Jeremy Piven Drums, Deryck Whibley Returns to the Stage, & Playboy Playmates Dazzle—All for Charity
While Horrible Bosses 2 was premiering at the TCL Chinese Theater, the best party in Hollywood last night was rocking just a block away—at a bowling alley of all places.
In support of The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and hosted by Lucky Strike Live at the corner of Hollywood and Highland, the charity event was pure entertainment for the couple-hundred fans, friends, and family of the performers.
The night began with the band Toddsplanet, fronted by H20 founder and touring Offspring guitarist Todd Morse. The 10-piece orchestra featured a talented, energetic brood of musicians specializing in rock-hip-hop-groovy-hybrid cover songs mostly from the late 20th century. As they opened their set with covers of “Back in Black”, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”, and the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You”, the bowling alley turned into the House of Blues.
About halfway through the set, Morse called into the crowd for a guest drummer: strutting to the stage in a light-blue blazer came Entourage star Jeremy Piven. After a quick twirling of the drumsticks, Piven and the rest of Toddsplanet rocked a spot-on cover of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”.
Later on, the bearded Piven would explain that his biggest influences in the drummer’s seat are Cream’s Ginger Baker, and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl. And it showed. Piven never missed a beat.
One of the biggest surprises of the night was when Morse called upon Sum 41 lead singer and guitarist Deryck Whibley to join the pumped-up musicians on stage in slaying a passionate rendition of the Rolling Stones’ “Bitch”.
Many in the packed bowling alley knew that seeing the 34-year-old Canadian rocker Whibley on stage was a special experience. Only six months ago, Whibley nearly died of alcohol-induced liver and kidney failure. But now, Whibley looks as healthy as ever on stage doing what he clearly loves most with six strings and amplified distortion.
When asked about how he’s doing, Whibley said with poise and pride, “I feel absolutely great…just making new stuff for Sum 41.”
Although Whibley and Piven were spotted taking pictures together in the middle of the crowd, it is not likely that the Emmy award-winning actor will be filling the vacant drummer job for Sum 41.
The night continued, until a 4-minute dance party erupted with Toddsplanet finishing their set with a cover of OutKast’s “Hey Ya!”
And as if the night needed any more entertainment, several Playboy Bunnies were in attendance. At one point, they joined Toddsplanet on stage for some backup dancing. The scene was fitting, since Todd Morse’s wife Kim Phillips was Playboy’s Miss September 2009.
Punk fans would be delighted to know that also spotted in attendance were legendary stage manager Kenny Leath, former Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson, and Sugarcult’s Marko DeSantis. By the end of the night, the Lucky Strike bowling alley no longer felt like the House of Blues. As Morse described, it felt like a bunch of friends having fun and raising money for a great cause by rocking out in their garage.