It was 2004. Or maybe it was 2005...I really don't remember. But what I do remember is being seated at the bar of the very ghetto-looking Retro Lounge inside the then-very-ghetto Golden Phoenix Casino in Reno, NV.
Now, before I go any further, please allow me to declare my complete and utter hatred and contempt for casinos in-general and inform you that I was only there to see A Flock Of Seagulls perform live.
Why? Well, I kind of had this sort of drinking problem at the time. You see, I was single, I had a few days off from my dead-end job as a bartender at a (surprise!) casino, and I was indescribably lonely (the very epitome of pathetic).
Plus, the whole gig was free! Score!, right?
Wrong.
I showed up early (I’m like that). I sat at the bar for the longest time, drinking beer (at least I think that’s what it was) and watching a perpetually looped DVD of David Bowie music videos on the television monitors in-between an off-duty Golden Phoenix manager who was glued to his slot machine (and his Manhattan) and some guy from a Latin America country sitting next to me who wasn’t particularly keen on seeing the sight of David Bowie in drag (I simply didn’t have the heart to tell him I was a transvestite).
At one point, I left the Retro Lounge (where the concert was to be held) and had attempted to dine on something the waitress claimed was food in the poor excuse for a 50s-themed diner. A few booths down and to the left were four fat middle-aged guys in parkas behaving very nonchalantly. They all looked at me. Then they looked away.
Returning to the Ghetto Lounge, I was asked to give up my seat at the bar for a gambling customer (who was also an off-duty employee – no wonder the casino went under). Within minutes, she hit the machine I had been playing off an on throughout the evening for $400 (the bitch).
Later, as the big musical moment drew nigh, I stood near the entrance of the Retro Lounge, watching the place fill up...and fill up... and fill up.
Article comments