Nightranger

FREAKS & GEEKS
Macho men do drag, nice girls dress like sluts and that weird dude from your office lets out his inner psycho killer, and nobody thinks twice on Halloween weekend. But hos and spooks took a back seat to pop-culture mavens (including local ones) and totally tasteless gear this year. Friday’s ultra-hot Pash party at Vine Bar was filled with an abundance of peeps in our cohort Mark the Cobrasnake’s nerdish ’70s jogging attire, not to mention a helluva lot of hair-metal heshers — the ultimate ironic costume for the well-coifed too-cool-for-schoolers who frequent Pash. The usual macabre embellishments just wouldn’t do at Saturday’s Miss Kitty’s Parlour party featuring explicit electro duo Dirty Sanchez and Dita Von Teese. (No, we didn’t see her man Marilyn Manson, but he has been known to hit nightspots in a mask on Hallow’s Eve, so who knows?) Yep, these trisexual — as in try anything — clubsters are pretty fiendish all year, so it was the totally offensive costumes that got the most attention, like dynamic dead duo JonBenet Ramsey and Matthew Shepard, complete with a slab of fence tied to his back. Other just-wrong outfits gettin’ all the sex and candy: “missing” milk-carton heads (just stick your noggin in and you’re ready for an Amber Alert) and a Nightranger pal who went as Tara Reid, complete with a (scarred) prosthetic breast falling out of her top. Trick or treat. (Careful what you ask for! —ed.)

HE WANTS REVENGE
“No album, no studio, just live rock music.” So said the press alert for Bucket of Weenies’first-ever show, at Avalonlast Tuesday.Billed as an all-star band, but essentially Linkin Park crooner Chester Bennington’s vanity project (c’mon, the other guys are from Orgy, Grey Daze, The Bleeders and TSOL), BOW do charmingly amped-up versions of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” and Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” (which Giant Drag do better). From weenies to whiners, we left Avalon for the Troub, where She Wants Revenge offered a sizzling set to a sold-out crowd — that is, until singer Justin Warfieldstarted a possibly ballsy, possibly ill-timed stage rant about his label, radio programmers and, ahem, this newspaper. Warfield even encouraged the crowd to write Weekly music editress Kate Sullivan about covering She Wants Revenge. Nightranger will stay outta this one. (Careful what you ask for. —ed.)

LOS NOT-SO-FELIZ
Hillhurst eaterie Vida was always a place for good times, even after Fred Eric sold it a couple years ago, and it began hosting Han Choloart show after-parties, Tamar Michelle’s soul and ’60s rock nights, and the funky techno party Electronic Hand Lotion.But don’t expect to get loca at this Vida again. It’s been sold to a Chabad school (should be interesting, considering a Scientology office just moved in next door). At least it’s not high-rise condos, which the developers who bought The Derby are planning. First CBGB, now this? Want to see the Derby keep swingin’? Check out www.savethederby.com to see what you can do. As for Vida, expect a reincarnation in Los Feliz, with Miss Tami booking the DJs sometime next year. Live and let dance Hillhurst!