There was no public outpouring of grief and no rushing of top political figures to the scene. The fire was front-page news but only briefly. Fieseler writes the Lounge became 'an oasis where regular customers felt safe, less a hook-up space than a hangout where friends and lovers could exhale and be themselves.' The bar's customers often put on theatrical performances, sometimes written by the wife of a customs agent who frequented the bar.
Fieseler describes in the book how the Up Stairs Lounge had a family-like atmosphere in some ways where manager Buddy Rasmussen ran a tight ship: no hustling of patrons, no sloppy drunks and no drug use.
