Journey’s Backyard BBQ Tour!

Frontside 5-0

So right before I got the job as the Bones Bearings team manager, I signed a contract to work the Disney XD tent and mini skatepark to promote the Zeke and Luther show during the Journey’s backyard BBQ tour. For those who don’t know, the Journey’s backyard BBQ is a 5 week tour across the USA with 5 stops in 5 random cities. Journey’s sets up these events which are basically like a min warp tour. Bands, Skateboarding, BMX, and extreme motocross. These events take place in a mall parking lot in the suburb of a big city. So needless to say, these events are packed with teenagers and preteens. The bands are usually some type of “punk rock” and there is tons of free stuff giving away so there is usually about 10,000 kids in each suburban mall parking lot. So we start out in Tustin, CA where all the ramps and stuff are stored for the event. then we drive up to “Sacramento” which is actually Roseville, CA. From there we go to “Dallas” which is actually Frisco, TX. After that, its off to “Cleveland” which is actually Strongsville, OH. From there, its “Boston”, which is actually Peabody, MA and the final stop is “Nashville” which is actually Frankilin, TN. after the last event we hurry back to Tustin, CA because I have to head out to Minneapolis to announce the Damn Am contest. But that’s another story for a later date. Now at all these events, my job is to teach kids under the age of 14 skate and to tell everybody about the Zeke and Luther tv show on Disney XD. For all the events we would hire some local skateboarders to work with me to help in the teaching process and I could spend more time talking and promoting the show. Since I am the only skater traveling on the road for 5 weeks out of an entire crew of 9, my only saving grace is being in town at the events because Journey’s brings in a different skateboard shoe team to do the demos. And this is the only time I get to interact with other skaters. In Roseville, the DC team did the demo. In Frisco there were 3 teams. Adio, DVS, and Globe. In Strongsville it was the Etnies team. In Peabody, it was IPath and Osiris and in Franklin it was Vans. So there is always good skaters at each event and I get to see people I know. Familiar faces are true blessing when you are traveling with people that don’t really know for 5 weeks. And anybody who does roads trips knows how hard they are. So just imagine 5 weeks with people you just met. I did happen to see some Bones Bearing team riders along the way like Jordan Hoffart, Chad Bartie and Corey Duffel. I happened to do this trip 2 years in a row. I guess I will wait and see if I will be back for another year.

Bartie and Duffel signing autographs for Osiris in Peabody, MA