#SurfCityBlitz 2018: Punk’s Not Dead!

Imagine a weekend filled with music, motorcycles, surfing, and art. Imagine a musical lineup that features your favorite punk rock bands. Now imagine that on the beach. Well, the people behind last weekend’s Surf City Blitz did imagine all that, and what’s more, made it all happen! We received tickets to the first day of Surf City Blitz thanks to our friends at Gringo Bandito and headlining band The Offspring and had a rockin’ good time.

We were worried about parking and even considered an Uber of Lyft but we ended up finding a good spot not far from the venue. We walked towards the beach with fellow-Blitz attendees who came in all ages. There were families with babies in wagons, a group of OG fans in vintage Offspring tour shirts, and one dude dressed in black who left a trail of fragrant herb behind him. Once at the Magnolia and PCH entrance to Huntington Beach State Beach, you could feel the pulsing energy of the crowd. There was Roland Sands’ Motobeach Classic, which was held last year at Bolsa Chica State Beach, and it offered up 2 days of racing (on a track built on the sand!), custom bikes, art, and drag racing! As we’ve been to many a moto event, we can attest that the moto fam brings its own vibe and aesthetic.

There were art installations, vendors and more along the way to the main stage. We got there in time to catch Pennywise’s set. It was surreal to see so many mohawks right next to babies on their parents’ shoulders in the sea of 20,000 people.
We had our fill of free Rockstar Energy Drinks and so went in search of food. There were mini donuts and tacos and only in a Southern California festival – acai bowls and vegan options (cauliflower wings, anyone?) And then, we found it! Our favorite Gringo Bandito – they were handing out chips doused in your choice of Gringo Bandito hot sauce! Green for my hubby and original for me. And if you didn’t already know, Gringo Bandito was created by The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland and is actually a Huntington Beach-based business!

Back to the show. One of the highlights for us was when Pennywise brought out The Vandals, who weren’t actually on the bill.

But instead of going on about our Surf City Blitz experience on Saturday, how about a look at some of these awesome photos from the two-day party by Jason Cook. What an amazing, well-organized event! We look forward to NEXT YEAR’s festival.

Here’s a recap of the two day punk rock, motorcycle, surf extravaganza on the beach: