One of my girlfriends (actually, a friend of a friend, but I like her too) was celebrating a birthday Friday night - woo-hoo, my night off so I got to go be a wild child with the rest of the gang. Well ~ as wild as a group of women "of a certain age" will get.
At least that was the plan.....
We met at Barcelona in Scottsdale for dinner, where the coordinator of this shindig had made reservations a month ago - telling them we wanted to stay all night for a party. Well, about 7:30 they decided they needed us all out of our (large) table - even though some of us were still eating. We protested and were allowed to finish, but "then we really need this table". They told us they would move us into the VIP lounge - fine, as long as we have somewhere to sit and drink.
After we finished and settled the bill (during which they stripped the table) we were indeed put into the VIP lounge...where a waitress came up to us and very snottily said "you can't just sit in here, this is the VIP lounge". After being informed that her manager put us there, she left...and didn't come back. After 30 minutes, one of our girls went to find a waitress so we could order drinks (am I wrong or is that how they make money?) I looked through the chain curtain and saw that our table, and the two near it were still empty - which is how they stayed for the rest of the night.
Finally got the snotty waitress back to take our orders. $10.50 each for normal sized martinis - ouch (I guess this is how they make their money). I'm spoiled by the enormous martinis you get for $8 at Durant's.
In the mean time a band has started to play, or at least a piano, drums and chick singer. She's pretty good, nothing special but good pitch, nice delivery. I ask someone who it is and I'm told "Zowie Bowie is the name of the band" Now, I'm pretty sure that if the Zowie Bowie had a sex change it would have made news, so I assume it is some group of kids who just call themselves that - which seems an odd choice considering the material; Norah Jones, jazz standards, easy listening.
After a while they change to a rock band by adding guitars and a bass. And Zowie Bowie who sings with them and who, pathetically, starts with "Let's Dance" - just to show his pedigree I guess. This configuration is also not bad, not good. They do note-for-note (but abbreviated) covers of pop/rock/dance tunes. He sings, she sings - nothing special, no reason to have live music when it just sounds like a record. Not even audience interaction. I guess I've gotten spoiled by the flexibility with jazz - every player brings something different to his arrangement - and then there are the solos which are so much more intricate than anything you'll hear a rock player pull off.
We are in the VIP lounge for almost 2 hours, the waitress never comes back so we don't order any more drinks. And then they decide to kick us out of there, despite the fact that it is mostly empty so they don't need the space. Our intrepid leader, she who organized the bash, complains to the manager who promises us a nice table in the main room and a free round of drinks. The table they move us to is fine, but this is getting ridiculous. Our original table has now been moved to clear space for dancing.
As we are leaving the lounge, we see they are accommodating a real VIP - George Benson. So now I'm thinking, "George Benson is in the building and we are listening to this schlock" ~ sigh. Of course, most people only know him for his pop recordings which are good, but he is also one hell of a jazz player. Apparently he either wasn't impressed with the place or the players because he left after 15-20 minutes.
The food was good and we had a good time because we were together, but I can't recommend the club to you. Maybe the Chandler location is different, but this one is not well suited for handling customers.
Posted by Vox at February 22, 2004 01:00 AM | general