Archive for Shows

AUG 15: Crossroads and ASR.

By Gunther Estrada.

It was Friday afternoon and a drive that usually takes me 1 1/2 hours to San Diego took me 3 HOURS! and I was rolling down with American psycho’s girlfriend! Jesssssus! but that’s a different story (Thanks Eddie). Anyways I finally got in one piece to the southern edge of gringolandia to check out the 2010 Crossroads and ASR events.

Gunther and Legañita found a nice Peruvian flag inside ASR. Hell yeah !!!

Gunther and Daniel found a nice Peruvian flag inside ASR. Hell yeah !!!

ASR had to reduce its facility even more than last years event! what? who cares? oh yeah who cares, now we have Crossroads around the corner where all of the Skate brands have a legit portal to the retail side of the industry (Skateboarding only) that way they can feel like they are doing business with somebody that actually cares ya know?. The business as usual was followed by a best trick contest on 3 different stages and a whole bunch of tricks were done on all of the 3 sections.  We had a great time with our friend Daniel Falla “Legañita” that honored us with a visit once again and this time “Finally” introduced me to a chick!… Amy Gunther, yep we already share something :) (She actually has a boyfriend so back off piranhas!). The beautiful lady owner of KCDC Skateshop in NYC came to the other side of the continent to hang out with dirty, drunk, hairy immature dudes on skateboards and also to do some business deals.

go check out Her website….or die!
Overall really good times, free beer, cheap Hotel Honda room, and… thats it.

Amy Gunther and Gunther Estrada.

Amy Gunther and Gunther Estrada.

The amazing Sean Sheffey, Switch Crooked Grind.

Jeff Garza and Daniel Falla.

Jeff Garza and Daniel Falla.

5BORO's Willy Akers, nose blunt slide.

Skateboarding Legends Kareem Campbell and Sean Sheffey.

JAN 11: Agenda.

By Gunther Estrada.

This New year seems to be coming packed with great news and the hope for a better economy, according to recent statistics made in the U.S.A we are doing better than a year ago and we had our slice of reallity this past weekend at the second Agenda Trade Show made in the OC. This event kicked start the new year in the city of Huntington Beach were we had the chance to see a very strong response to the trade from retailers and vendors and a unexpected section announced no longer then 2 months ago, a section destined to only Skateboarding made possible by The Berrics. It was with great pleasure that all of the people involved in this busines welcome The Berrics to bring a fair and more organized real skateboarding businesses to the trade :). here are some pics from the Trade Show.

The Berrics Agenda....

The Berrics Agenda....

Gunther Estrada, Teddy Kelly and the AMP Girls.

Gunther Estrada, Teddy Kelly and the AMP Girls.

Hali Estrada and Buttery Ass Donovan at The Berrics Agenda.

Hali Estrada and "Buttery Ass" Donovan at The Berrics Agenda.

JUNE 19: “God Save the Label”

I got on my car after a long day of work and drove south to Carlsbad for the Black Label Premiere of “God Save the Label”; After a 45 minute drive on traffic I got to my final destination “The Hensley’s Bar” , The flying Elephant is the name of this Irish Dive bar located by the 405 FWY and owned by one of my fucking hero’s Mr. Matt Hensley!

I didnt have to drive to long to find a parking spot and I thought it might be because I got there like an hour before the movie, little did I know the place was already packed and due to a “California Department of bullshit” law, we werent able to enter the place until the people inside had left the joint.
The guys organizing the premier were forced to have 2 shows and I was one of the lucky ones to wait for the sloopy seconds. Anyways, I got in, got a beer and walk straight to the area were the movie was going to show, the room had some Black Label boards on the walls and on the screen as a manner of previews before the movie they were showing Animal Chin!! I got a chair and watched the movie that brought back all the memories still alive from the good old times.
After the “Animal Chin” preview the feature movie started and I noticed a couple of names right away Ben Skrzypek and Peter Raffin…really good stuff, also Shuriken Shanon and Vince del Valle were throwing down good tricks in this video but definitely Chris Troy had the heaviest hammers in it, overall a pretty good video.  

Here are a couple pics from the event.




JUN 10: Nike “Debacle” Premiere.

Wednesday June the 10th, finally the day has come. Tom Contreras picked me up and we were on our way to meet Hali, Alvaro and Rod for the Nike video premiere event.
We had seeing the trailer for the movie and were stoked to watch the Am’s for this company since we had a great previous experience with “Nothing but the Truth” about a year ago. Finally after 45 minutes flying on the carpool lane we got to the land of the broken dreams “Hollywood”. This event was a little different from their first movie premiere, lets say a little less exuberant. The premiere was taking place at a theater in Vine Street called “Ricardo Montalban Theather” named after the recently deceased actor from Fantasy Island…The Plane!!! The Plane!!! Remember?
Anyways, through the door straight to the freebies  hahaha!  They had a large variaty of free chocolate, candy , popcorn , redbulls, and sodas for everybody assisting this event and up on the second floor a nice bar set up with the delicious PBR Pabst Blue Ribbon (American Beer delicatesen) that was distribute for free to everyone with the red wristband.
The sitting area doors open and we got some spots close to the action, the movie had  amazing editing in it and combined with the talents of Justin Brook and Grant Taylor (favorite parts) delivered a great work from this up and coming Amateurs. Good Work!, and by the way, KOSTON rides for NIKE now.

Here are some pics of the event.

The Entrance way before everything started.

Alvaro, Gunther and Tom.

Gunther and Hali.

Koston rides now for NIKE. Brad and Erick for Fuel TV.

Tom and the candies.

Finally The Video .

 

JAN 30:ASR.

By Gunther Estrada.
The weekend of the 22nd thru the 24th we attended yet another ASR tradeshow, like kids in a candy store we rush in, to only see that the economy has affected all sectors and industries in the whole country. As a result several brands didn’t attend the Trade Show this year. It didn’t look crazy empty but it wasn’t like other years.

Sevag, Brett and Gunther.

Sevag, Brett and Gunther.

Setup and not so many people as you can see...

Setup and not so many people as you can see...

This year brought for the first time a “mini” Mega Ramp. This is a miniature replica of the real mega ramp. But please do not let the word “mini” confuse you, this construction was huge  and just to give you a hint Bob Burnquist and Andy Mac were there trying tricks onto a rail that was set up on top of the kicker ramp. 

Good stuff usually comes in bottles.

Good stuff usually comes in bottles.

I Had the opportunity to meet one of the legends of Skateboarding,  Dennis Martinez whom along with Christian Hosoi, Jay Adams and Bruce Logan were presenting the release of their life documentary called D.O.P.E  ”Death Or Prison Eventually” that talks about how their lives change from having fame and fortune to becoming addicted to drugs and loosing it all and finally being in jail to pay for their dues to society. A very powerful documentary and definitely a must have DVD for a real skateboarder.

Gunther Estrada and Dennis Martinez.

Gunther Estrada and Dennis Martinez.

The brands from Europe didn’t attend this year due to Europe having another trade show happening at the same dates as the ASR. Brands and retailers focused on the sales and  tried to have a normal trade weekend leaving the negative economy and rumors aside. I think the ASR this past weekend was a success for everyone that attended but we’ll wait to see what September has to bring us and hope for the best to everyone in the future.  

Oh yes... Devon is EVERYWHERE !!

Oh yes... Devon is EVERYWHERE !!

OCT 15: Night at The Berrics.

By Gunther Estrada.

An amazing opportunity cross our way when we received the invitation to attend an event at the most famous Skate Spot/Training Facility in the industry, “The Berrics”. Ken Mishima was the connection maker and we were more than excited to go  check out this place that has given so much great footage and innovation in such a short period of time. Run by Erick Koston and Steve Berra, this place is probably the most well known skate facility in the world and it’s popularity is increasing everyday.
We got there early and walked our way inside of the place and saw the perfection on every single obstacle construction, everywhere we looked had the right amount of space, run way, trannie, high and smoothness.
straight to the bar and ready to shoot some photos with our friends we took possesion of the center ledge to watch the show (Darker My Love Band) and to dream of the tricks we would be able to do in every spot when the time to skate that place will come (keeping my hopes up). 
A great night, the band was really… not my kind of music but I am sure people enjoyed it (some dancing chikies and emo dudes). Overall, it was nice to be there and see in person the place where some of the Skateboarding history has been written lattely, and of course it’s always nice to have a weekday to spend with our friends besides the usual weekend deal. 
Special Thanks to Jason King and Ken Mishima for the invitation. Here are some pics of the NIGHT.

 

"Darker My Love" Starting the Show.

The Set Up.

Clint Walker, Jeff Garza, Hali Estrada and Ken Mishima.

Danny Montoya and Teddy Kelly.

Gunther Estrada, Olivia and Teddy Kelly.

Zach the Intern and Hali.

Clint, Hali, Elise and Olivia.

Hali, Zevag and Ken.

I don't like Roaches, specially when they try to drink my BEER at the end of the night.

 

SEP 08: ASR.


By Gunther Estrada.
Once again we packed our little belongings and drove south for the ASR Trade Show in San Diego Califas, we were taking this weekend as a relaxing time after having a very busy August. When we finally got there we notice there was some new faces at the show, that were actually replacing the empty spaces for some of the usual brands that decided not to attend this year (for different reasons). The first new faces we saw were "Blueprint Skateboards" out of The UK with a long trajectory starting over 15 years ago; they were displaying their latest designs of Boards, Wheels, Hardware and Accessories  with it’s unique and eclectic style that represents their legacy and status in the Skate Industry in Europe, we had the chance to meet the BP head guy Joe Burlo and their newest addition to their sales force Chris Peck (old friend) who were more then welcoming to show us their product and give us a warm Coors Light (my favorite). After a little dance dance to the Yeyo (inside joke/nothing bad really) we came across this creative “Stonehenge” replica that was no other than the anticipated Bummer High Skateboards  booth lead by the commander Ethan Fowler. After looking at their catalog and boards we had no doubt that Bummer High will be a strong player in the game. 

 

Gunther Estrada, Ethan Fowler and Teddy Kelly at the  Bummer High Booth.

Teddy Kelly, Ethan Fowler and Gunther Estrada.

After walking about a mile in circles (with a gigantic back Pack) I got to see a familiar face at a live art show that was one of the happenings at the Trade Show, my doubts were diluted with a great surprise when i got near one of my Old School heroes “Steve Caballero” himself, drawing on a plywood canvas (fucking crazy).

 

The Master Steve Caballero.

The "Master" Steve Caballero.

 

 

We got a couple of photos of a few of the regular companies like World Industries and Blitz Distribution, also Capix Helmets with their super strong team Danny Way, Colin McKay, Chet Thomas, Gailea Momolu and Paul Machnau; we also had the chance to see the usual double mega booth for Volcom that happened to be unusually quiet, maybe I was there late or maybe their investors are not “investing” so much in trivial noise concerts, free drinks, hot models….hold on, that is what we like! (fuck the inversionistas).
I was so tired of walking around that I finally said to myself : “fuck it! lets go home!” and Teddy from Bummer High invited us to the official launch party for the Company, we were easily convinced, so off we go. 
Here are some photos of the place (Beauty Bar) at a night with free drinks great music and good friends, of course I need one too many Vodka Tonics and I pull out of my wallet the powerful “gringo magic plastic” to get more drinks after they were out of freebies and shit…I forgot to take it before I left, so there is that…. no drivers license and no credit card. (I am already use to this shit).

Gunther Estrada, Raymond Molinar, Tony Silva and Teddy Kelly; Bummer High after party.

The morning after and feeling like a million Rupees (like 10 cents) with a headache and knowing that I was going to have a horrible day, we took off to the Skateboarding event “The Battle of The Shops” it started a little slow but soon enough the kids were throwing Martillos left and right!!.
Jimmy Carlin pulling a double Kick Flip over the double set 4 space 4. Switch Front bigspin for Lamonzo Coleman. Big flip by the already well knowed Andrew Pot and many more.
Pacific Drive Skate Shop was the winner and with that we wrap it up.
Late!