Scores dancers urged to 'recession-proof' bodies
On the subject of bad economic times, true to the word of the publicist, I attended a lecture over the weekend for a Las Vegas Weekly column by Dr. Frank Stile at Scores, in which more than 250 dancers were told how to recession-proof their bodies. This was the first mandatory meeting of all Scores dancers since December, and to ensure their presence there was a $5,000 fine for missing the meeting.In addition to Dr. Stile's 15-minute lecture, other issues related to the club were discussed. There was even a moving tribute to a dancer who died of natural causes since the December meeting. The owner of Scores invoked Metaphysical poet John Donne and quoted Shakespeare and Gertrude Stein. The tribute ended with "Panis Angelicus" sung by Luciano Pavarotti. A few women wept.
Dr. Stile had one subject on his list with the time allotted: breast surgery. “We are going to talk about the truth of breast surgery. Let’s face it: Plastic surgery is sex, sex is plastic surgery. If you can’t handle that you are not talking the truth.” This motivational pitch to the dancers, by the way, was called a “consultation” by Dr. Stile.
Afterward talking to dancers, the breakdown of their opinion was pretty consistent. Those who already had the surgery were big believers that it boosts their profits, and those who had not had the surgery thought they were doing fine without it. They also thought the boost was caused by the raised ego of the recipient and not the increased size. One woman speaking for her table snapped at me: "If you looked like us, would you consider plastic surgery?" Another woman pragmatically noted that the low lighting of the club was more helpful for concealing physical imperfections than any cosmetic change.
Dr. Stile, however, was content to speak to the already convinced. He explained to me afterward that the average procedure could require three touch-ups during a lifetime. In fact, one dancer I spoke to needed a third operation to fix problems she said were caused by a botched initial operation. She had never heard of Dr. Stile before his 15-minute talk at Scores, but she was now seriously considering him after the "consultation." "He really understands the danger, and he seems careful," she said.
Dr. Stile estimates that about 10% of his practice comes from dancers in Vegas at clubs like Scores. (Photo by Sarah Gerke)
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Strippers urged to 'recession proof' bodies
Yesterday I got a call from a public relations firm that represents a plastic surgeon. He is going to strip club dressing rooms and giving Vegas dancers a combination sales pitch and motivational lecture on how to "recession proof" their bodies. Ah, Vegas. I asked if this jargon meant he was trying to sell lots of boob jobs? But, of course, I wasn't thinking. That particular surgical intervention has already taken place for many dancers in the topless bars of Vegas. So, in fact, this surgeon offers a far wider range of cosmetic surgical options. I am hoping to go along with the plastic surgeon next week as he gives such a speech at a topless bar.
On a similar topic, I was at a major Vegas topless bar over the weekend reporting a story for my column in Las Vegas Weekly. On my way out of the club, it turned out I knew the general manager of this topless club (we both have strong connections to Minneapolis). He gave me a tour of the club. We then headed toward a booth to catch up and I agreed not to name his club in what I wrote. I knew that way I could get more candid answers from him; candor is usually not easy to get from most management in the Vegas jiggle business. I asked him if he felt there was a recession in the Vegas topless bar business right now. "Absolutely. We feel it. It impacts the middle. But the rich people still have plenty of money and so from VIP clients we can still make plenty." And, the best way to get VIPs. . . . Well, it turns out this club is one of the ones the plastic surgeon is planning to come give the dancers the "recession-proof"-your-body lecture.
Anyway, when we reached the booth, looking forward to talk about First Avenue and the Replacements reissues, he evicted four dancers conferring at the table. They were all attractive in the identical dancer way. I don't mean that to be condescending. These were very attractive women who all had the same hair, makeup and style of dress. As the dancers were leaving the table, the general manager pointed out one who happened to be the top-earning dancer at the club. "Last month she cleared $80,000," he said. Yes, I double-checked that with him. In one month. As I had already told him I was not running the club's name, he had little motivation to lie to me.
For perspective, most dancers I have interviewed over the years are looking for $500 to $1,000 on a good night. A lot of the big numbers you hear from stripping in Vegas are exaggerated or skewed. But there are certainly a few dancers like this one.
I once directly reported on a dancer who earned $3,000 in a single shift and, for her, a very typical night. In her case, though, the reason she made so much money was not exactly clean. She was a hustler who slipped bribes to doormen to get the best customers, along with lots of other entrepreneurial efforts less noble, including secretly meeting clients outside the club for, she claimed, just dinners and shopping. Arranging meetings with clients outside a strip club is a firing offense at almost every club in Vegas. But the risk to her was worth it. There are a lot of strip clubs in Vegas and she knew she could always get another club to hire her. For her, each night was renewed exploration into the land of tourists for fresh money opportunities.
So, I wondered if this dancer was the same deal? Honestly, there was nothing distinctive physically about her. She was as attractive as most Vegas strippers in a totally unsurprising way. She had shoulder -length dark hair (probably extensions), seemed to have already recession-proofed her chest, and was perhaps 5' 8" in heels. Very typical. I know dancing is primarily a sales job. But $80,000 is a lot of dances to sell in a month. So, I asked the general manager how she managed to earn so much money and was she, to be blunt, a hooker on the side?
He swore she was not, and that she was simply the best worker he had ever met. First off, she works only in the VIP room (where a dancer can get $500 an hour plus tips). Second, she creates regular fans who often come to see her every night of their vacation once they meet her and, according to the manager, she has "a personality you can't fake. It is so down to earth if you met her and talked to her for five minutes, Richard, you would want to give her all your money."
Well, that wasn't going to happen. But I did ask to meet her for a brief interview to see if I could detect whatever charisma she had that made her so special that she could make in a single month what for many would be an annual salary. Of course, she was in the VIP room by then with a customer and unavailable for interviews, working on her next month's total.
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Crazy Horse Too closes
That would make for yet another surprising turn in the always interesting history of the closed-for-now Crazy Horse Too.
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Crazy Horse Too keeps license
To work this all out, Rick Rizzolo, the old owner of Crazy Horse Too, was required to sell the club as part of a plea deal that included guilty pleas from 14 of his employees and associates. But the problem from the first has been hints that the new owner, Mike Signorelli, has allowed old owner, Rizzolo and company to stick around and influence the running of the club. Originally, the sale agreement was so brazen that Rizzolo would even have been allowed to have an office at the club. Why would Rizollo want an office there when he no longer owned Crazy Horse Too? (And, when he was not allowed to have any involvement with the club at all?) The office idea got tossed from the agreement.
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Letter to the Judge
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Topless bars and Taxi cars
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Stripping for A Living
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Crazy Horse Too gets more time
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Suit Over Topless Bar Claims Secret Owner
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Lawyer on Lap Dance Ban
I interviewed prominent attorney and strip club landlord Dominic Gentile on Saturday about last weeks' controversial Nevada Supreme Court decision. The decision allows the city of Las Vegas to punish strippers or customers who "fondle" or "caress." Before that this ordinance had been deemed too vague by lower courts. And probably for good reason.
As I blogged last week, the problem for dancers and customers is that no one involved in the case agrees on what the fondle and caress ban means. This includes the lawyers on both sides and the judge who wrote the opinion that the ordinance was not vague. For one thing the judge seems to think the ordinance is meant to ban lap dances, but the lawyer for the city who fought to uphold the ordinance disagrees.
This may not be a complete list, but these clubs all fall in the city limits of Las Vegas and therefore are places where the no longer vague ordinance is being enforced: Olympic Gardens, Treasures, Cheetahs, Crazy Horse Too, Talk of the Town, Sheri's Cabaret, Glitter Gultch and Larry's Villa.
I turned to Gentile to help sort this out, because the very nature of the lap dance in Las Vegas was established in 1996, when Gentile successfully represented Club Paradise (located across from the Hard Rock) in a fight against the county's lap dancing ordinance. As a result of that case, neither Gentile's Palomino in North Las Vegas nor any of the topless bars in the county (like Scores and Club Paradise) are impacted by the decision.
Q: Were you surprised by the Supreme Court decision?
A: Well, let me start by saying I haven't had time to read it yet. But I am not surprised by it given the current Nevada Supreme Court. If this decision were to come down in 120 days it might be different.
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Lap Dances Banned in Las Vegas
The Nevada Supreme Court has overruled a lower court to uphold a city ordinance banning lap dances. This seems to have caught everyone by surprise. According to the Review-Journal : "In the decision, Justice Nancy Becker said the city ordinance was intended to prohibit lap dances." City attorney Brad Jerbic is now facing the horror of that reality for the local economy. Though Jerbic won the case he seems to disagree with his victory telling the Review-Journal: "The ordinance never banned lap dances." It only (if you check the offences the dancers performed in the case) bans rubbing your butt on man's lap or putting your boobs in his face. Isn't that exactly what a lap dance is? Whatever, but that is the point: all of this is in the interpretation. So the good will of police and not the language of the law is what Jerbic is expecting people to trust here. But ACLU of Nevada general counsel Allen Lichentein in the article notes that "if he had a client who was a stripper, he would advise her that lap dancing is illegal in city limits." And, if I had a friend who wanted to go to a strip club in Las Vegas and as advice for you LA tourists who are thinking about it: customers can be cited as well. Not that this is likely to happen. But if you get a lap dance in Las Vegas right now you are clearly entering a gray area of the law and it is interesting how this will play out. Off the top of my head, among the popular clubs that are impacted: Crazy Horse Too, Olympic Garden, and Treasurers. When I just now called Treasures to confirm they were in the city the woman who answered the phone wasn't sure at first and had to check. Someone from Scores is looking into the same question and is going to call me back. That difference as of now is very significant.
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Crazy Horse Too: Back and Almost the Same
The Crazy Horse Too is open again under new management. Yesterday, according to the Review-Journal, "the Las Vegas City Council granted Mike Signorelli, owner of the Golden Steer Steakhouse, a new liquor license for the topless club earlier in the day. Club owner Rick Rizzolo and 16 employees who pleaded guilty to federal charges this summer will be barred from the property."
The club wasted no time. A dancer friend of mine got a call that afternoon from Crazy Horse Too. The club waved the $65 house fee that dancers have to pay to work on a Wednesday night.
Curious, she went in to work. She says that there were many customers happy to see the club reopened and others, the usual tourists, who were unaware it had ever been closed. Still, compared to a typical Wednesday night at the Crazy Horse Too she says it was slow. Fortunately for her, she said only about half the number dancers who would usually be working were there: "I made $300 in four hours. Not bad for a Wednesday."
Crazy Horse Too must be happy with the business too, because she was told house fees for dancers would be back on for tonight. She said that while none of the infamous 17 (including Rizzolo) were present, she saw mostly familiar faces in the ranks of management and employees. Otherwise, she saw no evidence of new ownership at all. "There might have been a couple new door men or something," she said.
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Crazy Horse Too War Continues
And, so the Las Vegas City Council yesterday punted on the subject of issuing Golden Steer Steakhouse owner Mike Signorelli a liquor license for the Crazy Horse Too which he hopes to rent to own. The City Council moved the hearing to Oct. 18 because even the city attorney, Brad Jerbic, admitted he had not yet read the entire lease agreement. Still, Signorelli's attorney was upset by this delay, telling the Review-Journal: "It's inconceivable that a man of Mike's background and credibility would be denied."
Let's take a moment to conceive it: Why should the city attorney need to take the time to read the entire lease agreement? Perhaps, the City Council might then want to ask questions about it. For example, this upstanding citizen is not the only party to this lease; there is also Rick "I cut a plea deal with the Feds" Rizzolo.
So, the City Council might read the lease and then ask for explanations for some of the pesky details in the lease which include, according to the Review-Journal, allowing "Rizzolo to keep an office at the Crazy Horse Too and prevent Signorelli from firing employees with existing contracts." There is a lot of office space for rent in Las Vegas, and you would think Rizzolo, considering the wire taps and the police searches and the whole plea deal with the Feds thing, would want to be working out of another building away from those memories.
And, while on this topic, why does a former strip club owner facing sentencing need an office? Is he working on job applications? In short, Rizzolo (who has to sell the club as part of his plea deal with the Feds) and his crew would still be at the Crazy Horse Too. This does seem to fly in the face of the whole point of getting rid of everyone connected to the Federal case against Rizzolo. On the bright side for Rizzolo, no one seems to think that the church that opened this week within 1,500 feet of Crazy Horse Too will cause a zoning issue for the topless bar. Meanwhile, anyone reading this with a spare $45 million and a dream of owning a strip club in Las Vegas: this is the moment that can change your life.
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Little Church vs. Crazy Horse Too
The Little Church of Las Vegas had its first service last night. According to the Review-Journal, a mostly Spanish speaking congregation was bused in from a faraway community center to this new church located within 1,500 feet of Crazy Horse Too, "lured by the promise of Bible study and refreshments."
Either coincidentally or not, depending who you speak to, today is the day that Crazy Horse Too goes before the City Council in hopes of getting a liquor license approved under the name of the owner of the nearby Golden Steer Steakhouse who claims he is trying to reopen Crazy Horse Too and ultimately purchase it from Rick Rizzolo.
On yesterday's Buffet, prominent local attorney and Palomino Club landlord Dominic Gentile predicted that this new church would not prevent the city from approving the new license for Crazy Horse Too. And, according to the Review-Journal, City Attorney Brad Jerbic also thinks the Little Church of Las Vegas will have no impact on today's hearing. Jerbic believes that there is a six-month grace period for someone to acquire the Crazy Horse Too license. However, the deacon of the new church thinks otherwise, citing city code forbidding an establishment with a liquor license to be within 1,500 feet of a church.
(Photo: Rhonda Churchill / AP)
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A Strip Club in a Casino?
With all the interest in the male strippers at the Palomino, there were some other interesting details to emerge out of my interview with the club's landlord, prominent attorney Dominic Gentile.
Sadly, our conversation happened shortly before I learned that the death of his former client Kathy Augustine had been declared a murder. But I did ask him about the sudden opening of a church near the Crazy Horse Too. The Little Church of Las Vegas opening now while the Crazy Horse Too is without a liquor license is very inconvenient for attempts to sell the club.
You see, zoning does not allow topless bars near churches. But Gentile pointed out that this church seems less associated with the usual enemies of Satan than the stalwart foes of current owner Rick Rizzolo (despite the association presumed by many between the two).
Selling the club is integral to Rizzolo's plea deal with the Feds. The deacon of the church, Peter "Chris" Christoff is described by The Review-Journal not for his religious affiliations but as "a frequent character in the political theater of Las Vegas City Council."
The Review-Journal also notes Christoff was "mugging for cameras and flashing a victory sign" when Crazy Horse Too lost its liquor license. Though Christoff tells the Review-Journal he is following God's call and isn't out to get the strip club owner, it is worth noting the Lord apparently brought him to open a church within 1,500 hundred feet of Crazy Horse Too. In passing, I asked Gentile his opinon on this latest development.
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Man on Man Naked Dances?
The question most asked by readers of the Buffet about male strippers offering fully nude dances to female customers: Can male customers get those dances too? Here is my interview with Palomino owner Adam Gentile on that subject. FYI: Gentile is also responsible for the more traditional topless male revue Men of Sapphire (at Sapphire Gentlemen's Club on Industrial Road):
Q: So, men want to know if they can come get lap dances from men at Palomino?
A: You know it really depends upon the dancer. Right now we do not allow unaccompanied men up there, because I don't know which of our dancers are straight and which ones aren't. I cannot force the dancers to dance for a guy. If they want to dance for a guy I am not opposed to that. But I am not going to force anyone to do anything that makes them uncomfortable.
Q: Have you had a demand for it?
A: We've had it over at my other show, my topless show (Men of Sapphire). We do have guys that will dance for guys over there. But as far as the totally nude one (at the Palomino), I don't think that has ever come up before. In the six months since I started promoting it and doing it as a regular instead of an occasional thing there hasn't been any call for it. I don't know if the guys would do it or not.
Q: Well, if the response to my blog is any indication, there is a huge gay market that would love to come and get those dances.
A: Very true.
Q: Have you considered marketing to them?
A: I've considered it. It is a very, very delicate situation only because if I do start marketing to them it is very easy to lose your mainstream clientele because they start thinking the guys are gay. The girls want to see heterosexual guys. The guys don't so much mind; they just appreciate the male form. But if we promote to gay guys we may lose dancers who don't want people to think they are gay. It is really just a very delicate type of affair.
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Nude Man Gives Lap Dance: The Details
Photographer Sarah Gerke and I returned to the Palomino to finish my reporting for my Sunday Calendar column on the North Las Vegas Strip club that has the only license in the area to serve liquor and offer fully nude dancers together under one roof. The owners estimate that 85% of the customers are men looking to buy dances from female strippers. But on select nights the Palomino is also offering female customers the first fully nude lap dances ever available in the Las Vegas area from male strippers. Owner Adam Gentile knows he is making history with these dances but shrugs his shoulders at the importance of doing so: "It just seemed like the thing to do."
So, after watching adult star Davia Ardell feature in the downstairs section for cheering guys we went upstairs and it was really like a reverse strip club. Women at the bar, women in groups whooping it up, women alone with smokes and beers and lots of screams. A large woman in black leather was sitting behind the tip rail with a drink in one hand and her fanned out $1 bills in the other as a man on stage gyrated for her. The main difference I noticed (besides the gender change) was that rather than the AC/DC style rock music downstairs, the upstairs had more of a Luther Vandross musical vibe. Anyway, before long Sarah Gerke was taken to a back room for her naked dance and here is her report for the Buffet of her experience:
"The dancer's name was Hot Chocolate. Like all the male dancers I saw there that night he was tall, dark, handsome, and had muscles popping out everywhere. After he introduced himself he said had to get changed and come back, so I was watching the men on stage and getting mentally prepared for my dance. I heard someone behind me say 'It's your man!' as he came over, grabbed my hand and led me back to the room where they do the private dances. It was a room filled with black booths and sheer black curtains. There were windows, though, and I actually could see some neon lights as a nice background. I won't lie, I was nervous. I had no idea what was I was about to see and how close it would be coming to my face. Mr. Chocolate started by explaining he would do three songs and would get fully nude, and confirmed that that was OK with me.
The first two songs went well. He danced in front of me and I watched. I didn't know if I was supposed to talk to him or just sit there and smile, so I just sat pondering what the dancer out on stage was doing to make the women out there scream so loud. I also knew not to touch. (Unlike a woman in the main room who I saw grab dancer underneath his g-string. No one seemed to care. I can't imagine that same scenario occurring if the dancer were female and the customer male.)
By the third song the dj started and then stopped three or four different songs before finally settling on one, but it was really quiet. There were no speakers in the room we were in, so all the sound was coming in from the main room and was muffled to begin with. Then when the volume plunged it was so quiet I think I could actually hear his dreads shake as he danced. I think we were both frustrated. Since it was making it hard for him to work he excused himself at one point to yell something at the dj. That may have been the part I found most sexy. Finally for the last song they got the volume turned up and I enjoyed watching Chocolate dance to E-40. He never got too close with his nakedness, but he also knew I was going to be writing about it, and I can't help but wonder if that got me a more g-rated dance than others. Maybe I am just jaded, or maybe it is just not my thing, but I don't think I'll be spending any more of my money on male strippers. Too many men would do that and more for free if I asked them to."
Pictured above: Palomino Club owner Adam Gentile and star Sunset Thomas
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
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Crazy Horse Too Strippers Face Problem
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Crazy Horse Too Closes
Rick Rizzolo and Crazy Horse Too lost their court challenge to the city's revocation of the club's liquor license. Though the club could continue to offer topless entertainment and serve pop, water and juice, Rizzolo elected to close the club two days after losing his right to serve alcohol.
No mention has been made of any punishment for the period when Rizzolo appeared to have allowed liquor service after the revocation. Revealed in the court process though was that while the club had a liquor license, there was a sale in place for a Stuart Cadwell to purchase Crazy Horse Too for $45 million. But Caldwell told the Review-Journal that the deal would be no longer binding if Crazy Horse Too lost its license.
Mayor Goodman testified in the hearing, mentioning his "social relationship" with Rizzolo as well as an attorney-client one in the past. As for his abstention from voting on whether to revoke Crazy Horse Too's liquor license, the Review-Journal reports: "Goodman said he has also since concluded he never did have a conflict of interest in the matter."
Rizzolo's next move is to go back to the City Council and ask them to reconsider. He can also try more court actions. But my guess is that Rizzolo will return to the Council, where Oscar Goodman and so many others have in the past always been so friendly to Crazy Horse Too and its owner.
(Photo: Rhonda Churchill / AP)
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Strip Club Defies City Order
I called over to Crazy Horse Too yesterday and was told by the person answering the phone that they were still serving alcohol. "Of course," were her exact words. Today's Review-Journal confirms that Crazy Horse Too wasn't actually served the papers on the revocation of its liquor license until just after 4 p.m. yesterday. But last night I checked in with a friend who works there as a dancer and she told me alcohol was still being served at Crazy Horse Too. She says the rumor among employees is that Crazy Horse Too has found a loophole and expects to keep serving alcohol until Monday, when it hopes that a court challenge to the city order will allow the club to regain its license.
According to the Review-Journal, the club briefly stopped selling alcohol when it was served by the city but, as my friend had told me, resumed selling drinks just a couple hours later. The loophole? The Review-Journal quotes the club's attorney, who said he "had determined that the way the city served the order was invalid." Of course the lawyer would not identify the magic etiquette error that has caused Crazy Horse Too to feel like it can lawfully ignore the city council and keep serving drinks.
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No Booze at Crazy Horse Too
The city council is not known for its harsh treatment of strip club owners. But yesterday the council came down hard on Rick Rizzolo and his Crazy Horse Too strip club. Months ago, as covered on the Buffet, Rizzolo and 16 of his employees and associates signed a mass plea deal with the Federal Government; various folks who work at Crazy Horse Too admitted to all sorts of fun things: tax fraud, trying to extort money from customers, racketeering, etc. Rizzolo agreed to sell the club within a year. There was supposed to be a big penalty paid out of that including $10 million to a tourist, Kirk Henry, who claims he was paralyzed after being beaten by club bouncers over a bar tab dispute.
Everything seemed worked out, and Rizzolo was to be sentenced October 23. But a funny thing happened on the way to the plea deal. Apparently, nobody took into account the placid city council (which over the years has been packed with people who have benefited from Rizzolo's very generous political contributions and has never seemed particularly interested in the very public problems surrounding the Crazy Horse Too). But yesterday the city council leapt into the fray by fining Crazy Horse Too $2.2 million and revoking the club's liquor license. Apparently, the city council was shocked to discover all sorts of things that they were probably too busy with city business to read in the paper.
For example, take our mayor, Oscar Goodman. According to the Review-Journal: "After years of insisting the matter posed no conflict of interest for him, Mayor Oscar Goodman recused himself from voting on it. He said he only recently became aware that one of the Crazy Horse Too employees was represented by his longtime law partner David Chesnoff." Yeah, right.
But sadly caught in the middle by the city council's action is the family of quadriplegic Kirk Henry who was counting on the $10 million from the sale of Crazy Horse Too. Obviously, a topless bar without a liquor license will get a much lower sale price. Henry's wife could barely contain her fury at the city council's late arriving concern about shenanigans at Crazy Horse Too. According to the Review-Journal, Amy Henry exploded at the council: "Only now, after we've gone through five years of hell, do you decide to investigate?" Her concern is understandable. But Rizzolo has made plenty in this community and while it may be harder now for him to cough up that $10 million my guess is that it still won't be impossible. Especially if that is what it takes to keep his plea deal from falling apart. But, as for the status quo, belated or not, the council members were right to do something about Crazy Horse Too. After all, isn't it still being run by the identical people who--to use even this one example — apparently created an environment where a customer claims he was turned into a quadriplegic over a bar tab?
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Sunset at the Palomino
On Friday night I went to see the Palomino Club's opening weekend celebration. I'd been invited by my friend Sunset Thomas who was feature dancing for the opening weekend. Sunset rocked out to Limp Bizkit in a routine that featured her in black leather.
The Palomino is best known for being the only fully nude club licensed to serve alcohol in the area. This would be a bigger deal if the Palomino weren't located in North Las Vegas, where tourists rarely go. I have only been to the Palomino once before. I was reporting a story and didn't stay long. The thing I remember best about my trip to the Palomino was the arrival of a coed group of older tourists. About a dozen seniors, all came in together and were seated together. They all had with them boxed lunches that they began eating while studying the dancers as if the nudie bar lunch stop was part of some group tour package. Maybe it was.
Anyway, the Palomino has also had a couple murders connected to its history. Most recently, former owner Luis Hidalgo Jr. was charged in connection to a murder and paid for his defense by giving the club to his attorney, Dominic Gentile. Gentile's son, Adam, now runs the club though Dominic Gentile remains the landlord. On Friday, it was definitely a larger and hipper crowd than the Palomino probably usually sees. But that was a grand opening with Sunset Thomas appearing. It will be interesting to see if the Gentiles can get that crowd to go to North Las Vegas on regular weeknights. Still, North Las Vegas is closer to the Strip than most people think. And with a Las Vegas Boulevard address. the Palomino is well situated to try to prove it.
photo by Sarah Gerke
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Shooting at Topless Bar
There was a shooting outside the Spearmint Rhino topless bar last night. One person is dead and another in the hospital. When these things happen questions are always raised about if this sort of establishment attracts a certain element.
That debate may have logic in some communities, yet I always think that is silly when applied to Las Vegas. There is a lot of money being made by those clubs here and the topless clubs' devotion to protecting customers and dancers with security is at least the equal of any of our mainstream nightclubs. The managers fear lawsuits if nothing else.
Anyway, I have always felt safe at Spearmint Rhino, including the time I spent an entire night there for a story. This isn't to say that these clubs don't have many issues. There was one case at Crazy Horse Too in which a customer accused security of beating him nearly to death over a disputed bar tab. But when it comes to street crime and violence the major topless clubs are, generally speaking, extremely protected environments: lots of well trained security and, despite the deceptive low lighting, lots of video surveillance. So, as with the shootings that occasionally take place at resorts, the club was able to give the police a lot to work with in descriptions of suspects and tapes of related footage. My guess is the suspects will soon be caught.
As a side note, The Review-Journal covered the story and while topless club managers will work with police on a case like this they say nothing to reporters, ever. In this case though, the Spearmint Rhino manager taunted the reporter, noting he earns as much as three reporters. I am certain that is true since managers at these clubs tend to get tip outs from all the dancing ladies. That is a lot of cash, and we lowly reporters are not known for our riches.
I have no knowledge of how Spearmint Rhino managers work it and I don't want to imply any tax fraud on their part. I am sure they report every penny that every dancer gives them since strip club management in general has such a sterling reputation for integrity. But I am just saying that is a lot of cash and thinking of the recent Crazy Horse Too situation where, when everything was resolved, the primary problems for those folks and their plea deals mostly related to tax issues. So, to my colleague at the Review-Journal: At the end of the day, we have a lot less to fear from an audit than any strip club manager in Las Vegas.
(Photo: David McNew / Getty Images)
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Of Vegas, Strippers and Birthdays
This holiday weekend was my birthday. And, so — as is the inevitable result of being a single, straight guy in Las Vegas — I went to a topless bar. Actually, my birthday tradition of going strip clubs is fairly recent (being single stretches back a good ways longer).
When I turned 37 my editor at Las Vegas Weekly had me try to spend 24 hours straight in a topless bar. I was sick and on antibiotics and had a generally miserable time. Of course, the story became a minor sensation in Vegas and I am still always asked about it, my greatest hit. For a while Jeff Beacher, the headliner at the Hard Rock, used to introduce me to people as the guy who spent 24 hours in a strip club. The result? Every year since, on my birthday someone insists on taking me to a topless bar to celebrate.
This year I turned 39 (amazing how many people feel the need to do math in front of me to point out how close 39 is to 40). And this year my friend John insisted on taking me out. John wanted to go to one of the popular tourists clubs like Scores, Treasures or Sapphire. I just wanted to get it over with and go to the place nearest to my apartment: the Library. It was my birthday so I won.
Located on Boulder Highway, the Library is one of the few remaining topless bars in the Las Vegas area geared more to locals than tourists. In fact, with the closing of the Centerfold Lounge earlier this year (the last topless bar in Henderson), the Library, I think, is the only local topless bar left in my area of town.
What is the difference between a topless bar for locals and one for tourists? Primarily, location. The Library is sitting right near the locals’ casino, Boulder Station, far from the tourist corridor. There is another difference too, one that my friend John pointed out repeatedly: the strippers aren’t as hot. As with most things in Las Vegas if you want the best follow the tourists. (This is not like other vacation towns where you want to find that cool locals’ spot and avoid the tourist traps; Las Vegas is one gigantic tourist trap.) Of course, with stripping it isn’t all about or even primarily about looks. Seriously. What few fully realize and appreciate is that strippers are salespeople and that is especially true of the dancers at the tourist clubs.
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Guilty: Strippergate Trial Ends
The Strippergate verdict came in on Friday and, as predicted on the Buffet, jurors convicted two former County Commissioners of most of the charges against them. For those who are not up to date: the County Commission oversees topless bar regulations, and at this trial a former club owner (who plead guilty) testified to bribing a few of the commissioners. Also, pleading guilty and testifying about how the bribing process all worked was a third commissioner who was on the take. But despite endless taped conversations, documented meetings and humiliating testimony Dario Herrera (pictured) and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey maintained their innocence and the decision was left to the jury who found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Herrera was convicted of six counts of extortion (though not guilty on two others), 10 counts of wire fraud and also of conspiring to commit wire fraud. Kincaid-Chauncey was convicted of three counts of extortion (and not guilty of one), nine counts of wire fraud and, of course, conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Like a sports event The Review-Journal offered the final score: "Herrera was convicted on 17 of 19 charges, Kincaid-Chauncey on 13 of 14." Experts say that these politicians will only serve a few years in jail, at most. Still, the Buffet predicts (and I've been correct on every prediction so far) that Las Vegas politics hasn't seen the last of Dario Herrera. His shamelessness at trial made clear that he already feels cleansed of the marital infidelities with Cheetah's employees (which, by the way, were considered bribes by the prosecution) and wrongly understood about everything else. This is the man who argued on the stand that he knew everything he accepted from the topless bar owner was meant to influence him but that he was too superior and morally pure to be swayed by gifts (which were alleged to have ranged from a $10,000 a month stipend to oral sex in a bathroom at Cheetah's). I think the moment Herrera gets out he will go job hunting for office. And, the way Nevada politics seems to work, it may be a reasonable career goal for him.
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Strippergate to Reach Jury Next Week
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How to Fix a Ticket in Vegas
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Strippergate: The Prosecution Rests
I picked the wrong day to go to court. I managed to make it to Strippergate just as the prosecution rested. Even the defense wasn't ready for that. So we need to wait until next week for the trial to resume. Still, my visit was not without a little taste of the experience. I got to see a Four Seasons bill displayed on an overhead detailing the expenses from an interlude former commissioner Dario Herrea allegedly had with a woman who was not Emily Herrera. Emily Herrera though was sitting directly in front of me as the itemized bill (including a massage)featuring the iconic Four Season's letterhead was projected onto a gigantic screen. I could see her shoulders bouncing slightly, a nervous tick, until the moment the screen went dark. After that intense moment came the break. Emily headed to the bathroom and Dario was surrounded by a small group of male supporters. I was standing far away but could still here him say something to one of his friends about the massage to which both men started to laugh in thick guy chuckles that usually get followed by high-fives. It doesn't really matter in the end if these former commissioners are guilty. What is already clear is that strip club money---bribes, honest campaign contributions, consulting fees, whatever you want to call it--- bought way too much attention and time from the County Commission. These tapes of commissioners fielding dozens of daily calls and investing hours upon hours into talking strategy about how to deal with different aspects of topless bar regulation is all time not spent on things like roads, education, public safety---or, name anything else that seems like it should be more of a priority than the number of feet that must exist between a few dozen topless bars already relegated to Industrial Avenue.
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Strippergate and the Mystery Video
Strippergate continues to be the most thrilling entertainment going on in the Entertainment Capitol of the World. So much so, in fact, that I am going to head down there latter today to check out the festivities first hand and will report back to you on the Buffet tomorrow. Yesterday, according to the Review-Journal, former strip club owner Michael Galardi (pictured) offered allegations about a video of former Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack. According to Galardi, Mack would go to Cheetah's and demand special services ("bring me your best whores" is the line attributed to Mack). To get his perks, Galardi claimed Mack would threaten to introduce an ordinance damaging to the club. Galardi, however, testified he got the last laugh. According to the Review-Journal: | Bookmark it:
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Strip Club Owner Galardi Claims to be a Gigolo
Just when our local Strippergate trial could not get any weirder....As previously reported on the Buffet, earlier testimony focused on former county commissioner Dario Herrera's alleged acceptance of sexual favors from strippers--- as arranged by former strip club owner Michael Galardi--- as a form of bribery. The extent and number of the sexual allegations against Herrera, as well as the salacious details, may have shocked people, but not the concept. In the words of prosecutors the sex was part of the "currency of corruption." But it turns out that the strippers at Cheetah's may not have been the only ones willing to take one for the team and put out for a commissioner.