Leather &Lace Evening Saved By A Dancer

In the Charlotte / Gastonia NC area for the weekend I visited the Gold Club in Charlotte on a Friday night and Leather & Lace in Gastonia on Saturday night. This is my review of Leather & Lace-Gastonia.

It had been a few months since my last visit to the GasHouse Leather & Lace. On my last visit the bartender had given me some free admission passes so I used one on this Saturday evening to save myself the cover fee charge. Two pool tables are the first thing one sees upon entering the club. I noted the tables had unscarred red felt so I think they have recently been recovered. I don't remember them being red before. I've heard Slim Baucom, the owner of the MAL group, has been making changes and upgrades recently to all his clubs. This club also appears to have a new coat of white interior paint and new red neon lighting. The result is a cleaner and more modern ambience. Several past reviews have noted the recent move of the DJ booth. Rumor has it the Gastonia city government is considering an undeveloped parcel of property very near this club for a new minor league baseball stadium. I guess Slim is anticipating a major upswing in business if the stadium does get built near L&L. Thus, the interior decor changes.

The bar is in the same place, to the right of the pool tables. There, I grabbed a barstool and ordered a Corona ($6.75) from the blond working behind bar. As I sipped my beer a couple of dancers milled around the bar talking to their regulars. None spoke to me though. I worked on my Corona in quite contemplation. As I finished the beer I waited as the new club manager stood behind the bar and chatted with two non-drinkers. He was regaling them with how good of a club manger he is. Really? Meanwhile, the blond bartender was over at the inoperative pool tables chatting up a couple of other gentlemen that I also didn't see to be drinking. Really? Being naturally stubborn I decided to see how long it would take before they noticed me sitting there with an empty bottle and beer money in-hand.