Leave it to party planner extraordinaire and Club Cherry poppa BRYAN RABIN to get a herd of celebrities to show up in a somewhat seedy part of Hollywood for the introduction of a new line of motor scooters. While shiny parked Vespas added to the twinkly fabulosity of a closed-off Cosmo Street, the closest anyone got to riding

a scooter was when ANDY DICK (pictured) leapt upon a cycle to mug for the cameras. Among those rubbing elbows as they downed delish delectables and drinks, or all sorts of other
body parts while bumping and grinding to ’70s-era tunes mixmeistered by DAVE ORLANDO and MIKE MESSEX, were actresses TORI SPELLING, THORA BIRCH, MONET MAZUR, ROSE McGOWAN, actors
JAMES VAN DER BEEK, VIN DIESEL, DAVID SPADE, scenester DONOVAN LEITCH with supermodel wife KIRSTY HUME in tow, celebutante CHINA CHOW, the boys from KORN, socialite JACQUI GETTY, writers STEPHEN SABAN and DAVID KEEPS, and Details magazine founder ANNIE FLANDERS. Apparently, loo lines mean nothing to RACHEL HUNTER, who evidently really, really had to go as she attempted to waltz her way to the front of the line. But supermodelness meant nothing to the bladder-bursting posse of waiting party animals, who directed Rachel to do the potty dance at the end of the line. After all, when it comes to the need to pee, there is no A-list!


—J.V. McAuley


Sol Caliente


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This year’s SOL FESTIVAL, which raised about $5,000 for over 20 human-rights organizations, including the Sol Foundation and Amnesty International, couldn’t have gathered a more courteous bunch of punks, tattooed lowriders and hippies, who made sure the Griffith Park Old Zoo didn’t end up looking like a trash-strewn war zone. Such civility was everywhere: at the live graffiti-art show; the MC and DJ showdown with GARTH TRINIDAD and SEDITIOUS BEATS; and the vendor booths peddling everything from Planned Parenthood pamphlets to more EZLN and Che T-shirts than you’d find at a Rage Against the Machine concert. A park ranger even politely asked one guy to keep his display of hash pipes properly covered with a plastic bag. Of course, the main draw here was the music by Afro-Cuban folklorists OMO ASHE, returning favorites WOZANI and EAST L.A. SABOR FACTORY, the “mouth all mighty” MEDUSA (pictured) giving her “verbal blowjob,” and metal madmen AZTLAN UNDERGROUND, who had the crowd chanting, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.” For the finale, the
CHE GUEVARA ALL STARS had what seemed like a ZIP code of artists onstage, including members of OZOMATLI and Los Lobos’ DAVID HIDALGO. We’d like to, however, forget that odd bit of interpretive dance to “Smack My Bitch Up” by performance troupe RHYTHM OF LIFE we stumbled upon near the entrance. Sometimes it’s better to just stick with the pack and not wander off for a cigarette break.


—Siran Babayan



We Got the Point


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A conspicuously exuberant JANE WIEDLIN’s lips were anything but sealed during JACKIE BEAT’s cabaret show, I’m Proud of My Gay Audience.
The Go-Go’s guitarist/songwriter, actor ALEXIS ARQUETTE (a.k.a. Eva Destruction) and performance artist R. SKY PALKOWITZ (a.k.a. the Delusional Diva) were among those celebrating L.A. Gay Pride Weekend at the GARDENIA with the fabulously filthy song stylings of Ms. Beat (pictured). The fuchsia-clad Wiedlin, sporting a green corset, heckled her pal from the start, but the teasing became a downright drag, so to speak, by midway through the nearly two-hourlong performance. When Ms. Beat, shining in a heavenly floor-sweeping purple-and-black ensemble, segued into a song about bad one-night stands, Wiedlin loudly volunteered that she’d had a few lousy whistle stops of her own, with both boys and girls. Evidently in a mood to share, she further noted that she had a preference for fat girls. A wag in the audience shouted a query: Had she ever slept with Belinda Carlisle? The newly slimmed-down Go-Go’s lead singer (and August Playboy centerfold) doesn’t turn her on — “now,” Wiedlin added after a pause. When the spotlight-grabbing guitarist excused herself to go to the powder room, Jackie wondered out loud exactly how soon the Go-Go’s might be going back out on tour. Weren’t we all?


—Sandra Ross

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