I was hopin i wouldnt reach this point, but like a kettle, once youve boiled its time to make the tea!
Negativity in the scene is at an all time high, its as if the lowrider scene is having its own little recession, and a bit like the recession, it appears those at the top of the tree aint really affected, and by that i mean Unity with there history and some may say hidden depth in the scene, have no real complaints, and more power to them, Jon S at Bug Jam may have been considered suicide once upon a time, but thankfully, things have moved on.
My point however is how far things have changed since the days of the Dixons, Angry Ali, huge Lordz events and what possibly became the biggest turning point in the scene as i know it, Tarun. as much as i hate to admit it, or give him the pleasure, cos everyone knows how little respect i have for the bloke, but when he was around the interclub rivalry and the desire to be 'the best' appeared to be at an all time high, and good times where bein had on the back of it, the Lordz organised 'Coast View' events being most notable for crazy crazy crazy crazy nights. But unfortunately he totally fucked things up by what in my opinion was the straw that broke the camels back for the original Max Hydraulics, which had a domino effect for Lordz in that the foundations the club was built on had been shattered, and in turn the vast majority of the party orientated lowriders that kept the scene aposed to the vehicles being the priority, had either given up, or resigned to the fact that lowriders are best kept in the garage, massive massive shame.
More specific to our club however, has been the huge hole left by the Dixons, again, stevie and amy had their own opinions that helped keep rivalry alive, but more importantly, the desire to be the best drove our more untamed members to concentrate on building cars rather then piss people off on the net (ali!). The likes of teamrod, ali and keith all had the desire to build cars that could hop or move well with the intention of showing everyone else we could indeed do what they can do over the pond, but when was the last time you heard about anyone building hoppers? or even attempting to hop? would you be hopping if stevie was still here?
More recently ive heard talk of people admitting defeat or regarding the scene i love as dead, mainly due to the lack of parts, lack of passion, and lack of comradary between freinds, and its absence is notable at shows too, no longer do we sit amongst cars, hitting switches with blurred vision from alcohol and drug fueled idiocy, pissing off security guards, health and safety, and more importantly other show go-ers (the nats last year is the only exception!), and it sucks, so much so i dont feel like i organise events and gatherings with passion for the scene, but more because i feel its doomed if i dont.
So please, if you have any love left in lowriding, what it was, what it is, and what it could be, stop being so negative, it may be going thro a bad point but i promise ill do all i can to re-kindle your flame regardless of club, car, or who you are, you've all played a massive part in something thats made me and many others happy, and ill do everything i can to put something back.
Never forget, mates are mates, keep them by your side and they will move mountains for you.
peace.
p.s. as usual, this is not a dig at anyone, and all completely my opinion, i just miss the 'good old days' and feel for those who came after them!
