POLE POSITIONS

Metal Skool proved their hesher schtick — like their spandex — hasn’t lost
its sheen on Monday night, when they debuted their new production at the Key
Club (now home sweet home and film site for their upcoming National Lampoon
flick). Openers Satellite Party, featuring the unlikely trio of Perry
Farrell, No Doubt’s Tony Kanal and long-lost Extreme dude
Nuno Bettencourt, provided a loose electro-tinged rock set (Farrell even offered
the ethereal tune he croons on the current Thievery Corporation disc) before
the headbangin’ hullabaloo. [No “More Than Words”?! — ed.] Persia White,
the tribally tattooed beauty from UPN’s Girlfriends, writhed about the
Skool’s portable stripper pole during a pseudosensitive power ballad; Audioslave’s
Tom Morello, Gwen Stefani and hubby Gavin Rossdale were also
seen rockin’ to the mockin’.

We were back at the Key Club on Friday night for The Fetish Ball, headlined by wild theatrical thrashers Powder, who had three stripper poles for the synchronized twirling of singer Nanette and two look-alike fembots. Bumping with blowup dolls and a sultry aerial performance followed. The whips-and-chains gang snorted Powder (the band) up, but transsexual Barbie doll/David LaChapelle muse Amanda Lepore’s cheeky raps about her “fierce hair” and champagne addiction seemed to be too NYC-art-trashy for L.A.’s hardcore latex and corset clans.



A BAR IS BORN

Naming a drinking spot is probably as hard as naming your kid, but some of our
fave new hangs have been downright uninspired in the moniker department — i.e.,
The Bar and Rokbar. Then there’s the old-school trick of naming
a place after its location, a practice that’s suddenly trendy all over again:
Witness Cedd Moses’ latest, The Broadway Bar, which we popped into
last Wednesday for a sneak-peak party. With chandeliers, a breezy balcony and
design by Ricki Kline (who also did Moses’ Golden Gopher), the downtown
drinking hole befits its august name. Broadway not only has a lot of history;
it’s also got character(s) — including feisty homeless guys strolling about outside.
Luckily, the neon lights are bright .?.?. well, the bar’s sign is, anyway! Dropped
by another new-ish boîte with a street-name wordplay: Cliff’s Edge on Edgecliff
in Silver Lake, owned by dreadheaded designer Keith Greco and Dana Hollister
(mistress of the famed Micheltorena Mansion, where the contestants
on TV’s Rockstar: INXS are bunking right now). We love Cliff’s comfy vibe,
which features a romantically tropical patio and, inside, a mural of The Rolling
Stones’ Beggars Banquet album art. In other booze news, Highland
Grounds on, yep, Highland Avenue, just got its liquor license, and, take it
from us, the drinks are as strong as the coffee.

INSIDE AND OUT

Rabin Rodgers’ bash for Citizens of Humanity jeans last Wednesday
proved the hotel’s lobby is just as classy and sassy as its poolside bar. Featuring
a live cabaret-style show by NYC’s flamboyant collective The Citizens Band
(starring Karen Elson, a.k.a. Mrs. Jack White), it attracted everyone
from fellow model types Cindy Crawford and Mischa Barton to cast
members from Entourage and Six Feet Under, to original scene swingers
Stephen Saban, James St. James and Jon Favreau, and even
colorful kiddie punx Orange. Now that’s the kind of interesting mix hotel
highness Amanda Scheer Demme must have had in mind when she opened the
place. Kudos to R&R for attracting the most eclectic crowd we’ve sent there yet.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.