PRESS RELEASE
Surf City Blitz
Debuts With 40,000 In Attendance For Sold Out Weekend At
Huntington State Beach In Southern California With
Southern California’s Greatest Punk Rock Lineup + The Moto Beach Classic
Featuring World-Class Motorcycle Racing
With Performances From Social Distortion, The Offspring, Pennywise, Rancid, Bad Religion, Suicidal Tendencies & More
Last weekend, 40,000 people came together for the sold out debut of Surf City Blitz at Huntington State Beach to enjoy one of the greatest punk rock lineups in the history of Southern California along with Roland Sands Presents The Moto Beach Classic's world-class motorcycle racing.
This brand new all ages event was held Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28 at Huntington State Beach as part of the SeaLegs Live Event Series, and featured an all-star lineup of punk rock legends and breaking talent including The Offspring, Social Distortion, Pennywise, Rancid, Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Religion, FEAR, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, T.S.O.L., Mad Caddies, The Interrupters, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and more performing on the shore of the Pacific Ocean in picturesque Orange County, California.
Check out video highlights from the festival here:
As Kelli Skye Fadroski of the Orange County Register explained, “As much as Surf City Blitz was a fun punk rock show for the fans, it was also a place where all of these bands’ members — who have been friends and played together for decades — could gather and catch up with one another. Even local bands that weren’t on the bill showed up to hang out backstage including members of Avenged Sevenfold, Ignite and The Vandals. That casual, fun, hometown vibe definitely carried over into the live performances (October 29, 2018).”
This sense of community was illustrated when Dave Quackenbush and Warren Fitzgerald from The Vandals and Brooks Wackerman (Avenged Sevenfold, ex-Bad Religion and Suicidal Tendencies) joined Pennywise on stage Saturday night for The Vandals’ classic “Urban Struggle.”
The second annual Moto Beach Classic combined Super Hooligan street bike flat track racing, drag and mini bike racing, art, and custom motorcycles. The event featured a dirt track on the sand for the first time ever, and two days of Super Hooligan flat track racing.
As the sun set, the Super Hooligan National Championship by Indian Motorcycles finale began. Returning champion Andy DiBrino cleaned up with the Dunlop Dash 4 Cash and kept his #1 Super Hooligan National Championship plate, earning $2,500 from Bell Helmets and a RSD custom designed Indian FTR 1200 motorcycle.
The WCBR Hurley Surf and Turf competition combined surfing and motorcycle racing, with Justin Mulford winning both of the motorcycle races and leading the Huntington Beach team to overall victory. BMW hosted the Salty Sprint races, giving racers a chance to hop on some BMW R Nine-Ts and wait for the rag to hit the ground before ripping down the 400 foot line to the checkered flag. Local Kevin Duke took the Bell #1 Helmet as a prize for being the fastest. Del Amo Motorsports hosted the Kawasaki Z125 Gymkhana race where Nicky Rymer took the trophy. Bell Helmets hosted the stunt show where big bikes got their front wheel at 12 o’clock and shredded endless tires in a plume of smoke while spectators shouted for more.
In addition to fantastic music sets and thrilling motorcycle events, Surf City Blitz offered beach games and activities, photo opps, great food (with vegan options), craft beer and cocktails, and more.
Lisa Johnson's Goldmine Garage featured a photo exhibition with a collection of images from the vaults of SoCal music photographers Lisa Johnson, John Gilhooley, Rob Wallace, Madison Stern, Jason Cardwell and KRK Dominguez, plus featured art on display from Rancid's Tim Armstrong. Signings included Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg (signing copies of his book Punk Rock Dad), author and T.S.O.L. frontman Jack Grisham (signing his books), Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Sharp Shock, while DJ Shiragirl spun the ultimate Surf City Blitz Mixtape, OC street photographer James Bennett took roaming portraits, and Rock & Sock offered vintage vinyl and more. Visitors to the Goldmine Garage includedNoodles from The Offspring and Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal, as well as members of Rancid, The Vandals, The Interrupters, and The Aquabats.
Here’s a sample of what the media had to say about Surf City Blitz:
“It’s not every day you get to go to the beach with thousands of your closest friends and see potentially the greatest punk lineup ever assembled…like Christmas in October."
--Jimmy Alvarez, OC Weekly, October 23, 2018
“For those that are quick to quip that punk rock is dead, the inaugural Surf City Blitz just gave them a big ‘ol finger as 40,000 fans showed to take in sets by The Offspring, Pennywise, Bad Religion, Rancid, Social Distortion and more at Huntington State Beach over the weekend. The sold-out festival attracted fans of all-ages, who partied hard during day one where The Offspring topped the line-up and many returned for more on Sunday with Social Distortion leading the charge...From the moshing to the racing, the event served as a massive punk rock family reunion with bands on the bill that are proudly celebrating two, three or in some cases, four decades of making loud and unruly music in the great state of California.” --Kelli Skye Fadroski, Orange County Register, October 29, 2018
“The soundtrack of Southern California’s beach culture immediately evokes the harmonies and surfing odes of the Beach Boys and the screaming surf guitar of Dick Dale, but punk rock is just as important to the region’s musical fabric. Surf City Blitz tapped into that connection at Huntington State Beach on Saturday, Oct. 27, with a lineup of bands that shaped the sound of Southern California punk over the last 40 years.”
--Vanessa Franko, Orange County Register / Press Enterprise, October 28, 2018
Surf City Blitz is produced by Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc. (SGE).
Surf City Blitz partners include: 95.5 KLOS FM, Rockstar Energy Drink, Yachak, Cupcake Vineyards, Sailor Jerry, Deep Eddy Vodka, Don Julio, Golden Road Brewing, Stella Artois, Corona, Black Feather Whisky, Health-Ade, Cosmic Fog, Layrite, Dixxon Flannel Co., SPY, Body Glove, Wienerschnitzel, Screaming Images, Musician’s Institute, Gringo Bandito, BMW Motorcycles, Indian Motorcycles, Hurley, Dunlop, Ducati, Motul, Husqvarna, Law Tigers, Kawasaki, West Coast Board Riders, Yamaha, Geico Motorcycle, Super Hooligan, Bell, Motul, K&N, SOKFY, Cycle Zombie and Fast Surfboards.
A portion of Surf City Blitz proceeds will be donated to the Junior Lifeguard Program and the Living the Dream Foundation. LTD Foundationbridges together the music industry with fans who are fighting terminal illnesses by giving them All Access VIP experiences backstage with their favorite bands and artists. For more information, visit: www.ltdfoundation.org.
For more information on Surf City Blitz, visit:
Website: www.SurfCityBlitz.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SurfCityBlitz
Instagram: www.instagram.com/SurfCityBlitz
Hashtag: #SurfCityBlitz and #MotoCityBlitz
(by Brian Bloss)
(Moto Beach Classic, by Preston Burroughs)
(The Offspring, by Paul Hebert)
(Moto Beach Classic by Joseph Hitzelberger)
(Mike Ness of Social Distortion, by Anthony Duty)
(Moto Beach Classic, by Preston Burroughs)
(Moto Beach Classic by Joseph Hitzelberger)
(Lisa Johnson’s Goldmine Garage, by Lisa Johnson)
(Jim Lindberg of Pennywise at Lisa Johnson’s Goldmine Garage, by Lisa Johnson)
(by Paul Hebert)
About Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc.: Orange County, California based Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc. (SGE) is one of the world's premier music festival production companies. SGE events include music and lifestyle festivals across a variety of genres and interests, with over 70 major festival dates in 2018. SGE produces or co-produces Back To The Beach; Big Adventure; Driftwood; ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival; Knotfest; Lost Lands (Your EDM Best Festival of 2017 and Noiseporn 2017 Festival Of The Year); Moonrise Festival; MUSINK; Ohana Dana Point; Sabroso Taco, Craft Beer & Music Festival; 92.3 WCOL Country Jam + Campout; Scallywag!, and more. In addition, SGE co-produced the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and the worldwide Rockstar Taste of Chaos, and created and produced the Identity Festival, Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, and Rockstar Energy UPROAR Festival. This year's SGE-affiliated events are projected to sell nearly 1 million tickets overall. In addition to festival production, SGE's in-house sponsorship agency procures and executes a multitude of partnerships in varying forms for global brands, top-tier artists, international booking agencies and more. www.sgeworldwide.com
About Roland Sands Design: Roland Sands Design is a motorcycle product and apparel company that has its roots in racing, custom bike building and design. Our inspiration comes from a high performance background that blends the love of two wheels with the desire to create unique products. We live the two-wheeled life and our crew is a diverse collection of road racers, offroad, dirt track, supermoto and custom bike builders and riders. It's this diversity that keeps us on top of our game and looking to create modern day classics. www.RolandSands.com
About KLOS: KLOS The Rock of Southern California (95.5 FM) is a commercial Rock music formatted radio station in Southern California broadcasting to Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties. KLOS features specialty music shows such as Frosty, Heidi & Frank, Jonesy's Jukebox, Full Metal Jackie's Whiplash, Check I…2, and many more. Owned by Cumulus Media, KLOS studios are in Culver City, CA and the station reaches an audience of over 1.5 million listeners each week. http://www.955klos.com