All whacked out on E3

Photo by Mark 'Cobrasnake' Hunter

Talk about revenge of the nerds. E3,the Electronic Entertainment Expo, not only invaded downtown’s Convention Center last week, but it took over the entire city with enough exclusive parties to make the hipsterati hyperventilate. Too bad only Webheads and select celebs scored invites. First up, at the MicrosoftX-Boxbash at TheShrineAuditoriumon Monday, TheKillers’dance-rock ditties murdered a decidedly uncramped crowd who seemed more interested in the gigantic food-and-drink spreads. Virtually no chicks there, but we did spot deck diva SandraCollins,Clubplanet.com’sJulianLeutholdand RabbitintheMoonfront man Bunny(whose beats are heard on the new Xbox game Conker)during TheChemicalBrothers’block-rockin’ set, which turned into a pseudo-rave illuminated by those green glowy necklaces. The SonyPSPgathering in Hollywood, hosted by party pros TheAlliance,featured vandalized-classroom art installations by DavidLaChapelleand photography by AmandaDeCadenet(Duran Duran pretty boy JohnTaylor’sex, and Strokes guitarist NickValensi’scurrent squeeze). With a Warhol Factory theme, this was the most fashionable fête of the week, with nary a cybergeek in the bunch. Actors CharlizeTheron,KeanuReevesand StephenDorff;hip-hop heavies Eve,Ludacrisand JermaineDupree;and local scenesters including bro-and-sis tag team DonovanLeitchand IoneSkye,Fresh Jive’s RickKlotzand Ivar/Nacional proprietor RickCalamaromingled, while Interpoland openers LouisXIVrocked brief but ballsy sets. Later we chatted with Louis’ lead crooner, JasonHill,or tried to — we kept getting interrupted by a freaky fan from a well-known local glam band who shall remain nameless. (Hint: They’ve got “cool” in their name.) The BPM/BestBuyInsideE3event on Wednesday, with top turntable talents including DeepDish,Interpol’sCarlosD.,DJA.M.,and our fave rock/disco/hip-hop masher of the eve, MarkRonson,had the craziest door scene, longest wait and best VIP swag ($25 Best Buy gift cards). In the tiny SpiderClub,game consoles, free drinks and snacks were enjoyed by JohnnyKnoxville,SpikeJonze,MelissaRivers,NapoleonDynamite’sPedro(living up to our “It boy” tag in a top hat and tails), and KevinFederline’sbabies’ mama, SharJackson,who hogged her video game — the only one played while lying down — most of the night. We tried to wait for it, but after partying with joystickers for three nights in a row, we ended up duckin’ out and crashing quicker than a cheap hard drive.