Robert Lipkos is manager of Dugan’s Barber Shop in Rocky River, Ohio. On Sat 7/17, he was in the audience at the Linda Ronstadt concert at The Aladdin casino in Las Vegas where the media reported that a near riot broke out when she dedicated her encore to filmmaker Michael Moore.

Did you see anyone actually leave, or hear any commotion?
The only thing I heard was when she said she wanted to dedicate Desperado to Michael Moore for his 9/11 film. A couple of people booed and some people were saying, sit down, sit down, so I guess some people were upset that other people were leaving, but none down by us were leaving, we were in the eighth row.

When did you first get wind of the incident?
When we came back that Monday, I was sitting watching TV and they said "There was a Linda Ronstadt riot." I said, "A Linda Ronstadt riot?" And I saw some of it on the talk shows, but being there, you wouldn’t even have known there was a riot; it was sort of a non-event.

Were you offended by her dedication?
No, I didn’t think anything of it. She didn’t say anything against Bush, she didn’t make a real political statement. I guess some of the old-timers in the audience felt it wasn’t appropriate. They said some of the posters were defaced, but I didn’t see any of them. If you were there, unless you were in the back, I guess, you didn’t even know it happened.

How do you think The Aladdin’s Middle Eastern theme has been selling lately?
Well, from what we heard, most of the people didn’t think anything of it. The new one they built is pretty Arabic, with a pretty strong Middle Eastern theme. They were saying that a lot of people were afraid to fly to Vegas after 9/11, and The Aladdin wasn’t doing so well, and they didn’t know if it was because of the Middle Eastern theme. Now they said it was going to be bought out by Planet Hollywood, and on TV I saw the new owners who said they were sorry the incident happened. I guess the new management apologized to Linda Ronstadt and said they would invite her back to perform.

How did you enjoy her performance?
I thought it was a pretty good show, she sang a lot of big band music. It seemed a little like her heart wasn’t in it this time. She sang 5 or 6 of her biggest hits, like Blue Bayou and Desperado. Overall it was a good performance.

Do you think her mentioning Michael Moore will have any influence on the election?
I doubt it. If anything, it’ll just make more people go see that movie; it’s the first documentary to make $100 million. I think her voicing her opinion isn’t going to hurt DVD sales; I wonder sometimes if that wasn’t part of the plan. It got The Aladdin in the news, and it got Michael Moore in the news. I can’t imagine that she wanted all that publicity herself, I just think it was the wrong crowd. A younger crowd probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it. People come to Vegas to forget about the problems of the world, I think.

How often do you go to Vegas?
I try to go at least once a year if I can. We saw that Fleetwood Mac was at MGM, so I rearranged my schedule to be there. I get the little booklets they give out, and I planned my vacation around Linda Ronstadt’s appearance. We shut the barber shop down for a few days.

How much do you usually spend there? Have you ever come back a winner?
I probably spend a thousand dollars over the four day period. Hopefully, you win enough that you use their money the rest of the time. Whenever I won, I ended up putting it back; I win a hundred here, a hundred there, then you wonder where it went.

Would you use a casino in Ohio if they built one?
Oh yeah, I wish they would. Cause we go to West Virginia, to Windsor, to Detroit. I wish we had them here. They wanted to put some Downtown, and they wanted to put the slot machines in the racetracks. That’s how Mountaineer in West Virginia started. It was just a racetrack, and it was just an airplane hangar when I first went there. They had the coinless machines [with the tokens]. Since we’ve been down there, they’ve expanded ten times; they built a beautiful hotel. And they had a lot of Ohio license plates in the parking lots. So, casinos would do a lot for our state, because a lot of money leaves Ohio. It’s just average people spending a bit of money and it’s a fun little jaunt for the day to get away from the normal routine.

If there were casinos in Ohio, would you still go to Vegas, or would you spend your money here instead?
I probably would stick closer to home. I would probably go occasionally, but not as often. You talk to these people on the bus trips, and it seems that people are always saying they are going to Vegas, or just coming back from Vegas. All the times I’ve been going to Vegas, it’s getting a little old. Now there are more options, there’s the new Hyatt Regency in Niagra, only about a five hour bus ride. Atlantic City is only an hour flight away, and they offer charter flights everyday. I might try that a little more often instead of going to Vegas all the time.

What’s the most important element to you: the gambling, or the entertainment?
Oh, I think it’s about 50-50. Usually I try to go when there’s someone there that I want to see. When I first started going, it was a bit easier to get tickets. Every hotel has a little lounge where you can see acts for free. It’s about 50-50. I try to see someone when I’m there, but sometimes I just gamble. They’ve built these fancy arenas there and some of these acts won’t come to Cleveland. Like Celine Dion, I’ve seen her twice, and Elton John and Faith Hill. Some of these hotels have to bring in more of the big names to bring the crowds in. Windsor does a lot with these bus trips. The rich people are the ones who don’t want to gamble. They don’t need the money. But everyone knows I’m always going to Vegas. The other day I was sweeping up in front of the shop and everybody walking by, said, “I know you were in Vegas, Robert, did you cause the riot?”

Dugan’s Barber Shop is located at 19248 Detroit Road, Rocky River 440-331-9692 (:divend:)