Saturday, August 20; Silver between Harvard and Yale (all-ages): Warped Tour was a blast and all, but something was missing down in Las Cruces this year. Sure, there were all the requisite alternative rock bands. Sure, every conceivable faction of teenage subculture was in full force and, yeah, merch tents dotted the landscape with cheap, colorful geegaws as far as the eye could see. But where were the half-pipes? Where were the funboxes? The helmets, kneepads and ramps? In other words, where had all the skateboarders gone? Warped Tour was founded to promote skateboard culture, yet, except for a random Bad News Bears batting cage, there wasn't any to speak of this time around. Well, screw those guys! Let's start our own damn skate festival—a totally local one with a makeshift outdoor skate park. We can have good local music with everything from hip-hop to reggae to hardcore to metal. Let's shut down Silver Avenue right here in Albuquerque and do this thing right. We'll call it the First Annual Silver Skate Jam '05, and we'll make it happen from noon to 8 p.m. this very Saturday. And here's the best part—we'll get the Silver Board Shop to do all the work for us! Doesn't that sound like a magnificent pipe dream?
