BY JOSE MARTINEZ

Dateline, Los Angeles: In which guitar hero Dave Navarro and hot go-go hootchie mommas prove to be quite entertaining: The Los Angeles club scene just got a little more competitive with the debut of the spacious club VERUS this weekend, but the lesson of the night is that sometimes bigger is not always better. It can at times be quite impressive but not better. Case in point this latest "megaclub." Saturday night was the grand opening of VERSUS, whose motto is "Los Angeles nightlife redefined."

Housed in the famed downtown Stock Exchange Building, which was also home to the ‘80s excess-is-best club Wall Street before it moved to the El Rey (see the Corey Haim / Corey Feldman '88 classic License to Drive to catch shots of the club in action). Sure, the size of VERSUS is quite a sight with 22,000 square feet of event space and room for 1,800 club-goers, but honestly, I felt like I was at a party in a bus or train station instead of some hip, swanky club. Being confined to one big room is not my idea of fun at a "megaclub."

When I think of truly historic LA clubs of days gone by I think of the legendary Scream at the Park Plaza (see Less Than Zero as well as the live performance in GNR's "Welcome to the Jungle" video, or Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie"). With spacious rooms on multiple floors and a huge, beautiful stairway just perfect for hanging out, this club constantly saw one-of-a-kind performances from the likes of Jane's Addiction, The Cult, and Sugarcubes.

And then there was Riki Rachtman's notorious Cathouse  (see 1988's The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years), the ultimate club for Hollywood sleaze and debauchery (and damn good times!). Again, it was the multiple room feel that gave this mini "megaclub" the sense of space and freedom to get your decadence on. Besides, it's always fun to party at a club where strippers and mud wrestlers go to on their night off. And seeing the likes of David Bowie, David Lee Roth, Axl Rose, Slash, KISS, and even Alice Cooper, who performed one memorable Halloween night, firsthand partying alongside you let you know you were at a club with its pulse on the scene.

And let's not forget the Mayan Theatre in downtown LA. A former movie theater, this club is gigantic with enough rooms to wander around in to keep you occupied for hours. If these walls could talk people would get arrested or die from embarrassment.

Unfortunately VERSUS just doesn't have that feel. Even in the VIP area, which is a balcony level overlooking the one big box of a room, you don't really feel like you've escaped anywhere. And with no kitchen, VIP-ers were treated to strawberries and Hershey kisses (oh, the madness!).

I must say, having been served the very first drink at VERSUS (a vodka tonic with Roberto Cavailli Vodka, an evening sponsor) was a cool personal factoid. And for two hours, free vodka as well as nice, cold shots of Patron flowed freely - but having to listen to really bad techno music didn't help matters.

The evening's array of C-level celebs boasted the likes of Tiffany "New York" Pollard, The Hills' Audrina Partridge, Ryan McMullen of Matchbox 20, Brandon Jenner (brother to Brody... does that mean anything to anybody?), Leah Felder (daughter of The Eagles' Don Felder... does that mean even less?), and former "Family Matters" co-star Jamie Foxworth (who?). A bad start for a club so desperate to impress.

At least the night's entertainment was cool, as guitarist Dave Navarro did his thing opposite DJ Skribble. It was almost surreal watching the guitar hero play Guitar Hero before our very eyes as he rocked along to whatever DJ Skribble was spinning, from LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" to some Marilyn Manson. Unfortunately the crowd seemed to disperse during Dave's set, which also included J-Mello on guest vocals on a couple of tracks.

LA club history was hardly made Saturday night and fellow downtown venues like the über cool Edison  (a former power plant that has been converted into an art-deco hipster lounge serving overpriced drinks with a snotty attitude) and the super laid back Redwood Bar and Grill definitely have nothing to fear. Although VERSUS - what it's actually against is unknown to me -is aiming for a different downtown audience, I think revelers are better off going to the Redwood which offers great food, good, stiff drinks and no attitude in addition to quirky live entertainment. (Plus they just started serving churros!)

For now, VERSUS is only open three nights a week, Thursday - Saturday. I definitely think the club could be yet another cool live venue for bands to play at because of its size and layout. But when the brand new Club Nokia opens next month featuring a pair of opening night performances from Beck, LA will have another "megaclub" on its hands, that one able to hold 2,300 people with several rooms with cool outdoor patios to hangout at.

Having spent almost $5 million in renovations, there is definitely space for VERSUS in the LA party landscape but just opening its doors and saying "look at me!" will not be enough. Considering how fast clubs open and close in the City of Angels they'll need to up their game to last a year. But that may prove good for club-goers as we might benefit from a fierce battle to book cool shows and events that we can all attend and enjoy.

[Photos courtesy TiffanyRose.smugmug.com; for more images go HERE.]