I was proud to help out for the 4th straight year by donating goods and $ donation to the Standup for Skateparks charity event in Beverly Hills at billionaire Ron Burkle’s green acres estate.  I know, you are all asking – who the hell is Ron Burkle?  If you ever shopped at Ralph’s food stores, then there’s one connection.  How about owning a piece of the Pittsburgh Penguins or owning 20% of Barnes and Noble; there’s more!  Anyhow, lucky for Tony Hawk that Ron provides his humble abode to let Tony invite 850 guests at a price of $400 donation each to mingle with celebrities (if you are lucky or brave) like actor Mark Wahlberg or mega producer Jon Favreau or UFC champion Chuck Lidell or rockstar Perry Farrel of Janes Addiction, watch some live music by the Black Keys (yet, literally 20 feet in front of you on a tiny little stage), watch some amazing skating on the vert ramp (amazing that they are allowed to bring the massive ramp and tear up Ron’s yard) with Shaun White, Tony Hawk, Mitchie Brusco, Bucky Lasek, as well as bmx freestyle by Matt Hoffman, get a ton of free shit from a variety of vendors (t-mobile, art of board, dub, nixon, birdhouse, pinks, wahoo’s, best buy, etc.), chat with pro skaters like Mike Vallely, Jamie Thomas, Kevin Stab, etc., and a ton more….  The live auctions this year were off the hook with autographed guitars by Pearl Jam, Taylor Swift, Rancid, Janes Addiction and the coolest one that I bid on at $1275 (beating out Ron Burkle) and won = the 1950′s Fender Telecaster toured with and autographed by all members of Green Day.  Other auction items included a tricked out Ford Explorer that went for over $40k, a customized triumph motorcycle by Roland Sands that went for $30k, a ton of autographed pro skateboards (paul rodriguez, nyjay houston, ryan scheckler and shaun white) completely framed by sk8ology, as well as the opportunity to get your own pro skateboard made by Tony Hawk’s team for $250.  Our BambooSK8 skate board autographed by the band CHERRI BOMB on Hollywood Records went for $70 the last bid we saw, but hopefully more.  Needless to say, despite the down economy, things were looking up for charity this year as people reached deep into their pockets.  We can all feel good about helping to get skateparks built in low income, at-risk neighborhoods throughout this great country of ours.  The foundation has helped 405 parks get build already in 49 states; Connecticut is the only one remaining.  http://standupforskateparks.org/

http://blog.hipstersunited.com/2010/09/19/cherri-bomb-to-join-pumpkins-tour/

Congrats to Cherri Bomb and special thanks to Billy Corgan!!  I remember back in the early 90′s in E. Lansing, Michigan when the Smashing Pumpkins played with Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chilli Peppers – can you guess which band stole the show?

Billy Corgan tweeted this morning that the Smashing Pumpkins will be joined on tour by Cherri Bomb, an all-girl teenage rock band from Los Angeles.

If you want to know if the “rock” is still in rock and roll – then go see Pearl Jam live.  Every single time I see these guys, I’m so proud that they can still rock like they did 20 years ago.  Furthermore, to see the crowd sing along those lyrics word for word tells you just how important and relevant the band is today.  Mike McCready was a wild man on the axe still bouncing around the stage like a teenager whipping out wah-wah solos and bending notes to sonic delight over the tight rhythm of Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron; who is a kick ass drummer.  Eddie said, “If it weren’t for Stone Gossard, Mike would probably still be making pizzas.”  A major highlight was when Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) came out and sang “hunger strike” – a song done by him and Temple of the Dog.  When he hit those super high notes – the crowd went nuts.  Actually, the crowd went even more nuts than they already were just by seeing him.  This song probably hasn’t been sung live by Eddie and Chris in over 19 years.  Eddie  Vedder said, half drunken by his wine intoxication, “Sometimes one man can take an experience beyond its limitations – and then proceeded to introduce Chris Cornell.”  If that weren’t enough, out comes Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains to do the solo to “alive” but yet keeping it true to the penantonic rock blues solo.  Hello Seattle!!  

Pearl Jam had 4 shows at the Gibson, which seats around 8000 people, so the intimate experience was astounding.  Indeed, the roof was knocked off on Tuesday night.

peace,

Geoff Koboldt

pearljamart

2pearljam100609 Pearl Jam