Skate Blog Intern Blog

We (Geoff and video intern Michael) arrived at the Home Depot Center around 11:30am to a line of about 2000 spectators waiting to get in.  Lucky for us, we were on the guest list so once we had our wrist band, we got some assistance to jump the line right at the front.  Whoo!  That saved about an hour!  We next met up with team rider Jeff Wright to give him some new bambooSK8 decks to shred on the mini-ramp.  Jeff ended up taking 3rd!!  We then finally found our booth which was lost among a zillion booths.  BambooSK8 joined up with Concrete Wave this year as part of their passport program along with a few other key skateboard brands.  Over 350 attendees got a chance to get a passport and then had to visit a series of non-profit booths and get a stamp (just like visiting a foreign country).  Once they returned, they put their hand in a bag and pulled out a card redeeming a myriad of prizes including skateboards, t-shirts, patches, and tons more.  We also spent a few hours passing out our Green Washed Ritual postcards which gives people 20 free music downloads, as well as stickers, which fans were happy to wear.  I’ve never seen so many little punk rock girls, but it was a blast as they were very into a few of the bands.  The first band that really captured my attention was Dillinger Escape Plan, who had incredible passion for every note.  I love seeing bands that truly feel the music.  Another major highlight was seeing Tom Morello with his band Street Sweeper Social Club.  Now, I’ve been a fan of Rage Against the Machine for more than 18 years, when I first saw them in Detroit with House of Pain, and then have seen them 6 or 7 times over the 12 main years they were together and met him last year at a charity event – super cool guy.  Tom is another genius musician who has taken his sonic madness to a whole new level.  Another great legendary punk band was Fear, who were still pretty tight and the singer was spot on.  Other than that, many of the bands were just insanely screamo or just didn’t offer up anything new that hasn’t been done already a million times before…but that’s cool – they are doing their thing and they had some fans!  The list of fun things goes on and on as we were represented on the 1st leg of the Vans Warped Tour.  Video to come soon.  For now, here’s some photos.  We’ll be at the Ventura event on Sunday, June 27th.