Bolt Action Thrill At The Hustler Free Speech Party

{Photos by Ronnie Erwin}

DISCLAIMER: This blog entry is for mature audiences only and should not be read by A) any of my young cousins whose parents will yell at me at the Christmas party B) My Grandma C) Mom, you can read this, but just a heads up, this will be one of those times when you wonder where I got "that mouth." Dad, well, sorry you missed the party, man, you would have dug it. And for everyone else, this blog entry has a bunch of sex in it, but we're all adults here (I'm serious kids, get off the computer and go play outside) so it's fine.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of porn. I've seen my share. I mostly think it's silly, but it does not disgust or offend me. It's just that freakishly large clits, strap-ons and horrible plot lines don't really do it for me in the excitement arena. I prefer my own imagination if my husband isn't around, but that's just me. I do understand why people (mostly dudes, let's face it) like it and why escapism is such a huge industry. I'm also all about getting paid for what you're good at and if your real and true talent is taking it in the ass on camera, then sister (or brother), I think it's great that you can make a living that way. I'm not going to rush out and get the DVD, but I support your right to make that DVD.

So when I found out that my favorite, newly LA band, Bolt Action Thrill, was playing the Hustler FreedomFest, a benefit to support the adult entertainment industry's (and really all American's, because it's a slippery slope - no pun intended) right to the freedom of speech, I knew I had to be there.

Luke Powers {Photos by Ronnie Erwin}

Thanks to my good friend Mark, who serves as the band's defacto manager, I got to chill back stage with him and the guys. It's been fun getting to know the band, besides insanely amazing rockers they are all just awesome people. Young people, somewhere around 22, I believe. I have this vague inner struggle when I'm around them between the 20 year old partygirl-me of long ago, who would be crushing on all of them and the 40 year old mom-me of the future, who wants to make sure they are getting plenty of fruits and veggies with their whiskey.

Bassist Richard Erwin & Sunny Lane {Photos by Ronnie Erwin}

But despite their inexpirence, what became very clear to me as we were surrounded by porn stars pulling their tits out, posed girl on girl action for the cameras on the red carpet and a full and ready bar, is that these guys are serious about their shit. They drank, but not too much before the show, and they were chugging out of giant water jugs to stay hydrated. They passed on somking a J with a formerly famous telvision star so they could stay clear headed. They had plenty of fun posing for photos with a porn star or two, as they should have, they're rock stars. But when it was time to perform it was business and they were ready. They sounded amazing, burned the place to the ground and then got wasted. Well played, boys.

Another highlight of the evening, for me, was that 2 members of the band had their parent's there. Fuck yes! Support your kids! If they're up on stage whaling on the bass guitar while a porn star is rubbing her butt all over them, stand there and take pictures, scream and clap. That's your job.

One more thing I took away from the night, and I will try to stay off my soapbox, is that many female porn stars have bodies...they are curvy, with butts and hips and at least one of them had real breasts. I know because she was swinging them around on stage and I saw her naked twice in her dressing room, which had no door. This is a multi-billion dollar industry, spurred on by your average guy (and girl). My point is, maybe Hollywood and the fashion industry should take a page from their black sheep sibling. If we had more porn stars modeling for Calvin Klein maybe we wouldn't have so many young girls with body image issues. Just a thought.