Hey Lisa, what did you do last weekend?  Well, lemme see...  I saw Slash play Paradise City at the Whisky A Go Go in my time machine simulator. Oh wait, no, that really happened.  The shock is just now wearing off.

Friday was day 2 of the festival and Virgin America hosted a kick off party at the Standard Hotel for celebs, bands, and industry types looking for free bar action and mini burgers.  DJs Valida and Spider smiled pretty and entertained the pool goers while that Rock of Love chick who fought with crazy Lacey bounced around in her jammie pants.

The Roxy had a varied triple bill starting with the new buzz of The Shys.  Their catchy, cuteboy pop was just short of Swedish in the charm category and their shiny hair was reflected in the smiling faces of the gorgeously underage crowd. Under the influence of Kinks, melodic choruses like, "...Never ...Ever ...Gonna ...Die," were delivered adorably with the conviction of youth. 

LA’s The Deadly Syndrome took the middle-child slot of and dealt with the pressure by singing two songs about ghosts.  Christopher Richard, with his strange lady voice (but like a lady who’s actually an eastside boy in skinny jeans), layered rock over noise over jangles over melody and doused the beast in heavy thrash drums.

Hot Hot Heat closed the night with a stage full of masked props and a head full of Justin Guarini hair.  We took off for the Whisky to lay claim to a floor board or two -- and so did the rest of the strip (minus those channeling their inner punk across the street at the Viper Room during a power surge performance by Juliette & The Licks).

In anticipation of the midnight show, the Sardines A Go Go waited expectantly, crammed with metal men, hip-hopsters and a group of stoic, rock longhairs that never cracked a smile even when B-Real smoked a tampon-sized joint on stage (turns out those fellas were from another country.  Still...). 

Cursing like sailors and sweating like Whitney, B-Real and a rotating cast of West Coast mainstays smoked a sticky icky set of grimy hip-hop before bringing out the original Cypress Hill touring band for an infusion of metal.

Polite lawlessness took hold with people exploding on the dance floor, flailing over the banisters, and puffing on choice doobage as Slash and his giant hat joined in for two final, face melting numbers; Rock Superstar and Paradise City. 

Saturday, day 3, saw great performances by local favorites The 88 (who recently signed to Island Records and are preparing for a glossy CD release in August) and Mickey Avalon at the Key Club who did the Jane Fonda with his harem of half-naked dancing girls.

See you next year where the grass is green and girls are pretty.

Day 1 photo galleries... YOU KNOW

Day 2 photo galleries... YOU WANT

Day 3 photo galleries... TO SEE THE ROCK!