Zaturdays: California Adventure

Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2016 by Paul

California can be exhausting even if you’re not doing anything. The constant bumping into skate industry folk, the relentless bro hugging, the never ending spot gawking, and then just the day to day waste of your life sitting in traffic. We did all of that and more last week during our SPoT California Adventure when Schaefer, Adam “Warzaw Factory” Washell, Derick “Glancy Pants” Glancy and I flew out for back to back to back nights of Skate Industry Overdose, starting with the adidas Away Days premier on Thursday, followed by the Skateboard Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, and finally the Vans Pool Party on Saturday.

I woke up at 4:30am EST, boarded the plane about 6:00am, watched Hoff the Record as a tribute to Hoffart (and yes, it was really good and I’m not sure why it didn’t win an Oscar, politics probably), and was landing at LAX by 11:00am (Cali time bro). From there it was straight into traffic as we drove down south to meet up with our Volcom bros to talk about the Damn Am Costa Mesa that’s coming up next month. This is the rest of it.

Paul

Want to get around in Cali? Get used to this view bro. It’s going to be a while.

Remy

This is Remy Stratton. He was a 90s vert pro and also the guy who built the Volcom skate program from nothing. Here he is holding a photo of Rune and Matt Dove, if you look closely you’ll see Remy in the photo too, hanging from a trapeze mount like a Flying Wallenda while filming Chichigof.

Remy

Before we started the meeting, Pedro showed up. Note the “this guy right here” point.

Collin

Then Provost showed up. BS borrowing a page from Pedro, “this guy right here” part two.

Brian

Then Brian Gallagher launched into his rendition of Wonderwall.

Brian

Finally, the meeting. Time for Brian to tune out, “my Insta is popping off bros.”

Derick

Meanwhile, Glancy Pants and Warzaw stopped to meet up with the Baker Boys. No “this guy” fingering to be found.

And back into the car for a three-hour drive to LA that should have been 30 minutes.

Adam

Volcom used to have its own record label, and while we were there we’d come across a Double Platinum (or I suppose it could have been plastic) record of an artist we’d never heard of, Cerebral Ballzy, so we queued them up and it became the soundtrack of the trip. You need to give them a try because, well because it’s cool to listen to a band that has such a great band name.

Adam

We made it! Finally. Here’s a photo I shot of Warzaw shooting Brian shooting the Marquee. I saw somebody shooting me while I was shooting this.

Meanwhile, inside the Orpheum…

Mike

Sinclair showed up like the Pied Piper, leading a pack of about 2,000 kids who want to get on Pig.

DJ Premier in the courtyard out back, scratching for dough.

Louie

Odd Couple.

Erica

Even more odd with Bagley in the mix.

And into the Theatre for the show. Snoop talks skateboarding.

But before tonight’s Featured Presentation, Snoop shoots a Selfie with the entire adidas team and every person any of them know.

Adam

Day two, Warzaw, back in traffic. He’d been jonzing for Ballzy. On the way to SLS HQ to talk about stuff.

Paul

Surprisingly, this is SLS Headquarters. Like the Bat Cave, you’ll never find it on any map and I can’t show you any pictures of anything that happened there. Just kidding, I could, I just didn’t shoot any.