Plus, about five minutes down Highway 28 lay casinos. I'm a mediocre gambler at best. But I do build a camaraderie with the circling cocktail waitress who brings my watered-down Long Island Iced Teas a step quicker than they would for the average patron. So the choice of the Biltmore obviously had a little more meaning than just slot machines and blackjack. This is where the lounge act phenomenon kicks in.
Most casinos have an act playing in the general gambling area to provide background entertainment.
However, the stars of the casinos are the lounge acts. Back in a distant corner of every casino lies a bar, a stage, a band and an audience of five. These lounge lizards may have a reptilian nickname, but they are far from cold-blooded musicians. The energy exerted from these performers can only be matched by the lack of ears listening to them perform. But the small audiences only accentuate how heroic lounge bands have become.