Heavy-Metal Lovers Let ‘em Rip at Party

The Scene: Rip magazine’s fifth anniversary party at the Hollywood Palladium Sunday night. In keeping with the heavy-metal music mag’s understated tone, the invite called it a “Blowout/Massacre/Party/Whatever!”

Who Was There: A 4,000-strong crowd of alcohol-enriched head-banging metal heads out to see bands including Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog. The high point was a performance by metal parodists Spinal Tap. Penelope Spheeris, who made a 1988 documentary on the metal music scene, noted that one difference between now and then is “there’re more people wearing snakes.”

About Our Hosts: Rip is one of Larry Flynt’s publications. What Hustler is to Playboy, Rip is to Rolling Stone.

Dress Mode: Much more serious than the music.

Male Mode for the Heavy-Metal dweeb: Converse sneakers, corduroy pants, Iron Maiden T-shirt, Pendleton shirt tied around waist, Megadeth cap on backwards.

Upscale Male: Black leather eight-eyelet German army boots, leather pants that lace along the sides, frilly white neo-Renaissance shirt, eye liner, Megadeth baseball cap on backwards.

Female Mode: A plunging neckline is most essential; a backstage pass is the favored accessory. After that, garb included everything from torn jeans with a lace halter top to a black rubberized one-piece jumpsuit that appeared vulcanized to the body. Looks ranged from Conan the Barbarian’s girlfriend to Angelyne as a teen-ager.

Indispensable Accessory: A tattoo. Styles break along age lines. Older fans tend towards skulls, dragons and Harley-Davidson logos. For younger fans it’s a tribal symbol, maybe something from the Mentawi people of Siberut Island, Indonesia. Something for which they have absolutely no clue as to its meaning.

Quoted: Comedian Sam Kinison says he won’t get a tattoo. “Biological decay is a good case against it. Also, I don’t want to be 50 and have the Joker playing piano on my chest.”

What It Sounded Like: In the current edition, a Rip reviewer describes an album as “meat hook music tractor-pulled across the flesh.” That just about covers it.

Chow: Beer and snacks were on sale, but the classic move was to buy a six-pack of Olde English 800 at the Thrifty’s across the street, then drink it in the parking lot.

Best Brief Criticism: “Seeing Alice in Chains once on MTV is enough for me in this lifetime,” said one woman.

Attitude: Nobody gives heavy metal any respect. Someday it’s gonna be seen as a great art form, and you’re gonna be sorry, dude.