October 3rd, 2006

[In case you haven't heard, Saturday night, Sept 30th was the night of a grandiose event. Officially named "The Gathering" the party was to celebrate the release of Michael Ninn's newest adult film, Sacred Sin. Michael is a friend of Eddie Van Halen's, and Eddie contributed two music tracks to the movie. The party was hosted by Michael's company, Ninn Worx, and also legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The party was held at Van Halen's famous 5150 estate, which was also were Sacred Sin was filmed].

Now, about our story...

We just got back from a party at Eddie Van Halen's house, and we haven't stopped talking about it ever since!

As the owner of VanHalenStore.com, I had been one of the lucky invitees. What an opportunity! I had already been to Eddie's "5150" Studio before, but never thought I'd ever visit his house! And I heard he was probably going to play on a stage, right in his backyard! There were going to be a lot of rock stars, porn stars, all kinds of wacky people! Needless to say, I couldn't wait!

When I told my girlfriend, Beth, that we were invited to a party at Van Halen's house, her first thought, as a woman, was "What does one wear to a party at Eddie's?" After some deliberation, she decided to play it safe and wear the standard "little black dress".

The invite-only attendees, many of who were in the "adult industry", met in a huge parking lot and were we would be shuttled up to the Eddie's mansion in the Hollywood Hills. Arriving at the parking lot waiting for the shuttle to the mansion was frustrating. Frustrating because the line was super long, there were not enough shuttles and it was taking forever to get to the party. It was kind of like sitting in front of your wrapped presents on Christmas morning and waiting for your parents to wake up so you could open them.

First impressions of the home... large electronic gates led to a very steep driveway. At the top of the driveway was an amazing home all decked out for the party. There were hundreds of fresh flower displays, rose petals everywhere, thousands of votive candles lit all over the entire estate.

We entered the party up the steps and through the front door. Just inside the door was a bar area. Drinks in hand within seconds of entrance. To the right was Eddie's Library/Piano room. There was his grand piano and floor to ceiling bookshelves (which were empty of books). From the cathedral ceiling were Cirque De Sole type entertainers swinging and flipping around on a black hanging rope/ swing apparatus.

The next room we entered was the main living area. Beth was so engrossed in taking in the atmosphere of the room, she completely missed the fact that Eddie was sitting in the room playing his 5150 guitar! I said to her, "Did you see who you just walked by?" She said "what, who?" "Turn around and look, there is Eddie playing his guitar". I guess neither of us expected that Eddie, sitting back and strumming his guitar, would be one of the first things that one would see.

This is where some of our photos were taken. She was able to sit down next to Eddie and talk with him for a few minutes. He was very friendly but actually mistook her for the lead actress in the Sacred Sin movie. At first he thought she was Heather but soon realized she was not after she introduced herself as Elizabeth. He went on to talk about how the movie was filmed in his home and how Heather looked totally different every time she came to the set and that is why he thought she could be her. He was very personable, joked around a bit, and made you feel "right at home at his party".

You could hardly walk ten feet without running into either a girl wearing only paint and feathers, hot girls passing out hors d'oeuvres, or dripping wet girls who had just come in from the pool outside, either looking for the bathroom or perhaps another drink.

It also seemed that you couldn't walk ten feet without running into Eddie Van Halen himself, as he did a very impressive job running around, from guest to guest, meeting people and posing for pictures. He spent at least a quick moment with each one of the hundreds of people who approached him.

Eddie looked fantastic. Frank Meyer, from The Feed's writeup, put it best: "He was happy as a clam, posing for pictures with anyone that asked. Eddie looked great ... every bit the ageless Guitar God you'd want him to be."

Eddie spent much of the night mingling and socializing with all of the guests. He could not have been nicer or more accommodating to everyone. We actually spent several minutes just watching Eddie get bombarded by people. It was strange. All night long, whatever room he was in, people would surround him, and the crowd would grow & grow. I wondered if he felt a little bit like an animal in a zoo, with everyone wanting a quick photo. Nevertheless, he patiently posed for photo after photo after photo. He welcomed all of us openly into his home and seemed like an "old friend to everyone". He was very pleasant and accommodating.

Some of us saw Guns 'n' Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed playing Eddie's grand piano! We heard rumors that actors Owen Wilson, Shannon Elizabeth, and James Woods were also there, and they could have been, but we didn't see them. I met Eddie's new charming girlfriend, and the director of Sacred Sin, Michael Ninn. As soon as I assured Michael I was enjoying myself, he rushed me into the kitchen to talk to Eddie. Ed grabbed my camera and posed goofily with us for some pictures.

While walking through the mansion, we noticed that Eddie apparently didn't mind leaving a lot of his awards out on display, in plain view of eveyone at the party. There was a grammy he won, a couple MTV awards, and mini replicas of same of his famous striped guitars. Family photos adorned the walls, mostly of his son, Wolfgang. Other features of the home included an indoor racket ball court that was converted to an art studio for the party, indoor gym, large gourmet kitchen. Although it certainly was a grand estate, it really felt cozy and comfortable too.

Outside, the landscaping and lighting were unbelievable. There were hundreds of colored Christmas type lights and candles, giving the whole backyard almost an unearthly feel. Asian lanterns were everywhere, more flowers, more rose petals, more male & female Cirque De Sole entertainers were suspended high above the revelers, in trapeze type-devices, performing acrobatics. Large open bar areas, and cocktail waitresses passing out g-string panties and shots of tequila.

The main attraction was the stage, flanked by more small stages with girls dancing. Eddie didn't waste any time - early in the evening, he jumped onstage & welcomed everybody to the party, inviting them all to "get hammered & have fun". He then proceeded to kick ass on the guitar for about 40 minutes, jamming with the LA based all star band, Starf*ckers, featuring Eric Dover of Jellyfish and Slash's Snakepit and former Motley Crue singer John Corabi. This was one of Eddie's only performances since Van Halen's last tour in 2004, so this was a truly a rare treat for the fans who were there.

Set List:
Eruption
Cathedral
Rebel Yell
Jump
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
You Really Got Me
Panama
Short Jam

Ed played great and was clearly enjoying himself. He ended the show with his famous flying scissor kick. He then smiled to the crowd and said "Now that was FUN!"

After Eddie left the stage, the entertainment sure wasn't over... an attractive woman took the stage who was literally breathing fire! She was later followed by girls dancing half naked, who were in turn followed by female fire dancers in outrageous outfits.

The large outdoor swimming pool was pretty amazing, as many women, some topless, were swimming around, and some of them sliding down the amusement park-sized water slide. Some of the girls in the pool were getting really friendly with each other. I'll leave the details up to your imagination.

Not too far from the pool was a lovely gazebo with a swing chair, overlooking the house and pool. Near the gazebo was a large fake cow (!) that we posed for a photo with.

Later, inside the house, Beth was talking to some people near the grand piano, who were asking her what films she did. She thinks they only half believed her when she told them, "I sell real estate." Then suddenly, Eddie walked in the room, sits down at the piano, and started playing it effortlessly. She was really surprised - she had no idea he could play the piano. He played an amazing piece for a few minutes and then abruptly stopped and said, "I need some more cigarets", and then was gone. She didn't know if it was an original composition or not, but it was breathtakingly beautiful.

At one point it all just seemed to hit me: my friend is chatting with Van Halen's record producer, Glenn Ballard, to my left, one of my favorite actors, Steven Dorff, just walked past me, Eddie Van Halen is playing pool behind me, my girlfriend is in the long line to the bathroom, trying to fend off the sexual advances of other girls(!) in line, and I'm standing there talking to my friends who live in LA, while this very friendly porn star is giving me the eye. Now, this is a party! What anyone could imagine - going to a rock star's house for a crazy party in the Hollywood Hills - it was all that, and way more!

The party ended in typical "Hollywood Style" when some "industry girl" who "indulged" a bit too much puked all over the place and then passed out. She was then carried outside with her dress pulled up exposing the fact that she elected to skip wearing panties that evening. We made our way out of the party and down the driveway at the same time that the fire truck and paramedics were arriving.

The event was the most outrageous & surreal party I've ever attended. Definitely a fabulous, fun, and very interesting night that no one present will ever forget. Thanks for the party, Michael & Ed!

PAY PER VIEW SPECIAL: The Ninn Worx company took a lot of photos and video of this party, and are planning on releasing it as a Pay Per View Special at some point. VHND.com will have more details soon.

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PARTY PHOTO GALLERY:
The VHND has 155 photos of the event, split into 6 photo albums: