The next day, it was back to the dust and the sun, and our sun burned bodies were already withering in the Jamaican sunshine. We continued to build the ramps, cutting supports, screwing them into place and covering the ramps with plywood. The crew worked really well together, and all the PIST members stayed at it hard. We had a great groove going with the locals, cracking jokes, singing songs and having a blast. We finished off the ramps, loaded them onto a flatbed trailer, and headed up towards Clarendon to set the stage.

Driving back to Clarendon with the crew intact, we had the pleasure of cruising with Sammy Question, a popular Jamaican comedian. He was great to work with throughout the production and at the festivals, and as we came to see, he has a load of talent. We drove through the country, past Spanish Town (Sammy’s home) and toward Clarendon, weaving through cows and goats, slalom style, all the while with people crossing roads, hooting and hollering at the crazy stuntmen. The best site was seeing a traffic jam, and peering along the road to see what was holding everything up, which was a huge flatbed truck with some crazy ramps heading down the road.

At Clarendon, we unloaded the ramps and put them all into place. With some additional adjustments (Thanks Sammy and Clinton!), we got it all together, with just a bit left to do before the shows on Saturday. We were all sun-mad, sweaty, bleeding and tired, but super energized to finally have a chance to ride and perform for the locals. We made our way back to the car, and headed back towards Kingston. Somewhere around Spanish Town, we made a brief stop at a house party for some refreshments and listened to a DJ spin some tunes. The beats were ripping and the people very cool, and we unwound with our new bredren under the Jamaican moon.

Catch a Fire

The next morning, we went out to Clarendon and made the final adjustments to all the ramps and go ready for the crowd to come. While we were warming up, a photographer and reporter from the Jamaica Observer took in all the action. The resulting interview and pictures were features in the Tuesday (April 13) paper. We ended up with over 10 photos in the actual newspaper.

As we began the first show, in the introductions, Joe Tecca skied on the quarter pipe and then, it moved! He locked up - sprocket to coping - and slammed on this helmet head and shoulder (ouch!). He crawled off and under the ramps, while the show continued to go on. He ended up on injured reserve the rest of the time in Jamaica, a huge loss to our team. Yet, we filled in as best as we all could do. Billy G. flowed with power and style, ripping it up with strong moves on the flatland. Jeff and Ommar powered on the ramps, with Jeff nailing frontside 360 airs and Sal flips. Ommar lowered the boom with no footed backflips and 360s over the spine. I added to the mix with handstand fingerflips and fakie nollie shuvits on the flatland, as well as pulling some ramp work to fill in for Joe. We had a fun time and the crowd packed it in all around the barriers. We also met a lot of ripping local BMX riders and skaters who hung out and sessioned with us between demos.

After a sweat filled demo and a day of sunshine and happy faces, we headed back to our hotel for some much-needed R and R. We all were really tired and with Joe being hurt, we needed to regroup for the Monday demos in Kingston. On Easter Sunday, we had a much easier day, as we went to the new demo site and began to figure out how best to structure the layout for the coming shows. We decided to put the ramps on the grass infield of the park and build a stage floor to connect it all. Working closely with Clinton and the Rastas, we set up a really functional and cool design that turned out a lot like a skatepark. Once the design was in place, we made it back to the hotel to hang out and get ready for the big Monday blast.

Get Up, Stand Up

The demos on Monday were the biggest yet, and word got out that pro skateboarders and BMX riders were on the island. We were warming up for the show – down to 4 riders due to Joe’s injury – when Billy G. cranked his knee really bad. He was out! That left Jeff, Ommar and me to do the entire set of shows. Yet, Billy was able to handle the mic and with Joe helping out, we were able to pull off the 3-man show to perfection. I rode the ramps with Jeff and Ommar, who both killed it. Jeff was making Ho-Ho’s on the jump box, spine to ramp transfers and Christ airs. Ommar continued to lay it down big with show stopping tail whips, backflips and spine transfers. I pulled out 2 board parallel handstands, Casper disasters and multiple spins on the flat, as well as frontside airs, rock and rolls and frontside grind reverts. The crowds were stoked! We also met a lot more BMX riders and skateboarders too.

After our demos, we enjoyed our final night in Kingston, hanging out and digging the whole scene. The next day we made a quick visit to the Bob Marley Museum, took a few photo ops and said our goodbyes to our hosts and made our way back to the good old USA. We were tired, yet inspired, stoke and invigorated. As far as the vibe around the country, the Jamaican people are extremely cool and the vibe was very positive. I found the people to be full of life and expression. The country itself is incredibly beautiful and the people embody that, they are warm and generous. They are also extremely radical and enjoy intense action, like we provided in the demos. We also hope to go back later this summer to do more shows. Many thanks must go to Linval, Sammy, Tesah, Clinton, and all the crew.

Peace, Dr. Skateboard

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