UK rock and grunge band Basement perform at the Rockstar Energy Open in Portland, Oregon, on August 15
Muller / Platfrm
There is no disputing that skateboarding culture and punk culture are inextricably linked, going back more than four decades. But in the late aughts, that link weakened as action sports began to identify with hip-hop, electronic music and DJs. However, at last weekend’s Rockstar Energy Open in Portland, Oregon, the punk roots of skateboarding were back in full force, attended by a young crowd that has embraced that connection.
Younger consumers are increasingly seeking out experiences that feel less polished and more physical. Just look at the decline of the carefully curated IG carousel and the rise of blurry, in medias res photos; the embrace of vinyl and disposable cameras; the return of handwritten zines passed out at shows; and even a return to smoking in lieu of vaping.
So it makes sense that skateboarding and punk and hardcore music are also surging in popularity among young people. In a time of increasingly frictionless digital consumption, there’s something cathartic about the raw experience of guitar music, as compared with the precise beats of electronic music.
Once, it would have seemed inconceivable that the ties between skateboarding and punk would need to be revived.
In the ’80s, the Southern California skate scene and punk scene developed concurrently, informing one another. Punk kids skated; bands played at skateparks. The relationship is perfectly encapsulated by Suicidal Tendencies’ 1987 music video for “Possessed to Skate,” which became a skateboarding anthem.
In the mid-90s, these counterculture institutions entered the mainstream.
In addition to bringing punk music to the masses on its network, MTV Sports & Music Festival combined alternative rock, punk and hip-hop music with skateboarding, BMX, snowboarding and freestyle motocross.
Then, X Games and Vans Warped Tour launched nearly simultaneously. In 1995, Kevin Lyman, Warped Tour co-creator, had a vision of a festival that would combine music and skateboarding. Vans becoming the title sponsor the following year only solidified the connection. The 1998 Warped Tour included a vert ramp, street course and Vans Amateur World Skateboarding Championships qualifying contests at tour stops.
In 1999, the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater allowed kids around the world—not just those living in Southern California—to experience the connection between skateboarding and punk with its soundtrack that celebrated punk, hardcore, ska, hip-hop and alternative music.
But culture is constantly shifting, and the late aughts and 2010s saw punk and its associated genres give way to EDM, trap, hip-hop and electronic pop. The shift coincided with the decline of vert skating and the rise of street skating, which increasingly intersected with hip-hop and fashion culture.
“When we were teenagers, Warped Tour was punk bands, and sometimes hardcore bands and pop punk bands, and they had ramps, and skating was part of it,” said Stefan Babcock, 38, vocalist for Toronto punk band PUP, which formed in its current iteration in 2013 and played Warped Tour in 2015.
“By the time we accidentally played Warped Tour as adults, it was a lot of DJs, bands who didn’t play their own instruments. It was the opposite of punk, and there was no skateboarding at all,” Babcock added.
In 2019, Warped Tour ceased operations. The link between skateboarding and punk didn’t disappear for those still living the lifestyle, but it dropped out of the mainstream view.
Meanwhile, X Games’ music lineup in the 2010s and early 2020s has been headlined by electronic artists and DJs such as deadmau5, Marshmello, Kygo, Alesso, Kaskade and Illenium.
Then, in 2024, Steve Mateus, Senior Director of Sports and Music at Rockstar Energy, and Kemp Curley, Managing Director of Platfrm, spearheaded the creation of the Rockstar Energy Open. The two friends’ bond is partially based in their shared love of punk and hardcore music, and the RSEO’s music lineup reflects that.
In the last couple years, the skate contest and live music festival has revived the link between punk music and skateboarding in a way not seen since the mid-2000s.
In 2025, the RSEO music lineup included veteran Southern California skate-punks Face to Face, 2010s emo-revival outfit The Story So Far, Washington, D.C. punks Teen Mortgage and up-and-comers The Paradox.
This year, RSEO booked Toronto punks PUP; Hot Mulligan, who were fresh off playing to nearly 100,000 people at Lollapalooza; Baltimore’s Angel Du$t; and veteran UK melodic hardcore band Basement.
“There’s something about being at an event that feels like the kind of event that existed when we were teenagers,” Babcock said of PUP playing the RSEO.
Staged on Portland’s Waterfront Park, the Rockstar Energy Open is completely free and open to the community. As a result, in 2026 the local skateboarding and punk scene turned out in full force. Lines stretched for half a mile down the street; when fans couldn’t get inside the grounds in time to see their favorite bands, they watched from the street, behind chain-link fences.
Indeed, the 2026 RSEO blew past its previous attendance record, with 52,000 fans attending over the weekend, a 49% year-over-year increase. The global livestream audience surpassed 4 million viewers. Organizers believe the rabid fan bases PUP, Hot Mulligan, Angel Du$t and Basement enjoy contributed to the surge in attendance.
The event attracted fans who drove from hundreds of miles away; some even came from Canada.
Kayla S. has seen Hot Mulligan in her hometown of Seattle twice, but when she heard they’d be doing a free show in Portland, she made the drive down.
“Growing up, events were always so expensive, like Warped Tour,” said Lily W., who drove with her husband to Portland from Salem, Oregon, to see Hot Mulligan. “There was nothing I could ever enjoy. So it’s cool to have this event where everyone can afford to come.”
For a fan to have seen Hot Mulligan at Warped Tour in Washington, D.C., in June, face value tickets ranged from $150 to $230+. To have caught them at Lollapalooza in Chicago in early August, fans would have had to spend $185 for a one-day general admission ticket.
Hot Mulligan frontman Nathan “Tades” Sanville hypes up the massive crowd at the band’s RSEO headlining set on August 14.
Dillon / Platfrm
“We were very passionate about doing a free show,” Mateus said about the Rockstar Energy Open. “We just felt that it was so necessary to give back to the city and this culture in this economy, where paying for tickets is tough, especially for families.”
There’s no denying that putting on the RSEO is costly for Rockstar, especially booking bands that have just played festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella.
But the benefit for Rockstar is obvious: the event attracts an enormous physical audience and produces ample social content. Attendees sample product. The event builds strong connections with endemic, non-endemic and local brands and engenders goodwill among Portland residents.
Put another way, cultural capital is often more valuable than transactional advertising.
The festival is free thanks to investment from local partners, including Sport Oregon, Travel Portland and Prosper Portland, as well as corporate partners including Dickies, Fred Meyer, Plaid Pantry and others.
Rarely do brand executives shape—rather than merely chase—culture. But, like Lyman before them, Mateus and Curley are not blindly following youth culture. The Rockstar Energy Open reflects their own tastes and sensibilities, as well as those of their team. But in this moment in time, as guitar music regains popularity, they’re also meeting young people where they are.
And while Rockstar and action sports digital media company Platfrm are the financial and logistical architects of the RSEO, they delegated almost every element of the festival’s on-the-ground experience to the local stewards of Portland’s skate, art and music communities.
The top-down, bottom-up model of the RSEO is what ensures its authenticity as a corporate entity putting on a skate and punk festival—two subcultures that have always been proudly anti-establishment.
Willis Kimbel, who opened Portland’s Rip’s Co. Skateshop in 2024 and is the force behind Portland’s DIY skatepark, Q-Side, worked with 10 Barrel Brewing and its Pub Beer/Pub Light brands to bring a mini ramp to the RSEO’s community DIY zone.
The mini ramp at the Rockstar Energy Open that was made possible by 10 Barrel Brewing and Pub Light was left behind for the community at Portland’s DIY skatepark, Q-Side, following the event.
Michelle Bruton
Locals dropped in on the mini ramp just feet away from the courses where their heroes like Tom Schaar and Greyson Fletcher were competing. And local bands curated by Chris Nukala from Cal Skate played a small stage situated near the mini ramp just feet away from the stage where their own heroes, like Basement and Hot Mulligan, would headline.
Following the conclusion of the Open, the mini ramp will find a permanent home at Q-Side. Rather than treat Portland as merely a backdrop for a branded event, the RSEO is leaving behind a community asset.
Kimbel and the RSEO team also worked with Super Skate Posse, Exposure Skate, Adidas, Wy’East Academy, Supreme and Pro-Tec to outfit local youth with full skate setups, from boards and helmets to shoes and socks. The ability to afford (or not) equipment should never be an obstacle to a kid picking up a board for the first time, and that’s something brands are able to provide.
To further anchor the event in the Portland skate scene, visual artist Matt French, whose designs have shaped action sports aesthetics for years, and Portland’s Burnside Skatepark muralist Jaymeer contributed the art featured on the RSEO park course.
The park course at the Rockstar Energy Open, featuring murals by Matt French and Jaymeer
Michelle Bruton
The athletes who compete at RSEO consistently say it’s one of their favorite events on the contest circuit.
“It’s not too serious,” said Gavin Bottger, 19, who took first place in the men’s park event. Bottger has also competed at more formal competitions like the Olympics and world championships. “There’s no points or anything,” Bottger added about the RSEO. “It’s just about having fun skating.”
The large crowd that turned out for RSEO flowed organically from the skate contests during the day to the sets by PUP, Hot Mulligan, Angel Du$t and Basement at night.
A massive crowd turned up to watch Basement perform at the Rockstar Energy Open at Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Muller / Platfrm
Organizers were stunned with the turnout for the shows, even as their aim was to make this year’s RSEO the biggest yet. The bands they booked supported that goal; Hot Mulligan has 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
“These were the best shows they’ve had,” said 20-year-old Lazer Crawford, a Rockstar Energy skater who has competed at all three iterations of the event (including winning it in 2024 in what was then his first pro contest).
Lazer Crawford skates during the Men’s Street Final at the Rockstar Energy Open on August 16, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Amanda Loman/Getty Images for Rockstar Energy)
Getty Images
When organizers invited Crawford to suggest bands for this year’s RSEO, Basement was one of his top picks. Once again, the brand delegated cultural authority rather than dictating it from on high.
“It was amazing,” Crawford said of Basement’s set. “They were actually at capacity, and the City of Portland called and said there’s too many people. So then people were on the streets and sidewalks and climbing up on fences watching the shows.
“It doesn’t get more punk than that.”
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