The 22nd annual Basic Bowl contest was another day of raw and gnarly coping attacks colored with live punk rock music and Dave Duncan announcing the action on the mic. A heartfelt tribute to our fallen brother, Jake Piasecki, sounded off the day and made everyone’s airs higher, grinds longer and disasters louder. It was a generational mix of talent ranging from ages 12 to 50, throwing down crazy lines and annihilating the over vert deep end death box with authority. This contest is one of the longest running backyard skateboard events in history and props to Greg Basic, Jeff Ramos and the crew for continuing the tradition of backyard pool contests.
Words and photos and filming by Dan Levy and Vans Davey © Juice Magazine Video Music by Skatanic Rednecks
Photo by Vans Davey
The Basic Bowl Contest & BBQ is one of the longest consecutive running backyard skateboarding contests in history and we would like to recognize the OG’s and those that continue to support the heart of skateboarding no matter what. To all of you that have stayed true and unrelentingly put effort into backyard pool contests, vert ramp series, grom and amateur events and DIY build projects, we salute you. As we look into the future, we also look to the origins of what has made skateboarding what it is. When Kelly Bellmar and Chicken and Greg Basic built some of the first backyard pools made to skate in SoCal, they kickstarted a new era that exploded into the concrete revolution of today, and we owe these pioneers a big thank you. Their vision made it possible for us to believe and push forward with dreams of concrete oases where no rules apply. In an effort to give our support to those that have never given up on promoting skateboarding at its most grassroots level, we are pleased to announce the 22nd annual BASIC BOWL CONTEST & BBQ will take place on: Saturday, April 22, 2017, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Basic Bowl in Huntington Beach, California. Get involved and show up and skate this special memorial session for Jake Piasecki. As life rolls on, never forget those that forged the way and always stayed true… If you’re interested in sponsoring, please contact Basicint@yahoo.com. 
Check out Juice Magazine’s past coverage of Basic Bowl Contests… Basic Bowl 2007 Basic Bowl 2013 BASIC BOWL 2014 Huntington Beach, CA Words and photos by Dan Levy This year marked the 19 year anniversary of the infamous Basic Bowl Skate Contest & BBQ, one of the longest running annual contests in skateboarding’s history. This year was filled with a new generation of rippers as well as some of skateboarding’s most celebrated legends. Dave Duncan was the master of ceremonies and continues to carry on tradition with his uncanny ability to command control the chaos. The skating was insane as the format is a no-holds-barred jam for glory. The legendary Skatanic Rednecks played on the deck along with American Waste and The Headaches to provide a slamming soundtrack for another epic Basic Bowl BBQ.
Basic Bowl 2014 Winners Pros: 1) Steve Palacios 2) Kyle KOTC 3) Charlie Blair Sponsored: 1) Eddie ‘Mighty’ Moreno 2) Evan Doherty 3) Lucas Sanders Groms: 1) Myles Strampello 2) Taylor Nye 3) Cooper Burrows Women: 1) Mary Prideaux Shout outs to Dave Duncan for hosting and many thanks to the Basic Bowl BBQ sponsors. Madrid Skateboards KR3W CYLapparel Bones Wheels Flip Spitfire Supra JuiceMagazine PocketPistols Dagger Built Ramps & Skate Parks Christian Hosoi Sullen Clothing Silly Girl Skateboards Embassy Skateboards Rockstar Energy Drink US abst Blue Ribbon Black Flys Destroy Skateboards BASIC BOWL BASH 2013 WORDS, PHOTOS AND VIDEO BY DAN LEVY The 2013 Basic Bowl contest marked its 18th year and this contest has consecutively gone off turning the entire neighborhood into one big block party. As expected, the level of skating at this year’s bowl bash was nothing short of incredible. The younger generation is coming up strong and this annual event has become a proving ground for talent of all ages and a showcase of the progression of skateboarding. Dave Duncan took the helm as MC and the bands rocked the concrete as the crowd cheered relentlessly throughout the day. Basic has become an institution and for all that didn’t attend, check out the photos below and, hopefully, we will see you next year!!! http://youtu.be/_zooj4WHmGc BASIC BOWL 2013 CONTEST WINNERS APRIL 27, 2013, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA WORDS BY DAVE DUNCAN Embassy team rider Ben Johnson from Texas won the Pro Division. 2nd Jesus Esteban from Puerto Rico, 3rd Steven Palacios, 4th Camoran Revier, 5th Johnny Abernathy, 6th Francisco Penunuri, 7th Dave Reul, 8th Alec Beck. Dagger Skater Eddie Reategui won the Masters Division! 2nd Chris Gentry, 3rd Jeff Greenwood, 4th Darin Sanders. Silly Girl team rider Julz Lynn won the Pro Girls Division! Tragedy Team rider Pauline Branom won the sponsored Am girls division! Sponsored Am division 1st Lucas Sanders, 2nd David Branom, 3rd Gage Boan, 4th Hector Tehaitzil, 5th Cameron from San Pedro, 6th Adam White, 7th Matt Vance. 10 and under Groms 1st Taylor Nye, 2nd Myles. 3rd Rylan Mancilla, 4th Luke Kaitler, 5th Mikey Rasor. 11-14 year old Ams 1st Lucas Sanders, 2nd David Branon, 3rd Nate Vernia, 4th Bammer Rasor, 5th Brenden Blaze! Thanks to everyone who came out, and also to those who helped out and a huge thanks to all of the sponsors: PBR, Black Flys, Embassy, KR3W, Rockstar, Bones, Daggers, Sullen, Madrid, Vitamin Water, Smith Safety Gear, Destroy, Silly Girl , HB Cult, Juice Magazine and many more! Everyone had a blast skating, raging and rocking out to live bands; The Headaches, Skatanic Rednecks and Animal Style! See y’all same time next year for the next annual Basic Bowl Bash! 
2012 Basic Bowl Contest Photos by Paul Silver and Dave Duncan The Basic Bowl BBQ & Contest is always a great time. Juice Magazine contributors Dave Duncan and Jay Adams attended this year. PBR, BBQ, Skateboarding. Doesn’t get much better. 
BASIC BOWL 2008 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA PHOTOS BY DAN LEVY 
BASIC BOWL 2007 April 21, 2007 Huntington Beach, CA PHOTOS BY DAN LEVY Curren Caples, Ben Schroeder, Dave Reul, Dave Duncan, Devon Lamb, Greg Basic, Ben Butler, Patrick Ryan, Jake Piasecki, Christian Hosoi, Jesse Martinez, Chris Reeves, Ed Reategui, Sasha Steinhorst, Terri Craft, Bart Saric, Dan Levy… 
BASIC BOWL CONTEST 2005 April 30, 2005 Huntington Beach, CA Photos by Dan Levy The Basic Bowl Results 2005 Masters – Eddie Reategui Pro – 1st Benji Galloway 2nd Jake Piaseki 3rd Jimmy the Greek Girls – Holly Lyons, Mellissa Dafnos, Mandy Esch Am – Devon Lamb, Curren Capples , Nick Grom – Curren Capples, Patrick Ryan, Louie Lopez VIPS: PATRICK RYAN, BENJI GALLOWAY, LOUIE LOPEZ, MIKE SMITH, BENJI GALLOWAY, MADDOG HENDERSON, JAKE PIASECKI, PEEWEE, DAVE DUNCAN, JIMMY MARCUS, HEIDI FITZGERALD, JAY ALABAMY, CHRISTIAN HOSOI, DAVE REUL, DEVON LAMB, MARTY JIMINEZ, EDDIE REATEGUI, KORN, BILLY D, TERRI CRAFT, JIM GRAY, SMUT PEDDLERS. 
BASIC BOWL CONTEST 2004 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA photos by KAREN RENNIE Congratulations to Chris Cook who took first place in the GrandMasters Division of the Basic Bowl Jam 2004. MadDog won the Masters, Jake Reuter won the Groms division and Chaz Pineda won the Ams division. Jake Piasecki won the Pro division with 2nd going to Benji Galloway, 3rd – Brian Patch, 4th – Dave Reul and 5th went to Jimmy The Greek.
BACK TO BASICS GROM CONTEST BASIC BOWL 2003 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA OCT 4, 2003 Photos by Dan Levy
- Photo: Dan Levy
Results 7 and Under 1st place Timmy Lopez 2nd place Curren Caples 3rd place Alexi Macou 8 to 11 years old 1st place Devon Lamb 2nd place Jake Reuter 3rd place Taylor Smith 12 to 14 years old 1st place Chaz Pineda 2nd place Collin Provost 3rd place Chris Graham 4th place David Robarge Best trick winner: Chaz Pineda What do you get when you take away handrails, stairs, ledges and you add one pool – to a kid fifteen and under? The future of skateboarding and the promise of some serious rippers. Dennis Lamb and the infamous Basic Bowl were the host of the next generation of roundwall warriors skating it out for the big win. Leading the pack of the 7 and under division, was Timmy Lopez with coping assassination from all sides. Wiithin heel-biting distance, Curren Caples and Alexi Macou were rolling around the pool with no fear. In this battle, the level of skill of these youngsters did not take precedence over the self set goal of just making it around the cement wonderland with hopes of grinds and a good line. The 8-11 division turned up the heat as the sun passed high noon and the bowl was primed and ready to handle the attacks. Local ripper Devon Lamb, unleashed a variety of lines, slaying the deathbox, frontside and backside – grinding with style. Chase Webb poured himself into every turn and pounded himself into every grind. Jake Reuter and Taylor Smith drew lines all over the roundwall to take second and third place in their division. The 12-14 division hosted rippers Collin Provost, Chris Graham, David Robarge and Texas bred Chaz Pedina who could easily enter the mens’ Basic Bowl Contest and give everyone a run for their money. Chaz assaulted every run with head high transfers from the 6ft shallow to the 10 ft over vert deep, stand up 50-50s to early grab in and nollie tail grabs in the deep, to top it off. If this kid is a sign of the future, than Texas is the reason that street skating is DEAD! The highlights of the day included Chris Graham from Punk Rock Skateboards rolling in off the roof and pulling it on the second try, Devon Lamb’s deathbox grinds, Collin Provost’s blasting airs, Matty Lemond’s kickflips over the roll-in, Chaz Pineda’s ‘Craig Johnson-esque’ layback airs, Chase Webb’s stoked face during every grind… and the all around enthusiasm the kids had for riding pools. In a perfect world, history would repeat itself and the future of skateboarding would involve a more all around skater who takes advantages of all facets of terrain and skateboarding style. The best part about kids is – if you build it – they will try and skate it. BASIC BOWL CONTEST 1999 PHOTOS BY RHINO WORDS BY OZZIE 
Anaheim, Ontario, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Upland… These names beckoned from road maps, drawing the hundreds of thousands that thronged to the Southern California area in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The arid neighborhood housing tracts filled to overflowing in the press to build homes for families that wanted the California dream. Walled backyards with fluted brickwork, palm tree fronds whispering over blue-tiled kidney pools, quiet cul-de-sacs echoing children’s laughter. Blue Haven, Anthony, Sunset, and Paddock pool companies vied for contracts in the ensuing rush to place swimming pools in every backyard. These pool companies couldn’t know that what they built, would later be the foundation of a minor religion; skateboarding. As pool skating pushed the limits of skateboarding through the ‘70s and into the ‘80s, groups of young skate grommets in the So Cal area literally grew up at the concrete parks that flourished there. Then came the down time. The industry slumped and skaters found themselves without those concrete parks, without those bowls and without friends, for many people quit when it became difficult to find places to ride. Skaters began looking in backyards again and skateboarding thankfully stayed true to its punk self. Lawless, all consuming and without regard for bodily harm, skateboarding remained alive. In the late ‘80s, skateboarding changed. Parks sprang up, but street skating was en vogue. There were no pools. There were no bowls. There wasn’t shit for the scarred and broken heroes of the early years to ride. A group of these older skaters decided that they would build their own pools. Kelly Bellmar was the first to put his money on the line and his black and white tiled, 11-foot clamshell is still my favorite. The next pool built was Chicken’s. Chicken wanted a shallow end, corners and a deep end. Working with limited space, he toyed with several different shapes before accepting what would become one hell of a backyard pool. At nine feet three inches in the deep end and a long five-foot shallow end, every inch of his pool can be utilized for high speed grinds and airs over the hip. Enter Basic Gregg. He decided that he wanted a clover pool in his backyard. Enlisting the help of Rick Carje – who was a key ingredient in the making of Bellmar’s, and Chicken’s – a design was drawn up. A ten-foot bowl connected with a four-foot shallow bowl and a mid seven-foot bowl was the accepted pool scheme. With the aid of a backhoe, Budweiser as the pay for digging, and hardly any money, these skaters dug the pool out in one week. Shaping took one month and the rebar and gunite was applied, resulting in the Basic clover. Every year since, Basic Gregg has held the Basic backyard barbecue. It draws some of the finest pool riding talent in California and elsewhere. This year’s contest was no exception. Gregg added some concrete transitions to the decks beside the pool for rollout transfers and more innovative lines. Amateur practice was ridiculous. These guys were going off like it was their contest run! The ams were given the 20 minute go-ahead for warm ups. Once the contest started, Jason Maxwell threw hefty speed lines, big frontside airs, backside sweepers, and received the crowd’s approval for his Texas plants. Toby Burger was the ninja that he is. Six-minute speed lines working every conceivable piece of coping and standing up frontside to backside over the box made him a crowd pleaser as well. Last years am winner-Brent Hickman was nursing a huge hipper, but didn’t let that stand in his way. With the boisterous crowd urging him on, Brent threw himself around the pool. Huge frontside airs, long 50-50s and sick indys over the hip completed his run. Kyle Emsley decided that the pool wasn’t enough so he threw himself off the roof in a leap of faith, not unlike Arizona’s Punk Rock Matt. Luckily, no cement nap was to be had and Kyle finished his run with a kickflip to fakie and a stylish frontside air. Other standouts included John Zask, Pat Olsen, Barry Blocken and Jodie Mac. The ams ended up with Jason Maxwell in first, John Zask smith grinding and lipsliding the box for second and a limping, blackened hip Brent Hickman in third. The heavily anticipated pro heat was next and listed like a “who’s who” of bowl riding. Sam Hitz, Remy Stratton, Rodney Cassell, Salba, Reuler, the other Maddog- Henderson, Grosso, Mark Partain (snaked every single skater, but was rad), Ricky Stiles, Jake Piasecki, Shaggy, Hewitt, Rune Glifberg and Al Partanen all lined up to take what the pool had to offer and feed off each others energy. Highlights (if you want the blow-by-blow, get a plane ticket for next year’s contest). Grosso destroyed; layback rollouts, 6-foot backside airs, inverts and lien to tails on the hip. Grosso never let up, doing the longest rock n’ roll boardslide that I’ve ever seen and ended the day in first place. Partain – hmmm; rock-n-roll boardslides, lipslides and about every other trick you can think of. Partain is really good! Remy Stratton skated super fast, consistent, and did several frontside airs over my head. If you have a chance to watch Remy skate, I suggest you do so. Amazing! Salba showed up, skated and utilized every single piece of coping throughout the entire pool. Frontside over the box to frontside lipslide to frontside grind to tail up and over the hip. Salba threw a few Andrechts and walked away with second. Son Jesse was proud. Dave Reul came to the contest and burned. Fs 50-50s anywhere he wanted for as long as he wanted, frontside tailbone airs and a bag full of tricks. Reuler skated with single-minded purpose. Jake Piaseki rides like every run is his last minute on earth – no shit! Jake did frontside inverts, judo airs, huge backside airs, grinding over the box both ways – the guy is a maniac! He rode like this the entire day until he locked up on a lien air over the box. Once he was taken to the hospital, the news came back; concussion and fractured shoulder in three places. Everyone wishes Jake a quick recovery. Others who killed it. . . Hewitt (needless to say), Ricky Stiles, Sam Hitz (crail slides and big frontside lipslides) and Remy..thanks for the eggplant. If you can get out here to check out the backyard barbecue next year – you should. You won’t be disappointed. Good food, a lot of girls, gallons of beer and an absolutely incredible amount of the greatest pool skating in one place that you’ll probably ever have a chance to see.
