In Martinsburg last Friday night, I...

In Martinsburg last Friday night, I looked around the town by car about 10pm, checking out all the clubs of which I knew, paying attention to how full their parking lots were. TABOO, a modestly large club on the SE edge of town, seemed to be the local favorite, as its large lot was pretty full, was well lit, and was being watched over by a friendly tow truck driver. So I had to enter. The entrance fee was $10 cash for males, but females get in free! Customers are allowed to be as young as 18, in which case they can watch (and socialize and dance) and consume soft drinks (@$3) but not alcohol. But most customers are over 21 and consume beer (@$3.50) or harder stuff. Taboo also serves a wide range of meals. But customers must come equipped with cash, as Taboo doesn’t accept credit cards for anything. Inside, the club consists of one large room in which is there is an elevated central stage enclosed by a bar and chairs and overlooked by a DJ booth. This main stage has two stripper poles; two smaller stages exist at one room-end but I didn’t see these in use. There is a large bar at the other end. Near the bar end there are a few small “private”rooms and two larger champagne rooms for private performances - although I noticed only one use of these rooms while I was there. There are lots of TV screens showing sports. The club may hold 200 people but when I first entered there were only about 40 customers, but this grew to 60-80 by 1 am. Most seemed to be locals and to know each other and at least some of the dancers; it was a boisterous, shirt-sleeve crowd. Most were men (of course) but there were an interesting number of attractive young couples and even some groups of local young women who had a lot of friends there. As it was a wet tee-shirt contest night, some of the women may have been there contemplating jobs, as I saw one young real beauty talking to the manager at length. For her I would certainly return!

There were 20-30 dancers on duty, mainly performing on the central stage in groups of two or three at 10 minute intervals. Dancers I saw rated 6-8 on looks and some did not excite me but several were fine, and two or three were 9s, at least in my book. One 9 was Roxie, a relatively new brunette. Their routines were all pretty good, they get naked fast, and grew more enthusiastic as the crowd grew larger and louder. Tipping was somewhat impersonal as single or multiple dollar bills would be simply laid (and/or thrown) onto the central stage as the dancers performed; perhaps this is the law there. There was no pressure to tip, unless one was seated along the main stage. I saw no hassling by dancers, waitresses, bouncers, or anyone. Indeed I found it hard to find dancers’ stage names as their names were not announced, the music was loud, and the dancers flitted around widely and rapidly when offstage, talking with their many friends. One pleasant brunette dancer was “Samara” (I think) who was most bubbly and pleasant as she came to the bar to get a drink for herself and did not try to hassle me - although I did later tip her after some fun conversation.

The private dances are reportedly $30 for some amount of time but I did not try these - yet. And I saw only one person who got a private dance during my 3 hour visit. Probably these rooms see more action later in the night. I stayed through the wet tee-shirt contest but can say I prefer the regular dancers - although I appreciated the enthusiasm of most of the amateurs. The club has other regular specials, including an upcoming GGW bus visit on 30 July. I would go back for that but suspect the locals will fill the place to overflowing then. It is a very friendly, nice, place.