What an awesome competition the Bridgetown sk8 ‘n’ blues was. Competitors turned up from all over Western Australia. With $2000 up for grabs you could tell it was going to be a made comp. Come 8:30 am registrations started up and by 9:30 the qualifying rounds got underway. With only the top 4 making it to the finals it was going to be tight.
Laurance Bakewell – flip whip
Bmx had the most competitors, a total of 23 split between the Duds and Studs. Once the qualifiers we over it was time to tally up the scores. Only the stud class was in for the money and with $2000 to share between skate and bmx the stakes were high. People were waiting in anticipation to see if they had made it through. Between the qualifiers and the start of the finals local songstress Tracey Barnett took to the stage and did a great set of acoustic solo guitar songs.
Clockwise from top left – Tim Rose – Laurance Bakewell – Callum McCawley – Michael Pidgeon.
The finals were to take place in a battle format. This would mean those who place 4th had the chance to work their way to the top. It was going to be and awesome finals showdown. Scooter finals got under way and it was local Zac Priest who had the proficiency with the aluminum apparatus to hold onto his top spot. After the scooter finals the local schools bands took to the stage and belted out some great sets. Bmx Duds finals were up next. Chris Radosavljeric qualified in first so sat back and watched the Pavman work his way through from forth. Beating Callen McDonald and then Harleigh Wiggers in round one and two by the time he got to take on Chris the Pavman was feeling a bit knackered. Survival of the fittest. The votes were close in the final round but it was Chris who took the win 2 to 1 votes from the judges. For his efforts he took the brand new bike as a prize from local business lifesports.
Clockwise from top left – Chris and his new bike – Aaron Pill – Tim Rose – Dylan Schmidt
As the competition took place as part of the Blues at Bridgetown festival so the music component of the competition was blues and roots orientated. Aiden Varro took to the stage and set about to just blast the speakers with an amazing guitar and vocal set. Defiantly a highlight of the day. Skate Finals were up next. With only a smallish class it was going to be between south-western skater Callum McCawley and Perth’s Phillip Marshall. Matt Bicker had to take on Russel Morris in battle round one, with Russel getting the votes to take on Phillip Marshall in round two. Phillip was victorious and successively took on Callum McCawley to try to win the first place and $500. it was a close contest but Callum came out with 2 to 1 votes from the judges and was instantly made $500 richer. The next band to take the stage was Ashoka from Manjimup. Their sound was less blues and roots and more rock and metal. Great band, fitting to a great day.
Ashoka rockin it oouut
Next up was the grand event many were waiting to see. The bmx Stud finals. With the qualifying rounds were very close and in order of qualifying were Laurance Bakewell, Aaron Pill, Dylan Schmidt and Tim Rose. With two 30 second runs each in each round it was going to be tough to make it to take on Tim. Laurance and Aaron had round one and it was all Laurance hitting up the trick list. Next it was Laurance to take on Dylan, the two young guns. It was tough to call it but with Laurance just having the edge it was 3 votes to 1 for Mr. Bakewell. So last round was Laurance taking on Tim. Tech to style how would it come out. Again a very hard round to judge. Laurance was feeling the strain from the battle rounds but was well warmed up and ready to take on Tim for $500. With two lots of 30 seconds on the clock each Laurance dropped in and started blasting whips, flips and spins. But it was Tim who had the power and style mixed in with the technical skills that only Mr Rose possesses. It was a land slide win for Tim with 4 to 1 votes and a whole $500 richer. After the finals many started to head home but the entertainment kept going with Simon Mark Trios and 19twenty still to play on stage. Both groups rocked out with a great style of blues, roots and rock all mixed together to create a great atmosphere of sound that would work its way into the town of Bridgetown for the nights festivities.
Clockwise from top left – Laurance Bakewell –Phillip Marshall – Dylan Schmidt – Tim Rose
Tim Rose with 10 pineapples all in one hand
The ambience that the town had on the Saturday night was splendid. People were all over the place with the main street closed and live music coming out of buildings and establishments all through town. The nights partying went well with everyone really enjoying the Blues at Bridgetown.
A big shout out goes to Megan Richards from the shire of Greenbushes-Bridgetown for all her hard work and for her hospitality she and her family gave to the Freestyle Now squad. Great to have the Blues at Bridgetown wanting to get behind a competition of this magnitude. Props to Lifesports in Bridgetown and to Stowaway distribution and Beyond skate for their continual support.
Official results Bridgetown sk8’n’blues – Saturday 14th November
Scooter -1st Zac Priest – 2nd Alex James – 3rd Sam Owens – 4th Matt Franklin – 5th Jaxon Turner – 6th Jarrod Austin – 7th Liam Crocker
Skate – 1st Callum McCawley $500 – 2nd Phillip Marshall $250 – 3rd Russel Morris $150 – 4th Matt Bicker $100 – 5th James Thompson
Bmx Duds – 1st Chris Radosavljeric – 2nd The Pavman – 3rd Harleigh Wiggers – 4th Callen McDonald – 5th Aaron Moulsdale – 6th Tyson Parker – 7th Ross Scafiti – 8th Dano – 9th GUMP – 10th Jarrah Clapham – 11th Bob King
Bmx Studs – 1st Tim Rose $500 – 2nd Laurance Bakewell $250 – 3rd Dylan Schmidt $150 – 4th Aaron Pill $100 – 5th Michael Pidgeon – 6th Jacob DeAbru – 7th Matt Doubikin – 8th Taylor Brown – 9th Dave Jonker – 10th Mark Willit – 11th Leon Vermey – 12th Scott Parkinson
