Fashion

metric3

metric4

Captivating and ethereal, you can’t take your eyes off Metric vocalist Emily Haines. She’s fashionable, sexy, confident and quirky. The Canadian electro-indie band rocked the Zune Concert Series today as their first stop on a major tour for their new album, Fantasies.

Upwards of 10,000 people packed into Skiers’ Plaza to watch the Juno-nominated band. This was, by far, the largest concert thus far at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

The crowd was eclectic, with skaters, punks, scenesters, snowboarders, skiers, bubbly teenagers, and hippies. The ’80s sunglass sightings were out of control. The atmosphere was electric Metric hit the stage and the energy level went through the roof for the duration of the show. What a great way to kick off an international tour!
Directly after the concert, the Monster Mini Ramp jam kicked into full swing. What an exciting afternoon this has been.

skate21

skate1

Earlier in the day, I checked out the Grenade Games Superpipe finals on Blackcomb Mountain. The jam format of this comp inspired riders to hit as many features as possible. The pipe had three jibs along the way: a giant grenade, a tree jib and a rail. As always the Dingo and Danny were partying it up in the pit. I never did establish who won, but will keep you posted once the results come in. I suspect the Grenadians are slightly preoccupied with their after party at the Longhorn. Tomorrow is the Grand Finale Big Air competition from 8-10pm so be prepared to get blown away by Grenade mayhem.

I’m off to prepare for the Schick Fashion Exposed show. Tune in tomorrow for highlights – if I don’t have a heart attack from too many energy drinks.

Detox Cocktails and Mike Douglas in a Dress!

April 24, 2009

Arts & Culture, Fashion, Festivals, Lifestyle

1 Comment

mike-douglas

Last night started off in the Happy Planet tent, where I sampled a few cocktails by Lumiere mixologist Cameron Brogue, who actually started his mixing career in Whistler. Each cocktail was specially designed to compliment the Detox, Immunity, and Glow shots, which contain all natural ingredients. The concept of an alcoholic drink that detoxes you while you get drunk is brilliant. Let’s just say I feel like a million bucks today!

The Olympus Pro Photographer showdown started on an “interesting note.” One-upping Filmmaker Showdown host Feet Banks – who came out in his underwear – MC, Mike D, sauntered on stage in a brown wig, white leather boots and his wife’s sexy little sequin dress. The freeskiing legend, Mike Douglas, leaves for a ski trip to Alaska, and somewhere along the way turns into a cross-dresser. Mike has amazing hips and great legs.”Sweet Lord,” I thought to myself, “this is going to be a good show.”

And it was. Much to everyone’s disappointment, Mike decided to put some clothes on, but not before putting on a little show as he bent over to pick something up from the floor.

The calibre of action sports photography shown last night was incredible. From Red Bull photographer Christian Pondella’s extreme locations and athleticsm to Daniel Blom’s creative and colourful snowboard shots, there was an amazing cross-section of talent on display.

During judge deliberation, we watched a tribute to Shane McConky, who recently died base jumping in Italy. This amazing professional freeskier/daredevil had a lot of close connections to Whistler, having pretty much grown up skiing the area. He also base jumped off Whistler Blackcomb’s PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola in December 2008 after convincing the higher ups that it was a great idea. The ski and snowboard world has truly lost one of their legends.

In the end, a humble Whistler-Vancouver local Jordan Manley won the $10,000 prize. This guy has entered five pro photographer competitions and has won them all. His photography skills include capturing a mountain biker in a drop of water, shooting a snowflake, and photographing countless incredible ski and mountian bike athletes in their aw-inspiring elements. This world-renowned competition is sure to shoot Jordan to an even greater level of notoriety in the action sports world.

After all the excitement of last night, Day 8 if the festival is now underway. This afternoon, it’s up to Whistler Blackcomb’s Superpipe to check out the Grenadians. Then, we’ll bomb it down the mountain to watch Bend Sinister and Metric. The Mini Ramp Jam in Village Square (6-8pm) revisits the skate world. A panel of Monster pro skaters , including legendary British skater, Geoff Rowley, will be judging the comp.

The Schick Fashion Exposed event is on tonight with a selection of great In celebration their 30th Anniversary, Westbeach is going to give us a little history lesson on 30 years of snowboard fashion, which is guaranteed to entertain the masses. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy antiques they have pulled from the vault.

Hot tip of the day: The Happy Planet Detox shots totally work. Go to the tent and get as many as you can immediately!