Thursday, September 21

Hawk swoops in for promotion and demo

By Todd Guill
EXPN.com

Seattle, WA - This past weekend Quicksilver held the grand opening party for the new Quicksilver Boardriders Club. Part of the days events featured Tony Hawk and the Quicksilver Skate team at the Seattle Skate Park. Other festivities included video games, product giveaways and a drawing to meet and hang out with The Birdman himself.

The demo was scheduled for noon and by 11:00 a.m. there was already a crowd at the park. Security planned to clear the park around noon so that the demo could get under way yet there were a lot of kids and older guys skating, obviously hoping to get to stay in the park once the demo started.

Representatives from Quicksilver, Jones Soda, Lib Tech, and Snowboard Connection (a local shop) were handing out flyers, stickers and various other bits of swag trying to promote their part of getting the demo here. Pro skater Reese Forbes showed up early and went out to look around amidst the buzz, "Where is Tony?" and "Have you seen Tony?". Then all of a sudden, Hawk was out skating the park.

The Birdman dropping in on the Seattle Skate Park.

Try clearing a skatepark once someone huge like that is out amongst everyone. After about twenty minutes, the park cleared out and the demo began. Tony, Reese, riders for Lib Tech, along with a few local amateurs were on hand. They choose their lines and started skating, nothing formal, just everybody cruising. The music kicked in, DJ'ed by Mr. Hill, Kashun, and Putney Swope, and the skating really picked up. There was action in every corner of the park and guys kept moving to different spots to try out tricks. Some of the local skaters took to the vert wall and started to feed off each other. Aaron Artis kept trying to land a blunt-to-fakie off the top of the wall and eventually landed it, as well as, a frontside rock 'n' roll.

However the main reason for the show, and who the crowd came to see was Tony Hawk. The announcer kept calling him out, and the crowd roared its approval for every trick. Every inch of the park was skated, from vert wall, to street course, to big bowl. At one point, Tony dropped into the bowl, did a few runs, pulled some air, and kicked some grinds to get a feel for it. He popped out and stood at the edge of the bowl for a moment. Then, he looked at each of the photographers lining one edge of the pool, as if to say, "This is what you are waiting for; you better be ready to get it." He proceeded to drop in and pull a huge 540 out the other side. The great thing about a demo like this is seeing the guys check out the park and try new tricks. At different times during the day, Tony tried and eventually landed a rodeo air out of the shallow end onto the flat and pulled a handplant on the vert wall.

Michael Mendenhall with the tail tap transfer.

The energy was high, the music pumping, and all the guys out there were trying to one-up each other. With the announcer egging him on, Michael Mendenhall, a local skater, landed a transfer tailtap out of the big bowl into shallows. Scott Sanders, a rider for Lib Tech, was pulling footplants off the top of the vert wall and Jamie Bernard landed a few huge kickflip airs over the table-top next to the handrail.

After two hours or so, Tony and Reese packed it in, headed to the Quicksilver tent, and to everyone's surprise started signing autographs. For the next hour Tony signed everything from ballcaps to some kid's McDonald's bag. All the kids were amped, not so much for all the stickers and swag that was being passed out, but to watch and meet the skaters. While there was still a promotion going on, it became less clear whether it was for a product or for the sport itself.

As skateboarding continues to influence popular culture, "the Ambassador" once again lived up to his nickname in his ability to not only promote the sport but his sponsors as well. For those who've yet to see this living legend in action, this demo is one you don't want to miss if the bus stops in your neck of the woods. Keep skating.