If the van’s a-rockin’…

Just what Hollywood needs, another mega-club . . . That’s what we thought
when we started hearing the hype on The Vanguard. But the beautiful new
21,000-square-foot danceteria, formerly called Qtopia, is hard to knock.
Tuesday night, the remodeled spot celebrated its official grand opening (even
though promoters like Marques Wyatt and Danny B. have been throwing
dance parties there for months now) with a bash featuring VHS or Beta
onstage and Jason Bentley on the decks. The room’s got a Studio 54–ish
vibe with great lighting and the requisite giant disco ball, but revelers —
including a slew of journos and musical types like The Blood Arm, The
Vacation, Afghan Wigs’ Greg Dulli, Junior Senior’s
Jeppe, Toledo from The Toledo Show and The Crystal Method’s
Ken Jordan (who’ll celebrate his birthday at the club Friday, August 26)
— seemed to prefer the tropical outdoor patio. Here, rain curtains, palm trees
and a giant Buddha (shockingly, nobody stole the good-luck $ at his feet!) offered
Zen-like décor, though the chatty atmosphere was anything but. The next night,
the outfits did all the talkin’ when Club Party Monster took over the
venue with its clowny club-kid decadence. We hung with Disco Bloodbath
author/Party Monster movie consultant James St. James (Seth
Green did him no justice!) and club promoter/actor Sham (both sporting
reverse club-kid drag — i.e., normal clothes) in what we thought was the roped-off
VIP section, but was actually the drinking section. Cocktails were off-limits
everywhere else in the club that night for some reason, which didn’t seem to
bother the X-cessively made-up mavens who bumped to Latin throbber DJ Keoki
and sonic train-wreckers Punk Bunny. Outside, Holly Lovecat (of
last year’s headliners Mynx) replaced glitter gloss with hippie garb
and an acoustic guitar, offering a performance-art-esque show for the kids in
line with ditties like “We’re So Last Year” and “The ’60s Are Back” while the
de rigueur cameras captured it all. That shtick might be more appropriate at
The Brian Jonestown Massacre show Thursday (August 18).
Midnight munchies

The legendary cross-dresser party Dragstrip 66 took its Caligula-themed
bacchanal to the Ramada’s 1160 Lounge last Saturday, and we hear the
togas were fierce! From queens to Prince: We stuck it out til 3:30 a.m.
at the Key Club last Wednesday in hopes of seeing the Artist, who was
rumored to deliver a surprise set at the Sugar Water Festival After Party
with Erykah Badu. Alas, the crimson one (he wore all red, not purple)
never left his upstairs booth, though Badu, Queen Latifah, Sheila
E. and Wendy & Lisa did jam on it while Usher, Entourage’s
Jeremy Piven, Chingy and Jill Scott watched. Talk about a
sweet late-night snack.

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