The Rockstar Energy Open was Maybe Actually Good?

I was awaiting Eric’s arrival doing circles in the airport terminal listening to lilJerrySpringer’s “I hope you hate this shit vol 1” on repeat. I thought nothing said Welcome to Portland more than a white-washed Pooh Shiesty track over Elliot Smith. Eric was visiting from Florida that weekend, which also happened to be the same weekend as the 2nd annual North West Open last year. Eric and I had a blast then, so we figured we’d run it again the same weekend. I agreed to be on the hook to do a full article with photos for AB. I had plenty to see and enough to say; however, my roll of film was overexposed. I was empty-handed and had a lack of drive. I’d love to yap about Simon’s massive Bs 360 early grab, Kaden Ramos’ massive airs, or Ash Eater’s music performance to an apocalyptic setting of ash raining from a forest fire closing in. It was a weekend of skateboarding in its full unadulterated glory; kick outs and all.

It’s been 10 Years since Portland’s had an event of this caliber. The 2014 DewTour took over a few city blocks of Portland's NW Broadway Street to showcase, what I would call, a pretty interesting “half-fab” course. Opting out of urbanist flavor, Rockstar Energy took from the California Parks’ Playbook and made a complete, one-time-use, build-and-teardown set on Portland’s Waterfront. Pepsi, the parent company to both Mountain Dew and Rockstar Energy, would spend millions to reach any target audience they have in the marketing queue with an ambitious goal to objectively supply its products to the people it best fits. Skateboarding didn’t work for the DEW marketing queue. It’s a shame really, as most skaters I know have a deep love to Do the Dew. Sadly, this time has come and gone.

I'd like to take a moment and say Rest In Peace DewTour. I honestly can’t remember the results of a single one, even having been to a few, but thank you for one of the greatest shop edits of all time: The 2017 35th Avenue Round 2 Entry hosted by TransWorld Skate Magazine. The video was made by Kevin Stake & Josh McLaughlin. There’s rarely a moment in that video where you don’t get smacked over the head with an absolute banger. I’m sure there’s something more to be said about that contest, but as far as I remember, the 35th team made it to the final four and was sent to LBC to skate DewTour against the other finalists.

Thankfully, this concept of utilizing local talent to drive interest in the contest was not lost on Rockstar. This took shape in the name of events, such as the Rockstar Energy Video Qualifier Series and the Street and Park Shop Challenge.

Starting with the Shop Challenge, there’s an army of shops to choose from (four to be exact). I’m not sure how it was decided or who called the shots, but the competing shops were Cal Skates, Tactics Boardshop, Substance and The Method. Before you climb my tree about “interest in the event” versus “highlighting local talent”, I ask you one thing: Why were the results published, but not the competition? We often hear a hundred names again and again. For example, let's say: John Weir scored 49.53. To most of you, that means absolutely nothing unless you know the names. However, hats off to Cal Skates for clutching the victory (Nick Peterson,Trevor Ward, Ryan McGuinness, and Max Clark). Being given the access to watch this will forever be 10 times more powerful than just talking about it. Most people who witnessed Lazer Crawford's final run could attest to the “idea of something” versus the reality. I can only hope that the Shop Challenge series continues and that Rockstar Open considers live streaming this event on their platform.

This leads us perfectly into the Video Qualifier Series. This open-facing format allowed for lesser-known skaters to highlight themselves online; along with a chance of being voted into the contest to compete among the best in the biz. Sounds familiar, but when you break it down, it’s essentially a direct point of entry for lesser-known or respected skaters. A great example of this working as designed is highlighted in one competitor: Nels Rosen (@gnarls206)–debated as the hungriest skater on the planet right now–got the opportunity to compete against someone like Jake Illardi. When you put money on the line for a qualifying series (especially to the public), it’s like throwing a golden carrot to these ravenous skaters who are barely on brands but boast over 50k followers on IG. In favor of hometown heroes, I think Rockstar should have excluded pro-skaters or skaters on payroll in this series. Headlines like “Rockstar underdog advances to finals despite industry bias” sounds a lot more glorious than “Olympian destroys local flow kid”. In all fairness, he could’ve rolled his ankle walking to the park so it’s really all subjective. Speaking of missed opportunities, I was hoping to see more highlights of skaters like Joshua Douglas, who won via popular demand. I’ll admit, seeing skaters getting paid for street clips is always sick despite its rarity. On the bright side, the Park series did a great job capturing this energy with Nick Peterson making it in the Park Semi-Finals–completing his final run in the rain (in true PNW fashion). All in all, the biggest takeaway was how personable the Park side was–it seemed more like a session rather than a contest, the tricks were gnarly, and the chaotic energy was enough for folks to punch themselves in the head and flip with joy.

Eric and I had media access, which granted us the opportunity to enjoy the amenities, such as the media lounge, where we had spent most of our time people-watching. We spoke with a PR writer for Forbes who joined our circle, and who had also expressed that they had zero interest in anything related to skateboarding. I can respect it though, gotta get that paycheck, y’know?

Shortly after, we were introduced to seven-time X Games gold medalist Jimmy Wilkins. Lately, I’ve been listening to the Mostly Skateboarding Podcast or scrolling the Skate Twitter timeline–sinking my teeth into almost every article posted by its dedicated members. With this, I was armed with a wealth of inherent Jimmy Wilkins knowledge, which gave me the false confidence to make the request to interview him. When you have an X Games winner in front of you, there’s only one question at the forefront: “Have you ever weighed all of the trophies at once?”. Might be ludicrous, but gold prices did peak at $2.5K an ounce this past week and it seems only fair to ask if the X Games handed over a real trophy or if your Little League statue is on par with the XTREMEGAMES GOLD. Funny enough, Jimmy confirmed that all the trophies are just painted plastic or cheap metal. Damn, not even at the top. After listening to Jimmy speak on his favorite parks in the area like Lincoln City and Tigard, we found ourselves talking about Creature’s past adventures and how Grant Taylor brought new life into the transition skate scene. Talking to Jimmy was seamless and felt like talking to a homie from the park that you haven’t seen in a while… and who has most likely forgotten your name.

Friday began with Eric and I perplexed–unsure of how we truly felt about the event, nonetheless our place in it. At first, we breezed through the VIP areas with no issue. Not long after, we were met by event staff with confusion about how we even got there in the first place. We were then told that our VIP access was confiscated. It was a major upset. I reminisced on the luxury of shade and a territorial view and was brought back to reality with a tough choice, either the packed bleachers in the direct sun or the crowded hillside with zero visibility. Since the Video Qualifier Series was wrapping up, Eric and I scanned the booths for a glimpse of any interesting activity we could get involved with just to fill the time. After the contest was done for the day, we ultimately decided to split early and skip the rave.

Saturday morning was a completely different tune. Waking up late and exhausted, Marcus and Alex picked us up and we were bound to Rockstar Open. The entire day consisted of walking and talking to everyone (and anyone) willing to share their time for our Youtube video.

By Sunday, I was a shell of a man. I had more Rockstars that weekend than I ever had in my entire life. I could barely speak and feared for my kidneys–it seemed like there was a shadow ban on water at the event. In the end, I was once again left with two options, either go out again and deal with the crowds and the sounds, or take advantage of the brilliant camera work of Lee Dupoint, Jon Humphries, and Chris Gregson. With an all-star filming/media staff, I was excited to get R&R and judge some contest skating from the comfort of my own couch, especially on the rare occasion that it’s geographically relevant to me.

Growing up on the X Games, I can expect a level of professionalism when it comes to the commentators, unless it’s Chris Roberts. Saved by Malto, Amelia Brodka & the excellent work of the Chompers (featuring Gregson), the live stream was the best seat in the house in terms of viewing the contest. Not a flick missed and rarely a head chopped. I’m excited to see if this event returns to Portland or becomes a national circuit much like the DewTour. Overall, a great weekend.

The Rockstar Energy Open was Maybe Actually Good?

The Courts: Portland

Gottwig’s Baby Beamer Edit