Tonight's dinner at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood was delightful. Table of six -- made up of FOXSports.com video gurus Nick Neves, Christian Anderson, and Jed Pearson, FSN Rocky Mountain's Charissa Thompson, Kevin Hench, and myself. Pretty good cheeseburger, and some great tunes (including an inspiring three minutes of Falco's Rock Me Amadeus).
 
Neves and I catch our waitress humming the Dave Matthews Band's What Would You Say, blasting throughout the restaurant.
 
The following sequence of events actually happened:
 
Me: Ah, you a fan?

Nick: Like the DMB, huh?

Waitress: (Pulls out a photograph of Dave Matthews that she keeps in her wallet) Love Dave Matthews Band. I keep three pictures in my wallet. One of my son. One of my daughter. One of Dave.
 
(Nick and I stare at each other, both startled ... silence ensues. Tumbleweeds breeze by.)
 
She then tells us that Hootie and the Blowfish played a set at the casino earlier, and roughly 15 people attended the show. Most of them just happened to be in the building. None -- she assumed -- were there to specifically see the band.

Something sad about that, no? Didn't Hootie win a bunch of Grammys about 10 years ago? Weren't they the main act at the 1995 VMA's? They were pretty much the biggest band in the country.
 
And now, they're playing on a stage in an empty casino in a northern suburb of Miami? Depressing.
 
I blame the Hard Rock. Poor decision. They should have gotten the guys from Falco to play a set, instead. Rock Me Amadeus beats I Only Wanna Be With You 10 out of 10 times.
 
On our way out, we roll by a desolate nightclub called Passions. Place is empty, just blasting that To the Left Beyonce song, with purple dry ice just glimmering from every inch. I ask the woman at the door -- who, despite there being no one inside or outside, is holding a clipboard and wearing an earpiece on her head -- what the story is. She tells us we can come in ... if we buy a few bottles.
 
And that was that. Monday night had come to a close.
 
Back to the room for some Maui Fever re-runs, then a little sleep. Media Day's tomorrow, and I want to be fresh for my day at the circus.