dive bar is were old dancer's go to retire
^^^^^^^^ Very true. It was like that at our own George's Rockin' Robin. When you see a place where the girls don't make much money, then you know that there is some other reason they are there. If it ain't the parking lot, then it's OTC.
SJG
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Dives are dives. It goes beyond just not being a high end club. It has to be genuinely tacky/cheap or even shabby.
A dive club can be a great club or total shit.
Some current and former dives TUSCL members may recognize...
Pleasant Moments in Bridgeport, CT (great) Chicas Bonitas in Las Vegas, NV (great) Tropicana Club in Scranton, KS (now closed, but great in its time) King Arthur's Lounge in Chelsea, MA (now closed, but great in its time Lucky Lady Cabaret in Sweet Springs, MO (total shit) Aga's in Boston, Ma (total shit) Crazy Horse in Springfield, MO (now closed but total shit in its time)
surprised nobody has mentioned talk of the town in Vegas.
Bogart's.