A Weekend Of Low Brow Art And Custom Vehicles
A couple of weekends ago I ditched the steampunk and joined Paul at the newly resurrected Kustom Kulture Blastoff and I’m so glad I did.
Back in 2009, whilst watching Carmen Ghia and The Hotrods at the Steel City Hotrod Weekend, the idea of a low brow art and alternative lifestyle show was floated by our friend, Lynda, who ran a custom art supplies business and whose husband Chris was a pinstriper. She envisaged a show for and about low brow artists, from pinstripers to airbrush artists to tattooists; who turn the ordinary into the extraordinary; hoping to bring them and the traders of custom art supplies like herself together and she even had a name for it. Before we knew it we were hooked; well, as a pinstriper, Paul was. A year later the very first Kustom Kulture Blastoff was held at a small venue near the little known town of Spalding in Lincolnshire with Paul in charge of the “Panel Jam” where a bunch of pinstripers got together and put paint to panel whilst enjoying copious amounts of rum. I only attended for the afternoon to see what all the fuss was about but that short visit made me want more. So the next year I accompanied Paul for the full weekend and for the following eight years KKBO became a huge part of our lives and those of several of our family.
Over the next three years the show grew in popularity with the likes of Mickey Harris, The Arctic Pinheads and many more well known artists attending. By 2015 it had outgrown the small venue and moved to Lincoln Showground where it remained until the last event in 2019. During its time there it continued to grow and not only was it for ‘stripers and airbrushers but there were now body painters and a whole convention of tattooists. There were bands in the afternoon with jive lessons, burlesque shows and bands in the evenings; there was even a funfair one year. Being on a large showground there was now ample space for camping so specialist clubs began turning up with their teardrop caravans, RVs, Beetles, Minis and Monster Trucks, bikes and scooters. People were coming from far and wide to enjoy the weekend.
Work on organising the next event, for us, would start within days of New Year. Paul, as “Pit Boss”, would get the call and the date of the KKBO weekend would be marked on our calendar and months of work would begin. Pinstripers had to be contacted and cajoled into coming along, supplies had to be sourced, panels found and prepped, health and safety meetings attended and liaising with all the other folk involved in putting the show together to overcome all manner of problems; even our youngest daughter and I were involved in our small ways. Yes there were arguments, stamping of feet and tears of frustration but there was also a sense of camaraderie, togetherness and purpose which, despite being separated by distance, those of us lucky enough to be involved from it’s early beginnings made us the KKBO family and when it all came together seeing people enjoying what you had helped to create made it worth all the effort.
After the final weekend in 2019 the show was bought out by another promoter but unfortunately covid and the pandemic hit in 2020 so it had to be cancelled and never seemed to recover. Then, early this year Paul saw a post on Facebook promoting Kustom Kulture Blastoff 24. After a bit of investigating he discovered that it was now in the hands of yet another new owner and being run from a new venue, a few miles north of Lincoln, and that it was being pared back to it’s original format with the emphasis on the artists and their art. Paul immediately went into whiffle mode; wasn’t sure he could be bothered, he might pop along for a day to see how it went, it won’t be the same, don’t feel like it, just curious, nah, not going, won’t be up to much. Over the intervening months however, several of the old crew asked if he was going along and when Lynda got in touch to say she’d be there he finally made his mind up, bought a ticket and took himself off on the Thursday armed with brushes and panels. I would have joined him then except I had a ticket to a dance on the Friday.
It was a damp and dismal Saturday afternoon as I parked my car on the field in front of the venue. The grass was wet and the ground soggy so I pulled my trusty Doc Martens on and squelched towards the entrance to the venue. Wrist band in place I walked along the track between two buildings and onto the show field where I had to do a double take. It was like stepping back in time. There in front of me was a simple field with gazebos and marquees housing traders and artists around the outside and rows of custom cars lined up in the centre. As I made my way to the Panel Jam marquee I saw many a familiar face and conversations were had as if we’d seen each other only yesterday. The other advantage of this venue, I discovered, was gorgeous wooded area, strewn with fairy lights, with its own bar and a huge communal fire pit where folk could gather and chill out.
That night the atmosphere was buzzing. The music from the stage; a warm glow emanating from the LEDs on a custom van radiating across the ground drawing people towards it like moths; rows of hotrods lined up in front of us and a shroud of mist hanging over the field turning a spotlight beam into a huge fan of diffused light gave the evening a decidedly American Graffiti feel. It was one of those moments when you know all is as it should be.
After our first night of car camping together; surprisingly comfortable; we awoke to torrential rain but the weather forecast promised it would brighten up for the afternoon. It did, which made for an absolute cracker of a show. Although I ended up roasting in the afternoon heat since I’d dressed for a bit of a dismal day. I had another stroll round the stalls whilst Paul was showing and eager beginner the basics. That was always one of the nicest things about the Panel Jam, the striping veterans passing on their craft by encouraging newbies to get their hands dirty and have a go. As ever I stopped off at the stall of our good friend Ian Guy. Which is always dangerous. As I explained to Paul later; there was this picture, you see…….and I accidentally bought it when it sort of fell off the stall into my arms! To which he merely shrugged his shoulders in that resigned way he has. So I am the proud owner of yet another Ian Guy masterpiece. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with friends old and new and taking loads of photos.
I have to congratulate this new owner, he has got the vibe of the show spot on. May he take it from strength to strength.
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