ID Some Familiar Faces at the Hot Club in Providence
Garreth Mundy has confiscated more than 250 fake IDs from would-be patrons in his eleven years working for the popular bar.
Photography by Wolf Matthewson
A visit to the Hot Club is practically a rite of passage in Rhode Island, so it’s not surprising some young customers try to jump the gun. In his eleven years working the door, Garreth Mundy has confiscated more than 250 fake IDs from would-be patrons, many of them now memorialized in the bar’s tabletop decor. The rest he uses to train new bouncers on how to spot a fraud. “The quick tell is they’re not looking at you. They give it to you and they look away,” he says. Opened in 1983 by a group that included Tom Bates, Josh Miller, Johanne Killeen and George Germon (the latter two would go on to found Al Forno), the waterfront bar has been known for its eclectic mix of regulars over the years, with everyone from office workers to college dancing queens frequenting the outdoor deck. They even salute patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital nightly as part of the Good Night Lights tradition. While most evenings are “pretty boring,” Mundy reports, some are more eventful than others. “We had an Irish soccer team [here]. One of the players jumped in the river, swam to the hurricane barrier, and climbed up. He got arrested.” Everyone’s welcome — just remember to keep both feet on the deck next time you’re enjoying a ’Gansett.
