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Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huck Jam 07/23/08
On a stormy Wednesday evenning, the spectacular spectacle known as Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huck Jam blew into Birmingham at the Verizen Wireless (Oak Mountain) Amphitheater. Tony Hawk along with Kevin Staab, Jesse Fritsch, Jason Ellis and Sergie Ventura plus BMXers John Parker and Dennis McCoy, as well as Freestyle Moto-X riders Drake McElroy, Matt Buyten, and Greg Garrison made it for the show. As storms blew in all around, somehow, luckily, the amphitheater remained dry at least for the time being. I lucked up on a free ticket compliments of Faith skate shop (Peter), met up with Jay Salilias and his crew and got to the show just as it was about to begin at 6:30. I figured a show of this size with big name pros like these would draw in lots of people but it was even bigger than I expected. I suppose due to the ramps and jumps and room needed, the actual event was set up out in the parking lot of the amphitheater. Now, I could go on and on about every little detail of the skating, the pros, the crowd, etc, but I will let the pictures tell the story. I will just give my overall opinion....which is exactly mixed right down the line. On the one hand, you soon came to realize that you were basically paying $30 for a 1 hour (yes, it was right at one hour) glorified, synchronized demo with overpriced merchadise ($30 t-shirts?!?!). On the other hand, you were getting to see some great skating, BMX and Moto-X riding in person, and it does help draw attention to the local scene as well. In fact, Tony even made an announcment about the the recent closing of the Homewood city skate park. Would I have paid to see it? No. Am I glad I saw it? Yes. It was awesome to see Staab and Hawk skating in person doing so many of the tricks I had seen only in videos....even if I had to listen to Ellis' annoying, egotistical MC-ing.(haha) One run Tony did was really just for us older guys. He did a run of nothing but 80's tricks flawlessly....even his weird fakie-flip the board around his foot-sweeper thingy. (haha) Seeing him do a 720 in person was really unbelievable as well along with all of his runs really....the guy is just flawless even at his age. Seeing Staab do head high backeside ollies was equally impressive....even though the crowd seemed to not get how difficult that was...and seeing Staab do a McTwist was a new one for me! This is not to say the other guys didn't rip. Sergie was doing airs even higher than the bike guys! Jesse Fritsch did some great, technical, modern tricks. Sadly, Neal Hendrix didn't make this show, however Jason Ellis made up for it with some difficult runs. But in typcial Ellis style, he could not do more than 3-5 tricks in a run without bailing. (haha) The show itself was split into sections. First, there were introduction runs for the skaters and bikers. They took a break and the Moto-X guys did some tricks. Back to the skaters and bikers, they did some doubles and triples runs. Then another break for some video. I think they might have the loop at larger shows, because Ellis alluded to this as they showed videos of him doing the loop and then a bunch of various slams. Another skater and biker section after the video that they called the Jam Session. It was just each person getting to do runs of whatever they wanted. One more break as the Moto-X guys did there thing one more time. After that, it was the big finale. Some big tricks, all skaters riding at once, etc. as it built up to Tony's big trick. I was expecting Tony to try the 900, but he ended by going up, bailing his deck and jumping onto another one set into an ollie blunt....pretty friggin cool!....but no 900. (haha) With that, it was over. Tony threw his helmet out to the crowd....pretty cool of him. Then, Tony said thanks to the crowd and wrapped things up. As soon as it was done, the crew started dismantling the ramp and tearing it all down for the next show as Jesse Fritsch threw out some t-shirts. Not 15 minutes later, a huge thunderstorm moved in and drops began to fall. I made some rounds to say hi and bye to a few folks and just did get to my car when the bottom fell out. With that, my Huck Jam day was over.
official poster
official poster
Walking up to the spectacle
Walking up to the spectacle
View from the crowd
View from the crowd
Kevin Staab big backside air
Kevin Staab big backside air
Staab frontside
Staab frontside
Staab inverted
Staab inverted
Ellis backside air while MC-ing
Ellis backside air while MC-ing
Ellis backside
Ellis backside
Sergie warms up with a small Method
Sergie warms up with a small Method
Dennis McCoy
Dennis McCoy
The man himself, Tony Hawk
The man himself, Tony Hawk
John Parker tail-whipping
John Parker tail-whipping
Staab goes head high
Staab goes head high
Jesse Fritsch kickflip grab
Jesse Fritsch kickflip grab
Ellis flips and grabs
Ellis flips and grabs
Sergie goes higher
Sergie goes higher
The tour trailer
The tour trailer
View down the side as Tony airs to fakie
View down the side as Tony airs to fakie
View from back in the crowd
View from back in the crowd
Another view from the back
Another view from the back
The screen says it all
The screen says it all
DJ Mike Relm
DJ Mike Relm
View as the sun sets
View as the sun sets
Old schooler Lex Hunt and Shannon
Old schooler Lex Hunt and Shannon
Moto-X jump
Moto-X jump
BIG jump from the Moto-Xers
BIG jump from the Moto-Xers
Nice one foot look back
Nice one foot look back
Mark Leo and family
Mark Leo and family
Doubles run
Doubles run
Fritsch over Ellis
Fritsch over Ellis
Hawk and Fritsch
Hawk and Fritsch
Hawk and Fritsch with synched airs
Hawk and Fritsch with synched airs
Sergie, Ellis, Hawk, Fritsch, and Staab
Sergie, Ellis, Hawk, Fritsch, and Staab
Hawk backside lipslide under the air to fakie by McCoy
Hawk backside lipslide under the air to fakie by McCoy
Triples!
Triples!
Crowd all the way to the back! Nice turn out!
Crowd all the way to the back! Nice turn out!
Sergie checking the crowd for ladies...seriously! He was on it. haha
Sergie checking the crowd for ladies...seriously! He was on it. haha
Parker with a huge tail whip
Parker with a huge tail whip
Staab goes BIG
Staab goes BIG
Frontside ollie floater from Staab
Frontside ollie floater from Staab
Sergie builds up with a big set up air
Sergie builds up with a big set up air
Big Method from Sergie but bigger to come!
Big Method from Sergie but bigger to come!
Huge air from Sergie
Huge air from Sergie
Ellis goes head high
Ellis goes head high
Tony Hawk McTwist and shout
Tony Hawk McTwist and shout
Best Madonnas ever!!! Tony Hawk making some noise!
Best Madonnas ever!!! Tony Hawk making some noise!
Tony thanks the crowd
Tony thanks the crowd
Parker goes huge no handed
Parker goes huge no handed
Parker upside down and spinning
Parker upside down and spinning
Staab backside
Staab backside
Staab backside ollie head high!
Staab backside ollie head high!
Fritsch kickflips and grabs high
Fritsch kickflips and grabs high
Fritsch frontisde kickflip
Fritsch frontisde kickflip
Sergie coming in from a HUGE Christ air
Sergie coming in from a HUGE Christ air
Sergie bones an Indy air
Sergie bones an Indy air
Parker goes big
Parker goes big
Staab floats one pretty Lien air
Staab floats one pretty Lien air
An even bigger backside ollie by Staab
An even bigger backside ollie by Staab
Brad Lovell enjoying the show
Brad Lovell enjoying the show
When you thought he couldn't go bigger...Sergie does!
When you thought he couldn't go bigger...Sergie does!
Hawk and Ellis ham it up for the crowd
Hawk and Ellis ham it up for the crowd
Hawk with a big tail grab frontside
Hawk with a big tail grab frontside
Hawk thanks the crowd again
Hawk thanks the crowd again
Big Moto-X jump
Big Moto-X jump
Another big jump
Another big jump
Hawk pulls the 720 during the Moto-X jumps
Hawk pulls the 720 during the Moto-X jumps
Nice jump!
Nice jump!
All skaters line up for one big run
All skaters line up for one big run
4 at once!!!
4 at once!!!
Ellis with two BMXers
Ellis with two BMXers
Tony thanks the crowd
Tony thanks the crowd
Tony thanks all the riders
Tony thanks all the riders
Fritsch throws out some t-shirts
Fritsch throws out some t-shirts
Staab pulls the McTwist as the credits roll
Staab pulls the McTwist as the credits roll
Danny enjoying the show
Danny enjoying the show
The secret of the perfect vert ramp
The secret of the perfect vert ramp
Shannon, Little Jon, Scott D, Jason, Phil Hosey, Lex Hut and Hawaii Steve
Shannon, Little Jon, Scott D, Jason, Phil Hosey, Lex Hut and Hawaii Steve
The Faith crew gather up
The Faith crew gather up
Pro and hometown boy, Ben Gilley signing autographs
Pro and hometown boy, Ben Gilley signing autographs
The bad stuff moves in...show over
The bad stuff moves in...show over