And Justice for all

Sometimes, you just gotta wait it out. Sure, there are shortcuts you could probably take. But trust me. In the long run, there’s something to be said for embodying the art of patience.

I could write a thesis on the subject after tonight. Because baby, I waited it out. Hardcore. The draw: a Scion party featuring Busy P, Kavinsky and other assorted Ed Banger DJs spinning at the Viper Room with not-so-secret special guests Justice. Big time, right? Right.

So I parked my behind in a massive line a few minutes after 11PM, when the doors opened. And I waited. I watched a cavalcade of L.A. scene stars bypass the line, bro down with the doorman and cruise in. Whatever, that's cool. We all get our moments. Don't be hatin'. I took pictures of Busy P and the Justice guys when they rolled out of a massive limo and entered the club. I watched Kavinsy (clad in a dope Corvette “Heartbeat of America” jacket) put on a whole song and dance in front of the club with this ridiculously fine blonde. After what seemed like an eternity (according to my cell, over an hour. Oh, the humanity), I was at the front of the line. The doorman looked at my ID and made a joke about me being “the other Scott Sterling.” He was actually really nice. I felt good about waiting it out. It wasn’t so bad, and the insistent thump of bass coming from upstairs sounded promising. Let’s check it out…

What can I say? The Viper Room was packed to the back with party people having it LARGE.  The whole assembled Banger posse—Busy P, Justice, SebastiAn, and yes, the last "A" is supposed to be capitalized like that—were all onstage tag-teaming on a pair of CD players. Then again, who wasn’t on the stage at that point? It was looking like a Girl Talk show up there. There were a battery of photogs (including my man Cobrasnake, natch), local DJs, promoters, random kids, whoever. I was trying to take pictures with my valiant little Casio, the trooper that it is. I’ve pushed this sucker as far as it’s gonna go. Last night might have been the kicker. It was HOT. Crowded. From my vantage point, the stage was the place to be. All in the name of better pictures, of course.

Things weren’t much different up there. It’s a little more fun, sure. Cobrasnake took my picture a few times. It was weird, but I liked it. Ha. Whatever. Now that dude has a nice camera. He seemed to get a kick out of mine. I definitely got some cool pictures out of it. Not to mention oddly compelling video of some random hot L.A. woman casually smoking what appeared to be a hand-rolled cigarette with her friend (we're still onstage, remember) while the assembled mass went bananas to the music all around them.

Busy P was working the crowd big time, flashing one of the new Justice tour shirts for their upcoming American jaunt. Oh look, there’s DJ AM on the other side of the stage. Going OFF. His face looked the way I think mine looked at the Daft Punk show. Homeboy was seriously feeling it. I love that this dude who could totally just stand there and be all cool about it (breath) was rocking out as hard as any fan in the house. Respect is due. That’s a music head right there.

And so it went. They dropped all manner of monstrous tunes, with Justice tracks getting the biggest cheer of them all. Irene Cara’s “What A Feeling” seemed to scare the shit out of everybody. It was hilarious. “Waters of Nazareth”—forget about it. Awesome.

When all was said and done, I hung onstage with the Ed Banger posse and half of the hipsters in L.A. I didn’t have a single drink (unless you this count this can of Tilt, which is like a ghetto version of Sparks. I wouldn’t recommend it…), and feel surprisingly lucid for it being three whatever o’ clock in the morning that it is right now.

That was kind of a lot of words, huh? Well, it was a long night. But a good one. I’m going to say nice things about Scion, the Viper Room, and rock-your-face-off DJs from France all in one sentence. I’m probably going to be really late for work, er, later on today. But damn it, I’m going to sleep well. Thanks, L.A. Sometimes you’re not such a pissy bitch, and it reminds me why I love you all over again. Just keep on dancing, babe.