Here is a recap of some of the numerous parties that made the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo weekend in Vegas a memorable one:
A Very Vivid Celebration
For those who knew where to go, Vivid’s AVN Awards after party at Vivid the Club in a tucked-away corner of the Venetian Hotel was the place to be following the ceremony.
People including Best Director – Film winner Paul Thomas (for The New Devil in Miss Jones) were scanning hotel directories for the club’s precise location, and once they found it, the party began to pump fast and furiously.
The official kick-off came when grand mistress of the evening Jenna Jameson (who took awards for Best Supporting Actress – Film, Best All-Girl Sex Scene – Film and the very first Crossover Star of the Year honor, as well as her almost-too-obvious-to-require-mentioning induction into the Hall of Fame) strolled in with husband and Club Jenna co-owner Jay Grdina (a.k.a. Justin Sterling) and their stable of contract girls, one of whom, by the by, happened to be carrying the most coveted award of them all, Best New Starlet (that’d be McKenzie Lee, in case you weren’t informed).
The energy was ebullient, and even Thomas became overcome by it, shaking and grooving to tunes like P. Diddy’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.” The award-laden director (a comic skit shown during the ceremony portrayed him using his bevy of past award trophies for all sorts of amusing purposes) said of his most recently earned one, “Sometimes I think I win by default.”
The rest of the Vivid Girls, of course, were in attendance as well, Savanna Samson beaming over her win for Best Actress – Film (Devil) and Love Twins Lacey and Lyndsey dancing it up in different areas with their respective guy pals of the evening. Sunny Leone explained her missing whereabouts just prior to the start of the ceremony by saying, “The guards we were with had no idea where we were supposed to go or what was going on, and it turned out we were already there.”
Meanwhile, the Club Jenna crew was being walled in on a row of couches by giant guards, basking in the glory of their fantastic night.
Other industry heads of state at the event were Vivid bigwigs Steve and Marci Hirsch, Howard Levine and Shylar Cobi, AVN CEO Darren Roberts and editors Mike Ramone and Dan Miller, American Hardcore owners T.J. DiReda and Vic Thomas, Fatt Entertainment’s Al Thornton, Antigua Pictures’ Todd and Jon Blatt and Best New Starlet nominee Taryn Thomas. Also enjoying the festivities was the Boo-ya Tribe.
- Peter Warren
Sex Z Pictures Throws Impromptu After Party
The Virginia-based production company Sex Z Pictures, known for some lively bashes in Hollywood, hosted a wild post-AVN Awards party Saturday night.
Without much advanced warning and hoopla, Sex Z Pictures went about their show business and then threw open the doors to their giant penthouse suite atop the Venetian Hotel immediately following the AVN Awards Show where drinks flowed and skin showed until 6 a.m.
"We wanted to have a fun party that just sort of came off by itself without all of the normal hype that surrounds these things," said Sex Z owner Bo Kenney.
The crowd included a mix of mainstreamers who were in town for the CES show and porn movers and shakers. Ron Jeremy entertained by playing some Mozart on the stylish Steinway Grand Piano in the living room.
AVN Awards co-host Jesse Jane was among the stars in the suite, as well as Jenaveve Jolie, Eva Angelina, Julia Bond, Lexie Marie, Britney Rears, Sunny Lane, Lynn LeMae, Rebecca Steel, Monica Mayhem, Lisa Anne, Lacie Heart, Tiffany Holiday, Angelique, Sierra Sin, Montana Rae, Sophia Santi, Ruby and Isabella Sky.
A number of other newbies held court in one of the suite’s luxurious bathrooms and posed naked for photos in front of a small battery of photographers all intent on turning the posing into some live sex.
- Wade Garrett
Wicked Chills at Ice
Late into the witching hour Friday night, Wicked Girls Jessica Drake, Stormy Daniels and Carmen Hart hosted a banging bash at Club Ice on Harmon Ave.
At 11:30 p.m., a troupe of lingerie-clad hotties known as the Vegas Pin-Ups emerged on a stage high above the club floor and performed a provocative little dance number to a medley of high-energy tunes including Britney Spears’ "Toxic" and Justin Timberlake’s "Cry Me a River."
This apparently marked the official start of the party, as a giant wall then swung open onto a whole other, larger segment of the club. The growing crowd, naturally, poured into this area, where the Wicked gals presided over the event from atop a glass-walled balcony.
DJ Donald Glaude spun thumping music while smoke and light pulsed through the air and the partiers bounced like kids in a ball pit. Also in attendance were director/performer Brad Armstrong, retired porn actress Dolorian and promoter Mike Moz.
The party continued deep into the morning hours, long after a certain AVN reporter turned in to glean some rest before The Big Day.
- Peter Warren
Teravision Party Packed
Club Tao had hundreds of people waiting outside for most of Friday evening as all present tried to gain admittance to one of the highest –attended parties of this year’s AVN Adult Entertainment Expo yet.
Tera Patrick and Evan Seinfeld, along with many of the Tera Patrick Agency girls such as Ice LaFox, Lucy Lee, Lauren Kain and Nikki Benz – all held court inside as partiers enjoyed the dance floors, the booze and the little nooks and crannies the club had to offer that were built for snuggling and, you know, other stuff.
Club Tao’s girls cavorted in hot tubs built into the club and danced on bar tops and tables as attendees grooved to remixed Prince tunes.
- Heidi Joy Pike
Evil Angel, American Hardcore Draw Crowd at Wynn
Evil Angel and American Hardcore co-hosted an invitation-only party on Thursday, Jan. 5, following AEE’s first day, at the beautiful Club Tryst in the new Wynn Las Vegas Resort.
Porners in attendance included Evil Angel founder John “Buttman” Stagliano, his wife, former performer-turned-AVN Award-winning director (Vault of Whores) Tricia Devereaux, and American Hardcore principals T.J. DiReda and Vic Thomas, along with the Boo-ya Tribe. Other adult luminaries present included Belladonna, Jenna Haze, Gina Lynn, Jules Jordan, Travis Knight, Jonni Darkko, Melissa Lauren, Katja Kassin, Vault of Whores star Taryn Thomas, AVN President Paul Fishbein and AVN Editor-in-Chief Mike Ramone, and AVN's Dan Miller and Peter Warren.
A DJ spinned a strictly '80s play list, including The Clash, INXS and most especially Prince, whose hits such as “When Doves Cry” really got the dance floor hopping. One such enthusiast the size of an NBA power forward provided the quote of the evening when he was heard to say, “When I dance, people get hurt.”
Tryst’s dance floor looked out onto a breathtaking, three-story man-made waterfall. If there’s a more gorgeous, posh nightclub in the country, well, AVN has never been there.
- Marcus Strong
Playboy Takes Its Party Seriously
The era of simmering cocktail soirees hosted by a pipe-huffing Hef may be a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean Playboy doesn’t throw a swinging party. The proof was there on Thursday night, some fifty floors above the Earth’s crust in the Ghost Bar at the swanky Palms Hotel and Casino (it must be hip; Brittney Spears hangs out there!), right on Hugh Hefner Drive. It should be noted that the Palms will soon encompass the future wing of the Playboy Casino.
With a view of glittering Sin City that usually only night-flying birds are allowed to see, a few hundred fabulous people crowded into the Ghost Bar, haunted tonight by damn good times. There were shrimp. Gigantic shrimp. And lobster tails and drinks flowing as only free drinks can, as well as a non-stop cascade of liquified chocolate.
But, really, who cares about food when you’ve got the attention-stealing likes of Jenna Jameson and the Club Jenna girls, holding court in the center of the room on low-slung couches, surrounded by intimidating security men the size of Herman Munster.
To describe the ladies as stunning would be to do them a massive dis-service; Jenna and company combine the looks of porn and mainstream beauty and create something wholly other, a fact not gone unnoticed by dozens of male gawkers who couldn’t not gaze appreciatively at the bevy of bodacious sex pistols.
Just watching them parade back and forth across the bar like sexual royalty, the crowd parting, security in tow, was a sight to behold. The deejay kept the sounds loud and pumping as the crowd spilled out onto the expansive outdoor patio, where more drinks were guzzled and cigars were smoked. The night moved on, more and more revelers arrived, spilling out of the elevators. And, as it says in the Bible, it was good.
- Peter Stokes
Stars Hold Fundraiser for Hurricane Relief
Some members of the adult entertainment industry held a fundraiser at the Venetian Hotel’s Vivid nightclub Thursday night with most proceeds going to Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.
Porn stars Diana DeVoe, Johnny Depth, Mr. Marcus and Candi Cream were some of the over two hundred guests that enjoyed the evening.
“This is not about a party, but financially helping the victims of that horrible hurricane,” said Michael Hall, organizer and owner of Bella Mafia Entertainment, based in Miami, Fla.
All the girls arriving at the charity event were asked to leave a “kiss print” on a large canvas located near the entrance of the nightclub. The canvas will be later auctioned off with all monies going to the relief fund.
- David Woodman
Adam & Eve Opens Weekend at 40 Deuce
Appropriate to the beginning of an erotica convention, Adam & Eve spawned one of the many opening night industry parties at the 40 Deuce club at Mandalay Bay.
Located at the bottom of the strip next to the sedate Four Seasons, Mandalay seemed uncannily quiet when compared to the overflow of horny humanity at the Venetian just a few blocks away but looks can be deceiving. Inside the club life pulses and gyrates.
More to the point, much of the loco-motion occurred on stage as a pair of strippers showed off their considerable skills dancing to the beat of the ultimate bar song "Tequila." Aided and abetted by the 40 Deuce Trio band, this hot version provoked hoots of approval from the audience.
A mix of effusive retailers and distributors happily munched on appetizers at the crowded open bar and seating area while porn regulars also trolled the site. Some, like veterans Nina Hartley and director Ernest Green were content to sit and share a few laughs at their booth, while the neophyte starlets preferred to bask in the limelight of roving photographers whose flashbulbs pierce the darkness and leave trails of light inside the eyeballs of surprised patrons.
Still excited by the debut of her first anal feature The Perfect Secretary, Carmen Luvana commanded attention as the focal point of an impromptu shoot at the club's entrance. Flanked by Austyn Moore on one arm and Mari Possa on the other, the girls delightfully preened for the camera as Dan Davis (editorial director of Genesis) kept a watchful eye on his bubbly prizes. All seemed unaware of the ironic potential as Genesis and Adam & Eve worked side by side in the city of sin.
-Bradley Milton
Retailers Flock to Opening Night Party with Wicked, Zero Tolerance, New Sensations and AVN
The Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was the site of a well-attended by retailers party sponsored by AVN, Wicked Pictures, Zero Tolerance Entertainment and New Sensations on Thursday night.
The party was a toughie to get into with this editor, a couple other AVN staffers and AVN Award-nominated Joe Gallant with several porn starlets all experiencing various degrees of trouble gaining admittance to the party - the porn stars and the director never did make it in - even with various forms of credentials but the crowd that did manage to clear the velvet ropes had fun. A couple of hundred retailers enjoyed a well-stocked dessert bar, an equally well-stocked open bar and a clever ice sculpture shaped like a naked woman who pissed orange juice and tequila over the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo logo.
The club’s fishnet and booty short-clad dancers grooved silently to the sounds of Sir Mix-A-Lot and Prince while the retailers present observed all and consumed the free hooch and sugar present.
Tom Clark, a clerk and self-described “consultant and spiritual advisor” to Video Dimensions in Glenview, Illinois swigged down Long Island iced teas and said of the party, “It’s pretty dark in here and it’s got a great open bar and otherwise, I’m just enjoying being here with you.”
Yep, that sweet and salty pick-up vibe was all over but hey, it’s a night out….what’s a girl to do but enjoy herself, right?
- Heidi Joy Pike
Pure Vanilla Party Pure Fun
It was standing room only as Pure Vanilla, a provider of anonymous and secure solutions for adult online transactions, held a wild launch party Thursday night at the Venetian Hotel’s Tao nightclub during the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo
Adult stars Flower Tucci, Amber Peach, Nikki Hunter, Alexis Amore, Lanny Barby and Tylene Buck showed lots of skin as they danced and drank until closing.
The girls were celebrating the fact that Pure Vanilla will become the first alternative payment process for adults buying adult entertainment content over the Internet.
“Pure Vanilla will compete against PayPal, however our product it is much safer,” said Steven Yevoli, CEO, Pure Vanilla.
“Unlike PayPay, the Pure Vanilla online system protects consumers 100% from identity theft and credit card fraud,” Yevoli said. “Our system will increase revenue to the adult industry at least 30 percent."
- David Woodman
Defiance, MALLcom Party at Treasures
Thursday night might just be the new Friday night. Treasures Gentleman’s Club in Las Vegas made a pretty good case for the theory, as they played host to their AVN Adult Entertainment Expo party, this past Thursday.
Defiance Films, Torrid Entertainment, online retailer MALLcom and up-and-coming affiliate program BlingBucks sponsored the event that hosted a number of guests and Industry people in the Treasures VIP area. The drinks were flowing as the guests were treated to an open bar and a variety of Treasures dancers on one special stage.
As the night went on, Taylor Rain, Lauren Pheonix, Naudia Nyce and Jessi Summers were all on hand.
The party featured a very fitting night cap as Cindy Crawford did a special feature dance at midnight.
- Eddie Adams
Photo of Monique Alexander and Lexie Marie at Vivid by Don Camp.
