I read about the Smoke Out, put on annually by the Horse Backstreet Choppers magazine crew, on Bikernet. People always spoke of it in an almost cultish manner. An event where old school chopperheads appeared in mass out of nowhere like zombies right out of “Night of the Living Dead”, until they had taken over the village of Salsbury, North Carolina.
For years it was an east coast phenomenon as if the old school zombies couldn’t survive the dusty, arid atmosphere of the southwestern desert, so we remained safe from the annual invasion, but 2006 would be different. It would be the year that a new strain of Old School Zombies would emerge to take over the small Arizona town of Cottonwood, and it would never be the same.
They rumbled and rolled in from all over the west, California, Oregon, Washington, Texas et al, on a Friday afternoon that was as gray and damp as my grandmother’s basement. I parked and assumed, if I acted like them, I would blend in and I wouldn’t be discovered.
A metamorphosis occurred as I shuffled through the gates and into the light. I was greeted by old friends, Chop from O’School, Johnny Goodson from Insane Customs, The Count, Scotty Long, Ralph from Rockem Sockem and a host of others. But, I could swear, they had an eerie glint in their eyes. OK, I’m being a little melodramatic, and maybe they didn’t come back from the dead but the roadkill stench was overwhelming. They wandered around the grounds aimlessly and stayed out for the rest of weekend, I couldn’t see anyone melting into a pile of smoldering ash.
We’ve been deprived of this event far too long, but from conversations with Edge, who handled the promotion for The Horse, this revelry in the cactus may become an annual, and we should all be grateful. I wasn’t sure how to decipher the tone of his voice. What did he mean?
Smoke Out West had it all. Kara, focus of several magazine center spreads, did an outstanding job as the event MC. The music both nights absolutely brought the house down. Saturday night Edge brought in the “Devil Doll” right off the cover of the HORSE. A serious departure from the country rock that they usually rocks local events. She rocked the house. The sandy Bike Show, judged by Tarantulas and Scorpions, was nothing short of incredible and brought out the best the home-built bobber/chopper world had to offer. Harley, Norton, Triumph to mention just a few and the Chop-off, won by Cole Foster of Salinas Boys Customs, was a lesson in the alchemy of new school, in an old school format. They chose a new Horse Maiden and she was stunning. I didn’t get her name, which is just as well, I really don’t need another stalking charge.
Oh and the food vendors tried to cloud the evil stench with the mouth-watering aromas of half pound hamburgers that were perfectly prepared, sausage sandwiches that made me druel and scarf for least two meals a day. And cold beer … does it get any better than this? Womens’ roller derby, a huge crowd favorite, and two wet t-shirt contests a day, sans the t-shirts, tempered the blistering heat and the onslaught of a pack of rattlesnakes. Oh, and lest I forget the Burn Box. Was that the smell making my stomach turn? Old school, new school it just didn’t matter, everyone showed up at the burn box.
Bottom line, Edge and the Horse staff know how to throw an old school party. Though Edge thought there were things they could improve on for next year, I would be hard pressed to figure out what it might be. Next year I will rise up as a minion of the Old School Zombies and make the pilgrimage to Cottonwood for good old fashion fun.
You can see more pictures of this event on my website at www.ScooterShoots.com.
