Gulping down beers with the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops breathing down your back, dancing to DJs as they nonchalantly spin in front of elephants on the Serengeti Plains, listening to buzz worthy bands as they perform for audience members that include Grizzly bears and buffalo…sound like a typical Friday night? Probably not for most of you, but that’s the whole point.

If you are in the neighborhood for trying out something new, I highly recommend First Fridays at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. On the first Friday of every month, now through June 3rd, the museum stays open till 10:00pm and transforms into an experience unlike any other. Each month, the evenings kick off around 5:30pm with a curator-guided tour and are followed by an organized scientific discussion, both centered upon the First Friday’s 2011 theme, Nostradamus. After that, guests are encouraged to wander through the museum, grab a beverage, and enjoy the evening’s festivities as 89.9 KCRW brings in an eclectic mix of DJs and live musical acts.

As I arrived at the museum Friday night, I felt as if I was living out my own version of “Night at the Museum,” that kiddie movie with Ben Stiller that I will admit that I actually own in my personal DVD collection. The outside of the museum had red lights shining on the wall above the entrance and “First Fridays” projected above the door. The walkway was filled with people fluttering inside and I’ve never seen such a colossal crowd inside of a museum in my entire life. I strolled through several of the halls, exploring artifacts in the Native American section and then made my way into the gift shop while enjoying some old school Jackson 5 which was blasting through the lobby. Desperate to keep my apartment clutter free, I had to reject the urge to purchase creative loot such as dino snow globes, butterfly flip flops and a stuffed Woolly Mammoth that my one year old puppy would have probably had a field day with.

The Insect Zoo, next door to the gift shop, was filled with terrariums housing intriguing insects such as a Giant Spiny Stick, Malaysian Water Scorpion, White Banded Fishing Spider, and Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. It was beyond bizarre to see people dressed in their weekend clothes sipping drinks and ogling spiders and beetles. I joined in the celebrations of searching through sticks and gravel for the mysterious Hairy Scorpion, only to accept defeat that he was too good at his game of hide and seek and it was time to move on. Highlights of my Insect Zoo experience included seeing my first Black Widow Spider (they have such big butts), cute little Velvet Ants with fuzzy red butts (that probably would have eaten me if given the chance), and hearing a guy turn to his date and say, “What if all these cages fell over right now.  Would you be OK?” to which she replied with a shriek.

The best part of the evening was the music. How many people can say they’ve gone to a concert in a museum? DJs Anthony Valdez and Garth Trinidad entertained the Hall of African Mammals, while the bands took over The North American Mammal Hall. Sister Crayon, a Sacramento-based quartet, came out a little after 8:00pm. Vocalist Terra Lopez mentioned she was under the weather and warned the audience not to be shocked if she passed out. Her poor health didn’t show in the least, as her haunting vocals echoed pleasingly throughout the hall accompanied by atmospheric drums, bass, and synthesizers. After Sister Crayon, Little Dragon took the stage to perform before an anticipating audience. The Swedish electronic band, consisting of Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano and high school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrick Källgren (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards) commanded the attention of the museum as they served Southern California residents with an encore of their powerful performance at 2010’s Coachella.

Last but not least, to top off the evening, a life-size puppet replica of a baby T-Rex went charging through the museum hallways, roaring and showing its teeth to a few unsuspecting attendees. I’m pretty sure the guy next to me wet his pants when the dino popped out in front of him causing him to jump five feet off the ground and yell, “Oh my God!  It’s a dinosaur!”

For more information, visit www.nhm.org/firstfridays or call (213) 763-DINO.

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Zoetica Ebb.