Action sports and music are two entities that go hand-in-hand with Southern California culture. Spanning four days over Father’s Day weekend, a diverse mix of skaters, musicians, and fans descended upon the Long Beach Convention Center for Dew Tour 2019.
With skateboarding being introduced as a sport to the Summer Olympics for Tokyo 2020, Long Beach represented the first official qualifying stop for street and park disciplines.
A press conference was held prior to the weekend festivities. Here were the key takeaways:
-Over 300 skaters (male and female) competed in LBC over the weekend.
-U.S.A. athletes are being drug tested by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
-To qualify for the national skateboarding teams, events will be held throughout 2019-20. Street competitions include Los Angeles (July), Qingfeng, China (Sept.), and Mexico City, Mexico (Sept.). Park competitions take place in Nanjing, China (July), and São Paulo, Brazil (Sept.).
With new concrete park and street courses built exclusively for Dew Tour, fans were treated to high-end skating all weekend. There were food trucks, craft beers, merch booths and open skate sections for the public to enjoy. Did we mention all of this was free admission?
“I think this is what makes skateboarding special. Events like these are pretty open. You can walk around everywhere and hang with the fans and skaters,” said pro Sean Malto.
One collaboration that stood out featured GIRL Skateboarding, Malto, and artist Tim Lahan. The group created a flowery capsule design of shirts, stickers, coozis and skate decks that sold out instantly.
On the music side, hip-hop duo Blackillac got the party started Thursday evening. Based out of Austin, TX, the group has collaborated with the likes of Gary Clark Jr. and brought the energy to welcoming crowd.
Singer and songwriter Destiny Rogers offered feel good vibes Friday afternoon. The 19-year-old from Lodi, CA showed off her vocal range to the delight of many with a killer sunset with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop.
Saturday was all about the G-funk era. Long Beach’s own, Warren G, made a surprise appearance and the crowd was hyped for his entire set. Celebrating 20-years since the release of Regulators, G performed all of his hits and was backed by the Long Beach Unified School District Drumline for added pleasure.
“Dew Tour is the same amount of pressure, but the environment is way more fun, and the sun is always out,” said Mariah Duran. She was ranked 1st in street heading into Sunday. Unfortunately the pro took a slam, injuring her tailbone minutes before the finals.
While the party inevitably came to an end, the weekend delivered on all fronts. Team USA looks to have a stacked lineup next summer and we can’t want to see Dew Tour back on the scene.
Skateboarding results:
Men’s Street winner – Aurelien Giraud (France)
Women’s Street winner – Pamela Rosa (Brazil)
Men’s Park winner – Pedro Barros (Brazil)
Women’s Park winner – Misugu Okamoto (Japan)
Michael Silver is a journalist and photographer based in Southern California. He covers music, sports, technology, and streetwear. Tips & pitches: [email protected]
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