The 4th stop of the Journeys Backyard BBQ proved to be a little more challenging than any of the previous BBQ events. The weather called for scattered thunderstorms during set up and possibly even during Saturday’s event. The press coverage leading up to the events at Willowbrook Mall was very brisk. We had live remotes on Friday and Saturday morning with the FOX and CBS affiliates from New York, which featured Bucky Lasek, Rob Lorifice and the Metal Mulisha team. In the New Jersey/NY market, there are no good alternative radio stations to partner with, so we opted for a large local cable television media buy. We targeted the Northern New Jersey and NY market heavily with 315 thirty (:30) second spots on MTV, MTV2, Spike and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

High clouds moved through the area and there were minor sprinkles, but things looked like they were going to great for the day’s events. The preliminary crowds that were waiting to get into the area were very good and we expected to hit some great attendance numbers.

Vans brought out all of their vert superstars to rip the Rockstar Energy Vert Ramp. Bucky Lasek, Christian Hosoi, Rob Lorifice, Mike Frazier and Neal Hendrix came out to represent the skate side of things. Vans also brought out legendary BMXer Dennis “DMC” McCoy and a new young gun named Coco from Chile who absolutely crushed the ramp. The first demo went very well, although the Rockstar ramp had new Skatelite surface installed which can make things a little dangerous and tricky for the skaters. They all rode like champs. Frazier and Hendrix busted huge airs, Hosoi owned the coping with super tech tricks and old school style. Bucky Lasek and Rob Lorifice owned the skies with amazing technical tricks 5 feet out of the top of the ramp. Huge ally-oops and tailwhips were the order of the day for the BMX guys as DMC and Coco rode smoothly.

Usually riders will hold back for demos and not ride at 100% capacity. Not the Vans athletes. Well Done! The demo was followed by a gigantic autograph session. Fans stood in line for over an hour to get a chance to meet their heroes. The Rockstar Energy / Metal Mulisha FMX demos drove the fans nutty as Jonny Ebenal, Ryan Hagy and Derek Garland performed in front of the large crowd. The Mulisha riders also signed an incredible amount of autographs and found their biggest fans of the tour in New Jersey.

The Converse Battle of the Bands was a huge success in New Jersey. We received over 1400 text messages from rabid fans voting for their favorite band. In the end, it was Missiles and Markers that beat out the two other local bands. The headline band for this stop was The Finish Line and they drew a huge crowd for the free show. The band put on an energy filled set and was very gracious to do a meet and greet with 5 lucky fans compliments of Verizon Wireless after the show concluded.

The Journeys Backyard BBQ was well received in the northeast and should be an area that we look to continue to grow the property.

On to the final stop in Nashville.

For more info on how Sandbox can help leverage your brand please contact us at (714) 730-9500 or at info@sandboxmarketing.com