One On One With Bob From Rhinos... The Truth Behind The Zoo.
Rhinos has always been a source of serious entertainment. It’s also becoming a local legend in the making. It’s definitely the Eastside’s most prominent live band venue but it wasn’t always that way, nor was it ever even intended to be.
We sat down with owner Bob Flinders for a one on one to set the record straight about how Rhinos began and where it is going now. Some of it was surprising, some of it downright hilarious and some of it we dare not even print. Just kidding, Bob is happy to share his story with anyone who is interested and his story is quite interesting in itself.
EV: How did the idea to open Rhinos come about?
Bob: Larry (co-owner) & I used to take our boats down to the Waterfront, we liked hanging out there and decided we would open our own place, so we started looking for a location. One day, Karen Blevis (from Sibcy Cline) called and said “I have a spot your going to love” It turned out to be the Eastgate Square location we have now, as soon as I pulled in I said “This is it” and it all took off from there.
EV: Rhinos original concept was an upscale billiards hall, what prompted the switch to a live music bar?
Bob: The billiards did fine but we wanted to boost the attendance so we thought we would have a band on the weekend. We booked Soul Pocket as our first band. We had great success with them even with our small floor level stage. The crowds enjoyed the bands so much we spent $15,000 on a better stage. As time went on we booked more expensive bands and the crowds kept getting bigger, so we spent another $17,000 and built the stage we have today. Bands tell us they love our current stage and sound & lighting system. Plus, having a built in house sound/lighting man makes it easier on the bands. Our system is top quality so the bands always get great sound.
EV: At one point the band roster grew to incorporate not only the best bands in the city but national acts too. We haven’t seen any booked for a while now. Have you considered bringing back national acts?
Bob: I’m booking the best local acts I can find. The problem with booking the national acts was I had no idea how much advertising that was needed to make it work, you really have to advertise in a big way when you try to put on a national act show. The bands are expensive and the advertising is expensive. We do better with good local bands and local advertising.
EV: Share with us some of the ups & downs that has came along with Rhinos.
Bob: There’s been many good things. For one I have a great collection of CD’s, DVD’s and music from many great bands. I’ve made a lot of friends here and I truly enjoy just being here. It’s not an easy job though. Just when we had things going great the (damn) smoking ban took effect. That hurt us at least 30-40% in sales. You can’t do anything about it either, just look what happened to O’Neals. We’re fortunate to have three nice smoking areas, but even still it hurt bad. You also have to deal with a few idiots now and then. Most people go out to have a good time, take a break from the grind and have fun, a few people go out looking for nothing but trouble. They go out intentionally looking to fight. We have a good security staff though, people feel safe here. We’re proud of that.
Another thing I hate is rumors. A few months ago I was undergoing treatment for kidney stones. I didn’t come in nearly as much as I did before and when I did come in I left early. The next thing you know I hear all these rumors. Things like “Bob has cancer”, “Bob is terminally ill” even that I’m dying! Then you hear Rhinos is for sale, Rhinos is closing, Rhinos is going out of business. Rumors are terrible. I undergo kidney stone treatment and stay home a lot for a couple weeks and now I’m dying and the bar is closing, that really bothers me. Truth is I’m fine, yes kidney stones are very painful, horribly painful in fact, but it’s not life threatening and for the record I don’t have cancer or any other terminal illness, Rhinos is not for sale and we’re not going anywhere.
EV: With all that said, in your experience what advice do you have for people who are looking to open their own bar.
Bob: DON’T! Seriously I love Rhinos but this is a really hard job, the product prices are always getting higher, the taxes kill you, bands are expensive, advertising is expensive, rent, utilities and insurance are expensive. There’s a lot of liability, you have to pay a lot for a really good staff just to keep the idiots from bothering everyone. There is nothing easy about it. You’d be better off opening a Chipotle than a bar.
EV: Nearly every advertiser we have says this past Summer has been the worst season ever. Do you feel the same way, how has Rhinos dealt with the slagging Summer sales.
Bob: We feel it. We’ve slowed down in some respects but we just keep focused on doing what we’ve always been doing. Winter is around the corner and things will pick back up. We have high hopes and big plans for this coming season. We plan to book many bands that were too expensive for us over the past summer, I mean really good bands too. We’re booking the Miller Lite and Jagermeister girls on a monthly basis and planning special parties. The first special party will be our End Of Summer Bash. You’ll see the details in the Eastside Vibe and on our website (www.rhinoseast.com). As our sales increase we will use that money to kick up the party, that’s what we always have done. We re-invest back into the bar promotions and band line up. You have to if you want to stay on top.
EV: Well one things for sure, Rhinos took a huge 180 from Friday (Aug 21) to Saturday (Aug 22).
Bob: Absolutely. Friday was an all time low for us, It was horrible, we had 70 people at best. Then Saturday unexpectedly it all turned around and we got packed. 500 Miles To Memphis did a great job, I’m looking to keep working with them. We really needed a good night like that.
EV: Anything else you’d like to mention in closing?
Bob: Yes. I like to thank all of our Rhinos customers & staff for their support and friendship.
There you have it folks, the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Rhinos has had their ups & downs just like everybody else (well not as down as everybody else) but come what may they keep on rockin’. Bob you and the staff have done a great job giving us Eastsiders a place to get away from the grind and have a good time. A sincere thank you is in order and we mean that. If your a Rhinos fan take time to thank Bob yourself next time your there, he’ll truly appreciate it.
