A Gathering Beneath the Roadway: Less Than Local’s 7th Halloween Jam
Typically an underpass is not a place one wants to find themselves once sunlight diminishes. Trash, rats, needles, and shattered glass are uncovered curses waiting for the unfortunate. Dense shadows thriving there can breed danger and spark terror. Especially around Halloween. But when LA-based company, Less Than Local, takes control and sets up camp, all those fears are pushed aside. Up go the ramps. Out go the boxes and rails. In come the people. With this being Local’s seventh Home Depot Halloween Jam, it comes to no surprise the crew knows how to put on an event.
Choosing such an open area allowed a wide variety of styles and skillsets to enjoy the jam. Curbs and DIY constructed sections were everywhere making it so bodies narrowly missed one another as they zoomed around the blacktop. But there was an attribute here that was so inviting. A strange swirling chaos that everyone was wrapped in. You couldn’t feel the sting of stage fright or a gnawing sense of being unwelcome. There was far too much going on. And that havoc
comradery made the event all the more exciting.
Two tall ramps were stuck up against the side of a U-Haul and a bump to barrier a short distance away. As the dogs cooked on the grill and everyone connected, a sudden calamity echoed in the restricted area, with folks hugging and clapping in a sea of pure joy. It was official, the Dodgers won the World Series.
Suddenly our night was illuminated with fireworks, bursting onto the scene from all over the area. Large booms from the nocturnal rockets practically drowned out GZA’s wise words from the blaring speaker.
As the evening drew on, with more groups taking to the snacks and coolers for a cool down, that’s when the hosts set up for their infamous pumpkin jump contest. Skaters took turns ollieing over as many pumpkins as they could, with more continuously added. Over the sound of awes and tapping boards, was the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring to life. The crowd shot a look to the side, finding the runway cleared as a bike sped into view. In tow was a skater skitching from the back. After a powerful landing and an exuberant crowd, the cyclist performed his own stunts, zipping around and hopping about the ramps himself.
When the last pumpkin was jumped, the final hot dog consumed, and the product toss concluded, the jam ended. The sound of a drill made the announcement as it began to decommission the ramps before being packed way. One by one attendees rode off out from the overpass, slipping off their masks and smearing their face paint so to acclimate back into society.
Watching guests drag themselves back to their trunks, exhausted and saddened at its ending, one couldn’t help but envision the Home Depot employees watching the crowd escape with their lives from the ritualistic ceremony concealed from the stars. This board-based black mass. The staff would say nothing of course, instead choosing to slip away in bewilderment at the crazed underworld that only All Hallow’s Eve could bring.