VIDEO: Dew Tour 2010 wrapup
Last
month, courtesy of everybody's favorite highly caffeinated and
questionably colored beverage, Mountain Dew, TD Garden traded Celtic
green for the radioactive sheen of the aforementioned soft drink's
label.
Our
fair city was the first stop on the 2010 Dew Tour, a five-city
celebration of all things extreme (you know, like, branding and major
corporations and stuff). Roughly 32,400 people descended on the arena
for a weekend of skateboarding, music, and merchandise. The crowd
skewed surprisingly young, dominated by 8-year-old Ryan Shecklerites
who have probably never gazed upon the glitchy glory that was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
But
amid the maelstrom of sponsor booths and marketing gimmicks, some
actual skateboarding did go down, and some damn good skateboarding at
that. In the halfpipe occupying one side of the arena, 15-year-old
Brazilian upstart Pedro Barros duked it out with veteran riders like
Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Boston's own Andy Macdonald. Out of 10
competitors in the finals, Barros came out in fourth place -- an
insanely impressive feat, considering most of the other guys have been
skating for at least as long as he's been alive. Gagnon, a vert staple
in the world of professional skateboarding, ended up on top, earning
himself the title of International Skateboarding Federation World
Champion in his discipline. Brazil's Sandro Dias pulled a second-place
finish with several solid runs that, in the words of the Dew Tour website,
"hit the gnar jar," which we'd wager can't be found alongside any other
jars you might find in your grocery store. Hometown hero Andy Macdonald
ended up filling the third-place spot on the podium.
The
other half of the arena floor was consumed by the park setup where
riders competed jam style, skating helter-skelter all at the same time
over the various ramps, rails, and boxes, narrowly skirting collision.
Milwaukee-bred Greg Lutzka took home the championship title thanks to
his progressive handrail work. MTV reality darling Ryan Sheckler came
back from a one year, injury prompted hiatus to take second, just in
front of Chicago's Chaz Ortiz in third.
Outside
the Garden, one could find the sponsor village, a landscape of
promotional tents, mini-skateparks, and a stage. By far the coolest
thing in this haven of commercialism was the Nerf war arena, a giant,
inflatable battleground in which anyone in need of a healthy,
foam-based outlet for their aggression could be a part of the
sideways-diving, mid-air-shooting action always promised by Nerf
commercials.
Friday
night, skateboarding sensation Paul Rodriguez and skate-art legend Don
Pendleton stopped by the Mountain Dew Green Label Experience tent to
discuss Dew's latest installment in their artist-designed can series.
Rodriguez and Pendleton teamed up to create a can in support of the
Shop Series, a competition which pits 35 skate shops from across the
country against each other, each creating their own work of aluminum
art.
Reppin'
Cambridge in the Northeast region of the competition is Concepts. The
Harvard Square shop designed a plain white can emblazoned with a
totally threatening shark-toothed, sneering smile. You can vote for
your favorite can on the Green Label Art website.
The winner will get their artwork distributed via the classic medium of
16 oz. tallboy can. Currently, you can find the Rodriguez/Pendleton can
at select locations and dig on the quirky, geometric characters
adorning it. Pendleton said he and Rodriguez were looking to create a
design that captured the fun they had making it. "It wasn't a serious
project," he said. "It ended up being the product of us talking and
messing around."
Concepts on Mountain Dew's Green Label Experience
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