Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 @ Sunway Lagoon
Images Quiksilver & Eugene Rupert
Following a torrential downpour you could have been forgiven for thinking KL as no longer being landlocked. But pissing buckets did nothing to hold back 40,000 bikini and boardshorts clad babes and bros that turned out to Sunway Lagoon for the wet and wild Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 Tour. Irregular bedmates, the realms of surf and skate got their kit off and got it on as world class surfers and skateboarders took to the skies above the world’s largest man-made wave pool and a specially imported half-pipe vert ramp, and bands soundtracked the seven hours of gravity-mocking shennanigans.
Two-time World Aerial Surfing Champion Josh Kerr, notorious for his Kerrupt Flip move, fellow World Aerial Surfing Champion Ry Craike, Indonesian Wayan “Betet” Merta and Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves landed a barrage of aerials, while professional Troy Brooks threw up his trademark Superman-style airs, a move borrowed from moto-x riders. “It was like a full-on stadium atmosphere … the lights, the replays on the big screen, the DJs rockin’ out, I didn’t expect to see so many people turn out, it was pretty special. It was bigger than some of the events we have on the (Association of Surfing Professionals) world tour,” thrilled Kerr.
The violent tropical storm did cut short the final skateboarding demonstration, which was scheduled to take place under the lights, but the truly international skateboarding line-up consisting of Germany’s two-time vert champion Sascha Muller, Sweden’s Jocke Olsson , the UK’s Pete King and Aussies Renton Millar and Trevor Ward did manage to perform for two hours in the rampant afternoon humidity, pulling 540 degree spins, stale, lien and method airs, grinds and more on the 14.5 feet high ramp.
As lightening lit up the sky and thunder rumbled angrily overhead for nearly 40 minutes, the crowd was forced to take cover. Then just as quickly as it arrived, the storm passed; the swimsuit clad made a beeline for the wave pool, hosts John Shimooka and Matt Hoy, both former world-ranked surfers, resumed duties and headline act Futon from Bangkok, the turbo charged Pop Shuvit, champion scratch DJ triumvate The Stylustiks consisting of DJs Fuzz, Cza, and Uno, Joe Flizzow and One Buck Short, power pumped their soundtrack across the expanse as the crowd frolicked in the water under the emerging stars. You couldn’t have asked for a more fitting ending.
The Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 Tour rocked Sunway Lagoon on Saturday January 26 2008. A live webcast of the event was also watched across the world. For more on the event and Quiksilver hit up www.quiksilver.com. This report was published in the March 2008 issue of JUICE.