(Dec 2008 visit) The bouncer at...

(Dec 2008 visit) The bouncer at the door waited until he handed me the change back from paying the cover to say “Oh, it’s standing room only.” That didn’t make any sense, considering how few cars were outside, especially on their Holiday Costume night. I’d noticed the sign announcing it while passing through town a few days earlier, and made a point to come back through that night. But, as my eyes finally began to adjust to the darkness inside, I understood what the bounder meant. “No seats.” Not “no seats left.” Just “no seats.” No tables either. Even the walls and curtains that separated the private dance areas from the rest of the club, the booths, and the couches were gone.

Yes, I’d seen a bunch of the old furnishings broken up in a pile of rubbish outside. But I thought that the new management would have at least waited until the new stuff arrived. Instead, the club felt like an empty warehouse. Only the stage and bar remained to remind anyone that this was still supposed to be a strip club. They managed to keep one or two stools, but those were taken as was most of the standing room at the bar. Without a place at the bar to lean, patrons could only stand around, likely feeling stupid. Crystal, now a brunette, was tending bar (???) and one of the bouncers said new tables and chairs would arrive at 8:30. Then 9:30. Then 10:30. (Who delivers furniture at night?) It was just their way of trying to keep what few of us were there to stay and buy more drinks and dances. (They had managed to set up two make-shift booths for lappers with a couple of chairs each, and isolated from the club with the creative use of 2x4s and black scrims (basically, curtains that can appear mostly transparent or mostly opaque, depending on the lighting).

I did try some lappers from a few girls, but damn if they weren’t cutting the songs down to 3 minutes or less. Two of the dancers tried to make up for duration with quality, but in the end it was just a losing situation all around.