The floodgates burst on Friday, the second day of AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo at Las Vegas’ Sands Convention Center. By two o’clock a line of hundred of fans snaked through the Center’s second level, all the way back through the halls of the adjoining Venetian Hotel. Day One of AEE had been big but Day Two was huge. The energy level in the jam-packed hall rose accordingly.
It was the girls, always the girls, that the throngs came to see. Jesse Jane and Devon for Digital Playground. Carmen Luvana, Nicole Sheridan, Alexandra Silk and Nina Hartley for Adam & Eve. Tawny Roberts, Skyy Lopez and the crowd-stopping Sunset Thomas for VCA, Avy Scott and Kelly Marie for Private USA. At Pure Pleasure the Ninn Worx girls—Anais, Wanda Curtis, Georgia Adair, Angel Cassidy and Dee—drew all eyes. Wicked fielded its entire babe arsenal: Sydnee Steele, Stephanie Swift, Stormy, Jessica Drake, Julia Ann, Devinn Lane.
And then there was Vivid. With girls, it’s always Vivid: Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Sunrise Adams, Kira Kerner, Savannah Sampson, Mercedez. At any trade show, Vivid is the porn fans’ Mecca. The AEE booth, with its gauzy floor to roof white drapes and inner chambers actually looked like a religious shrine, with the stars as regal high priestesses.
New companies made their presence felt. SexZ, headed by industry veteran Marty Turkel, riveted attention with a spectacular booth constructed of orange-painted steel arches. “Next year we’ll have a sign on top saying who’s in it,” quipped Turkel. SexZ shared the space with Cherry Boxxx and Baby Doll Pictures. Monica Mayhem and Kim Chambers were among the girls on hand, plus a two-girl, one-guy fetish act that gyrated in a gogo booth atop an arch.
The two-tiered booths of up and comers Sineplex and DVSX were more ear than eye-popping, with loud amplified music. Katie Morgan at DVSX and Britney Skye and Sineplex kept the fans coming. Phoenix Releasing’s small booth drew a crowd when veteran favorite Shane stopped by on Friday afternoon. As expected, a beaming Mary Carey made Kick Ass Pictures’ first-ever AEE booth a must stop on everyone’s itinerary.
Tom Byron’s Evolution Erotica made its debut AEE appearance. Director Rob Black and his wife Lizzy Borden showed up at the booth, their first AEE sighting in several years. Both in high spirits, they talked excitedly about their return to video production for Extreme Associates. Friday afternoon, a legal seminar in a Venetian Hotel conference room focused on their federal obscenity indictments. They’ll go to trial in Pittsburgh later this year.
Evil Angel’s nonpareil slate of star directors schmoozed in the booth as a parade of cuties took care of the fans. Ringleader was Belladonna, sporting a chic, short blond hairdo. Her colleagues included German anal queen Katia Kassin and newcomer sensation Dana Vespoli.
Behind the line of fire, the two Johns, Stagliano and Leslie, held court. Randy West, who just completed Vol. 121 of Up and Cummers, bemoaned the fact that new girls who “haven’t already done 40 anal scenes” are becoming harder and harder to find. Joey Silvera praised the skills of Sean Michaels, who dropped by with invitations to his annual post-awards show party. “Nobody brings the women out like him,” said Joey, admiringly. Later in the day Vivid director Paul Thomas stopped by the booth for a porn legends photo op with Leslie and Silvera.
Max Hardcore drew his own fan cult at the Exquisite Multimedia booth, as did Rodney Moore. The action for Seymore Butts, at the Pure Play booth, was mild in comparison to Tushy booths of years past. This year the accent was on his Family Business series for Showtime, about to be released on DVD. Flower and Mari Possa, newcomers who both appeared in it, were signing autographs. Most of the hijinx at the booth were provided by the mega-busted women of Score Videos, which Pure Play distributes. Minka, Kayla Kleavage and Vixen LaMoore showed a lack of inhibition as huge as their mammoth mams, much to the crowds’ delight.
From the back end of the Adam & Eve booth, KSEX Radio broadcast live, causing human gridlock that made passage through the area difficult if not impossible. The mobs kept flowing to the back of the hall where the smaller exhibitors benefited from the overflow from the big ones. The B2B Marketplace (no stars, no fans) kept on rocking with the rest of the hall until the 7 p.m. closing time.
