Lyric Culture Spreads onto the Stage Through Fashion and Song

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RSVPs:  Fergie, Brittany Snow, Rachel Hunter
When:  May 10
Where:  The Avalon, Hollywood

The last fashion-show concert I went to was Victoria’s Secret’s annual runway spectacular. It turned positively orgasmic when Justin Timberlake opened with “SexyBack” while Gisele strutted her sexy, angel-winged body down the catwalk.

Moving Past the Mane Front
After posing for a few photos, Fergie rushes past the press line to prep backstage. This is a totally acceptable move—you can’t expect a performer to wear out her pipes on a bunch of reporters. But Tatyana Ali takes her cue and does the same thing. Sure, the R&B singer and actress did a few tracks way back in the day with her Fresh Prince costar Will Smith, but it’s not like she’s getting onstage tonight. What ever happened to sweet little Ashley Banks?

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More current R&B singer Amerie, on the other hand, isn’t a smidge diva despite a Grammy nomination. Since Lyric culture is based on the late '60s and early '70s rock eras, Amerie fills me in on her favorite styles from those decades. “I like the nude lipstick and the big hair," she says, with pink glossed lips and stick-straight locks. Guess she doesn’t always follow trends she likes. Our hairy talk cuts straight to the subject of David Beckham’s newly shorn 'do. “He has a nice head of hair, though,” Amerie tells me. “It can always grow back.” I sure hope so. That baldness is not working for me.

Retro Revelation
Inside, Avalon is not the packed megaclub it usually is. Fergie wanted to keep the crowd intimate, so only 250 guests are on the list. Among those are Sophia Bush, Rachel Hunter, Kim Kardashian, music exec (and Eddie Murphy's girl) Tracey Edmonds and a recently turned 21 Brittany Snow.

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Robed in a Lyric Culture vest, Brittany explains her fascination with the hippie era. “I did a show called American Dreams, and it was set in the '60s,” she says. “But now, because I had to kind of immerse myself in that culture, I'm missing it—the songs, the clothes.” That flower-child spirit, however, is more style than antiestablishment substance. When I ask her about Paris Hilton's recent sentencing, she's a by-the-book kinda gal. “I think if she wasn't going to jail, it would have been unfair,” she says. “It's kind of a reality dose. Just because you're a celebrity, you don't get to live above the law.” To cop a '60s phrase, "Here come the judge!"

Edgy Gear Revives the Past
Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” starts blasting, and I realize Fergie, unlike Justin, won’t be sharing her spotlight with the models. First comes fashion, and then it's the live performance. Lyric Culture’s Revolution line has a distinct rock 'n' roll vibe, with its fringed jackets, patent-leather corsets and cutoff gloves. One model even stomps down the runway strumming a hot pink guitar.

As the Beatles tune “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” surges through the room, the clothes get sparkly and shiny, exuding pure rock-star glam. It's an apt song selection, Lyric Culture president and designer Hanna tells us after the final walk: “The Beatles had their West Coast debut performance in 1964, when this was the Palace Theater, so we felt like this was the right place to do this event.” Very cool.

Contest Quickies
During the brief interlude before Fergie’s performance, Everybody Hates Chris’ Terry Crews and his pal have a dance-off to Ciara’s “Goodies.” They cause a commotion trying to see who can do the “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It” dance better. Don’t know the snapping number? Join the nearly half million people who have watched the music video on YouTube to perfect your ghetto-fabulous dance skills.

I bet Brittany Snow’s a fan, because even though I haven’t seen her dance tonight, she has proven herself a pretty impressive rapper. She races her boyfriend to see who can rap a Missy Elliott verse the fastest and even makes up a few lyrics on the spot for moi: “Roses are red/ violets are blue/ I love Lyric/ and obviously, so do you!” Hey, Missy, I'm throwin' down a challenge: Come be a guest on my podcast, so we can battle it out!

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High on the Mike
Fergie finally takes the stage with her gold-studded scepter and sings an impressive 15-song set. After the crowd gets riled from her notorious “Humps,” Fergie gets somber with “Voodoo Doll.” When she tells us she wrote the song at a “serious time” in her life, non-VIP-ers start yelling, “Meth, meth, meth!”  (Last year, Fergie told Time that the drug was “the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with.”) Luckily, she’s moved on to a better one in Josh Duhamel and is able to disregard the chants and continue with her performance.

She wraps up the show with “Glamorous,” fitting enough for this style-themed evening. All in all, a solid show, if not the sexed-up frenzy of Justin's performance, but I have a newfound respect for Fergie. Though I can’t say the same for my cohort Ted Casablanca, who’s got a rather embarrassing bit about her. Plus, he’s got more dish on the Lyric Culture party, too.

—Additional soiree scoping by our fete froshy Juontel White