The team asked me to start this year’s campaign off with a blog post, so here it is.
So much has happened in the past few years. I had to abandon something I created, and that meant a lot to so many people. I had to divest 10 years of hard work into buildingsomething, not realizing that so much could be forgotten so quickly. Did everyone forget that it all began with Skate And Surf? Do they know that The Bamboozle was Skate And Surf? These questions rang and still ring in my head.
The first year of Skate And Surf’s return in 2013 with Fall Out Boy, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, A Day To Remember and others was a soaking disappointment at Six Flags. Sure, some town official wouldn’t give the staging company a permit to have the correct stages for our event, but that wasn’t it. I love Six Flags, but something about the setting didn’t feel right. Something about that line up wasn’t Skate And Surf.
In 2014, trying to bounce back and looking to return to our roots, we locked into partnership with a venue in Middletown. The owners were cool and pretty excited, promising us all we could hope for at the event. The Mayor, town officials, and everyone else were telling us how excited they were for two consecutive meetings. We were confident this would work. We announced our first batch of artists, and I finally got Gabe and my boys in Midtown to join forces and headline the event. We had this really cool plan to transition our hip-hop from the past to the present. We needed some kind of change because I didn’t like the hip-hop in 2013, and I wanted to bring more credibility to that area. I booked DMX, and the town officials and everyone in those initial meetings threatened the venue owner to cancel the event or face closure. The event was profiled. We had to take DMX off the event. We had to move. We had to head home.
I thought there was no way that the town council would welcome us back to Asbury Park. They knew deep down why I left. I brought them the event I originally promised, and I stood up for what was right with the event, leaving that car to hit a wall without being on watch. The city I spent over 10 years defending and booking showed me the loyalty I could have only dreamed of….
Our friends in Asbury Park welcomed us back with the help of a council member. It all felt right. Midtown, New Found Glory, Alkaline Trio and Saosin were all coming home with us. Asbury Park hosted an incredible event, and the magic was felt in the air. The bands were happy, the site looked amazing, and it took us back to where we needed to be. That weekend would set the foundation for 2015, and we knew exactly what we had to do.
Our strained relationships with the town seemed to work themselves out and Skate And Surf 2015 was about to roll out offers.
I decided to move the hip hop from Skate And Surf to Electric Adventure, so we could focus on getting some old friends back together. We built a line up based on the philosophy that we will continue to develop from within. We invested money to open an all age venue, GameChanger World in Howell, NJ. The industry said it was crazy; how could we do that without alcohol? But, we are developing artists, which is making our abilities to identify marketable talent much easier. We believe that investing in the future is going to make our platform of developing talent sustainable.
There are so many artists on this year’s bill that I am so excited to see take the stage, and so much I can’t wait to unveil as we move closer to May.
The festival team has been working closely with the Berkley Carteret Hotel, and the VIP program, SoundRink, is incorporating the hotel in the ways it was during the early years.
There were so many incredible memories we had in Asbury over the years, and I hope you create yours as well.
I thank each of you for reading this and spending your time visiting our exciting platform. A lot of old friends are going to be getting back together…
I hope to see you all in Asbury Park May 16th and 17th!
