EXPERIENCE MUSIC PROJECT 'HEY PUNK' 2001

by Steve Pingelton

Seattle is very lucky to have a billionaire like Paul Allen who appreciates and values music, and recognizes the effect it has had on our culture. So, on August 18th, 2001 the Experience Music Project museum at Seattle Center hosted the 2nd annual "Hey Punk" extravaganza that spotlights the roots of Punk music, specifically this year many bands that influenced skateboarders "back in the day".

The stage was set up in the parking lot across the street from the EMP museum, next to Seaskate skatepark. This year's show was a great bunch of bands; many of whom had appeared on Thrasher magazines early compilation tapes appropriately named "SkateRock" Volumes 1 and 2. The bands that played during the day were Portriat of Poverty, Fluf, Drunk Injuns, The Faction, Free Beer, JFA, Los Olvidados, and the U.S. Bombs in roughly that order. That night inside the EMP museum The Faction, the Supersuckers, and X played in the EMP "Sky Church", which boasts the worlds largest video screen as a backdrop.

I tried to recruit some help to cover this event, but only one or two of my friends were able to go, so I was not able to get as much as we did last year. Also last year it was a 3 day event, and this year due to budget and staff cuts at EMP, it was only a one day event, but what a day it was!

We arrived around noon, just before the skateboard demo was to start. I found Brian Brannon at the t-shirt booth setting up the vendors with the killer new JFA shirts he designed. He got me into the backstage area to meet Gloria, the promoter whom I had emailed but not met yet, who was kind enough to set me and my friend, Dan Siamo, up with VIP passes for the event. Fluf was onstage, sounding good, and they were just finishing their set so we headed over to the skatepark to watch the action in the bowl.

Over at the skatepark, the session was already in full effect. The deck was crowded with skaters and spectators, so Dave Hackett took great enjoyment in kicking out " anyone without a camera or a skateboard". I must say, Hackett did an excellent job as MC this year, he let the crowd know who was in the bowl skating, described the tricks well. His invitations for girls to come skate, and many "where is Olson?" remarks were quite amusing.

The action in the bowl was amazing, as the old school pro skateboarders laid it down with so much style it was truly a pleasure to watch. Wally Inouye was busting healthy frontside air on his longboard. Pinapple was skating fast and hard, obviously he had the bowl wired. Salba, one of my favorite vert dogz, was really going off this year, nobody rides bowls like him. Mike Folmer was very impressive, and probably the most stylish of all the skaters I have ever seen, doing Miller flips and frontside laybacks effortlessly. Cab put in a couple brief of high-power runs, I had never seen him skate in person before, now I see why he is regarded so highly as a top vert skater. Much respect to all the pro's who participated this year.

The Pacific Northwest is also home to many very talented locals, and they were out again this year in full force. I am still learning their names, but the ones I recognized were Marshall Stacks, Red, Monk, Nate and many of the West Side/ Dreamland crew shredding the bowl as only locals can do. Towards the end of the demo, two locals took some really hard slams dropping in, I think one may have broken his wrist. The locals up here are fearless!"

After the demo, the snake session continued, so even though I wanted to skate some I went over to watch the Drunk Injuns set. The band were all wearing scary halloween masks, so it was pretty entertaining. I also watched the Faction play. Those guys are a really good band, and Cab is hot on guitar. I ran into Salba backstage, and he told me of his recent pipe skating adventures, and gave me a few leads to check out.

Then one of my friends told me Duane Peters was skating the bowl, so we rushed over to the skatepark to watch. Unfortunately, Duane also took a hard slam and cut his head in the bowl, so we did not get to see him skate this year, but he was dominating last years event. We watched the locals for awhile, I got a run or two in, and since it was a pretty hot day we decided to head over to the museum to cool off for awhile. To our dismay, our VIP passes did not give us any access to the EMP museum, and there did not seem to be any "green room" with free beer this year either! The skateboarders and musicians were confined to the event in the parking lot, which probably was a smart decision on their part after the 3 days of chaos last year.

The band named Free Beer came onstage and announced that if they suck, it was because they had not played together in 19 years. They were actually really good! Some friends and I headed for a local pub just down the street called Zaks for some microbrews. I noticed many other skaters had taken refuge here also, and I even saw a booth full of radd skatergrrls next to us riding their boards through the bar, way cool... Missed Los Olividos and US Bombs though!

Well, after an extended session at Zaks, most of my friends had to leave, so I headed over to the skatepark to skate awhile. Some of my vert skating friends from Oregon were winding down the session with some slalom action in the parking lot, so I hung out with them awhile. It was getting late, so I headed over to the EMP museum to see meet my girlfriend for the X show. Unfortunately, she never made it (we live 60 miles away) so I ended up giving a miracle ticket to one of the JFA crew, who was very greatful. I also got to talk with an old friend Don Pendelton, (JFA guitarist), who told me what a pleasure it was to work with EMP and their promoters, and that they were taking very good care of all of them. I had heard that from Salba as well, and as I said last year, the EMP museum is a very classy place that everyone appreciates.

The night shows inside the museum were incredible! The Faction opened up, and they played a completely different set than they had earlier outside. These guys are talented, and I think they were definately one of the best bands at this years event. The Supersuckers followed, with a great set of what they like to call "evil rock and roll", though I though it was pretty PUNK myself. I really liked these guys, pretty dark and almost gothic images, the 40 ft. flames on the Sky Church screen behind them were awesome. They are a local Seattle band, I had heard a lot about them but had never seen them play, Siamo told me they got started in Arizona, I knew there was something about em' I liked. I wish I would have shot some pictures, but I only had one roll of film left, and I was saving it...

Then X came on, and made us all remember why we were here! I have been an X fan since the early eighties, and no other band personifies the SO CAL PUNK attitude better than they do. Such energy and talent is rare to see in any band, especially one that has survived as long as they have, and they still have it going on! What a set! They played most all of their best songs, in my opinion, and sounded great. Exene seemed stoked to be there "We are in a museum!", and asked the lighting crew to put something "pretty" up on the video screen like "a burning Bank of America building". John Doe is a punkrock GOD, and proved what a master showman he is once again by bringing his legendary bass thunder and golden voice to echo forever in the EMP Sky Church. Billy Zoom is always incredible, it is good to see him back with the band again, and DJ Bonebrake is one of the best drummers in punk music. I will never forget that show, X at the Sky Church was an appropriate ending to the raddest day of PunkRock and Skateboarding of the year.

I must say a great THANKS to all the people who organized and participated in this event, it seems like the crowds get bigger every year, I hope it will continue. HUGE Thanks to the Experience Music Project museum for sponsoring the event, and the City of Seattle for building Seaskate Skatepark, and letting us all rage at Seattle Center once a year. Extra special THANKS to Andrew at EMP and Gloria at Big Time Productions for the VIP pass, and all their hard work on this important event, much respect...