I visited the Industrial Strip for...

I visited the Industrial Strip for the first time on a Tuesday between 5 and 8 pm. The “hostess with open arms” described on the web site failed to materialize, but that was a trifle. (I admit I was looking forward to it, though – I'd never seen it at a club before.) The staff was welcoming, the chairs were comfortable and the décor was classy, none of which are a given in strip clubs. I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke, and there was much less of it than usual: a definite plus.

The day-shift atmosphere was “so laid back it's outta the picture.” About every second or third song, there was no dancer on stage. There seemed to be only about 6 dancers there, which probably accounts for it. Most of the dancers did not remove their tops on stage, and no one applauded at the end of a dancer's set. (I tried – once – and got looked at as if I were from Mars.) Things improved as the night shift came in beginning about 6 p.m., with more and prettier dancers who did go topless on stage. There was still no applause, though, even for good-looking, active dancers.

The dancers generally ranged from 6 to 8 in looks, with a couple of 9's on the night shift: a notch below, say, the Detroit airport-area clubs, but there were no dancers who should be looking for another line of work.