What's the "race" of the folks who go to Phase 54 in Chandler?

Nothing more irritating than reading a news story that raises more questions than it answers.

Phase 54 is some sort of dancing and concert venue in Chandler, at I-10 and Ray Road. It’s having a legal dispute with its landlord and some of the other businesses in its little suburban strip-mall enclave, and this has evidently turned into an actual trial.

East Valley Tribune story here.

The legal issue is apparently whether the place is a concert venue or a night club; its operations have apparently overwhelmed the mall’s available parking, which has turned the businesses nearby, including an Outback Steakhouse, against it.

The property owners, according to the story, says the lease doesn’t allow a “night club,” though it’s apparently allowed to be a “concert venue” and a plain old club club.

None of these distinctions are explained, so the story’s irritating to read.

But even that’s the the big question raised. That comes in this passage:

On Tuesday, Gama found that a transcript of a taped conversation from an Outback [Steakhouse] manager complaining about the race of club patrons will not be allowed in the case. He said it would create confusion for the jury.

Jon Harris, Phase 54’s owner, said that the real reason the restaurants don’t want the club to stay open is because they’re concerned by the racial background of club patrons.

Shouldn’t the paper tell us what race we’re talking about here?

Asians?

Hispanics?

My god, perhaps even … whites?!

The story says the club plays Top 40 music, which isn’t a specific enough clue.

The Phase 54 web site is here.

One thing the owners of Phase 54 are definitely guilty of is recycling Studio 54’s logo: