Exclusive | Skateboarding legends swarm Santa Monica 50 years after California culture changed forever

Pioneers of modern skateboarding gathered on the Santa Monica Pier Thursday night to celebrate 50 years of the culture that is now synonymous with California.

In the mid-70s, a group of young men from Dogtown — a local nickname for Santa Monica, formed the Z-Boys skate team at Jeff Ho’s Zephyr surf shop. The legendary group, credited with redefining skateboarding, originally consisted of 12 members, including Tony Alva, who became a mascot for the culture.

Their story was immortalized in an acclaimed 2002 documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys’ and the 2006 film “Legends of Dogtown”, which was screened on the pier Thursday at Santa Monica’s ‘Locals’ Night.’

The event kicked off around 3:30pm when members of the Dogtown Car Club began pulling up to the pier in their impeccably-maintained vintage cars. As fans gawked at the cars, skaters did ollies on a skate ramp nearby.

Just after 6:30pm, Tony Alva himself appeared for a Dogtown trivia session and a live DJ set.

Though Tony is the face of the Z-Boys, he gives all the credit to Jeff, whose shop started it all.

“Jeff gave me an opportunity at a very young age. I couldn’t be on the surf team, but there was something about skateboarding that I was a natural at,” said Alva at the event. “He basically led a few guys on the team that were just street kids, and one of them was Jay Adams, and the other one was me.”

At 7:30pm, a screening of the film “Legends of Dogtown” was shown, followed by a live performance by local thrash metal punkband Cycotic Youth.

“Fifty years later, the influence of Dogtown and the Z-Boys can still be seen in skateboarding and Southern California culture around the world,” Jim Harris, Executive Director and Historian of the Santa Monica Pier said in a press release.

“Bringing Tony Alva to the Pier, putting a skate ramp on the deck and screening ‘Dogtown and Z-Boys’ under the stars gives us a special opportunity to celebrate that legacy right here on the Westside. It’s exactly the kind of history, culture and community that Locals’ Night was created to bring together.”

For Jason Brown, a Santa Monica native and co-founder of Cycotic Youth and the Dogtown Car Club, the night was a full circle moment.

“I grew up on this pier. Now I’m playing on this pier. So it means a lot to me,” said Brown, who recalls surfing with his dad as a kid, and growing up in the shadow of the legendary Z-Boys.

Brown operated a tattoo shop in Venice for 25 years, which closed due him being priced out.

“Venice is now not how it used to be. Neither is Santa Monica,” said Brown. “They’re offering these old people that had these houses for 60 years millions of dollars, and their their young kids are biting at it to make the money.”

Despite how much the area has changed, it’s still attracting young people eager to immerse themselves in skateboarding culture.

“There’s so many people that want to monetize surfing and skating and whatever, but some of them aren’t surfers and some of them aren’t skaters. I surf, I skate, I love it, and I’ll be doing this until the day I die,” said Ho.

Jiggy Reed, who moved to LA four years ago from Texas, said Santa Monica’s skating culture is what is what made him stay.

“It’s just crazy. You can walk out your door, and like all this culture, like all these things are just going on, and it’s a beautiful life,” said Reed.

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