Pole Show LA 2013 took place at 333 Live in downtown Los Angeles. The setup allowed a great view from any seat in the house. Four 18-foot poles were set-up in the middle of the club with seats surrounding it and balcony seating. First, let’s talk about the show.
The show was presented by the pole dance studio BeSpun. The show included performers from around the world such as Cleo the Hurricane and Estee Zakar. They put on a great event with a variety of dance, acrobatics and aerial art. There is no doubt in our minds that these women can kick ass.
They demonstrated incredible athleticism and artistic presence on the stage. Of course, the added element of sexiness made the performances that much more interesting to watch. The audience, which consisted of mostly women, applauded wildly after each display of agility, strength, and sensuality. It was nice to see these things celebrated in women. The service at the venue, on the other hand, was definitely lacking.
One of the perks that they mention with the VIP table is that it afforded us the privilege of getting table service. Our server, Susan L., was, let’s just say, unprofessional. When we first got there she told us that we could just go to our table and she’d be there in a bit. She came back to the VIP area several times but did not glance in our direction even when serving the table right next to us.
The show started and we still did not receive service so we finally had to flag her down when she was heading down the stairs. When we gave our drink orders, she said, “That’s it? You’re only having one each?” Which was an odd question because why would we order more than one round without finishing the first? After a few minutes, she finally explained that if we “only” bought one round of drinks we’d have to pay cash, but if we bought two we could pay with a credit card. She told us the drinks were $12 each, so we ordered two rounds.
Sad to say, that it just kept going downhill from there. She forgot our orders, then brought the two rounds at once to save herself the trip of coming back twice to our table and to top it off the receipt she wanted us to sign wasn’t itemized nor did it have the total amount.
After 10 minutes, she came back and told us that her manager had lost the receipt and needed another one signed. This receipt was itemized and had a different amount than what she had quoted us. It turned out each drink is only $10! Perhaps she was pocketing the extra $2? So she’s basically getting $4 tip for each drink. We checked in on Foursquare and a past guest comment popped up, it seems like this is a practice on regular days as well.
You’d think that they would have had their best staff on call for these $500 VIP tables. What’s unfortunate is that we would have ordered more cocktails if the service had been better.
In contrast, our experience the next day at Candi Samples’ community appreciation party was heartwarming. The bartenders during the event, one of them is Joe, served great drinks for a reasonable price in a timely manner with a smile on their faces and, there were no receipt mishaps! We got there just in time to see Raven Lunatic, Celeste W Starr and Candi Samples perform.
Raven Lunatic brought us luck when she made sure that everyone had a free raffle ticket for special prizes that were being given away between performances.
Tara Hole called out the numbers and winners chose from a set of wrapped up gifts on the stage. We each received the perfect gift, a journal (Ana) and a pendant necklace (Kim).
The community camaraderie we saw at both of these events made for a great celebration of Ana’s birthday.
This article was supposed to be on Pole Show but 75% of it was about your horrible waitress. !? Who cares!