Oscar night at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip was anything but subdued. But then again, on the biggest night of the year in Hollywood, what else would you expect? Excite and Hollywood Stock Exchange hosted a viewing party and concert that created enough traffic to take over the entire block. While the never ending stream of free food and open bar certainly helped to get the crowd in the mood, it was headline performer Beck [ tickets ] who really got things rolling.

Slated to start at 5:30, the same time as the awards, the entire shindig started late. The delay left the dressed in black crowd stranded outside in line for the first 45 minutes of the show. People strained to watch the show from tiny monitors out side the HOB while they slowly snaked their way into the club. Once inside, the vibe was good, although seating was so limited it was frustrating.

The Oscar ceremony played well to the capacity crowd, pretty much keeping their undivided attention for the entire four hour telecast (let's not forget this is Hollywood). Far and away, Roberto Benigni's double win for Best Foreign Film and Best Actor energized the crowd the most. Shakespear In Love's surprise upset of Saving Private Ryan also drew an enthusiastic round of cheers from the room.

Immediately after the awards, the tables were cleared off the floor and the real party began. Opening was Emergency Broadcast Network, an audiovisual assault set to music. Mixing a thrilling blend of break beats, techno fury and film and television samples, EBN did a good job of playing to a mainly uninterested crowd. While clearly not the kind of music many of those assembled would listen to regularly, EBN did impress with their video collages.

Next up was a DJ set from Crystal Method. While it was fun, the set really had no personality above and beyond any other house DJ set. The music got the crowd moving (or maybe it was the open bar?), but hearing Stevie Wonder and some old school hip-hop and big beats was nothing more than head-bobbing fun. It's a shame that show organizers didn't ask Crystal Method to perform their own material as part of an actual set.

By the time Beck hit the stage at 11pm, the entire HOB was jam packed with people. But even as the floor was shoulder to shoulder, the industry crowd still didn't understand the basic concept of applause and audience response for the first half of Beck's 90 minute set.

Of course, the great thing about Beck is that his stage presence is infectious. Playing mainly a greatest hits set, Beck rolled through the show with his usual mega-energy and fly for a white guy moves. Opening (and closing) with a cover of Eddie Grant's Electric Avenue, Beck suggested that everyone go all the way back to 1983. What followed were really fun renditions of songs that Beck fans have come to know and love: Loser, Jackass, Where It's At and so on.

Even though Beck was a hired gun for this show (it was a private party, tickets did not go onsale), he put the energy and effort in as if it were a paying crowd. His patented breakdancing and robot moves were in their full splendor, and by the close of the show he had won over enough of the audience to actually warrant an encore.

When Beck finished at 12:30 in the morning, the party was still rolling. There was over an hour of open bar left, and the line to get inside was more than 100 people deep. While less glamorous than many other Oscar night galas in town, the party was a raging success. What more could you ask for? Free food, drink and live entertainment, all for good reason. Everywhere else in the world it's only rock-and-roll, but in Los Angeles it's all about the movies.