COMPLEXCON 2019
We packed our bags and flew to LA for ComplexCon and it was a trip. This was our second time at the 4th annual iteration of biggest youth culture convention in the world.
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ComplexCon kicked off during the first weekend of November in Long Beach, California. Various vendors catered to every need of the eager visitors. Boiler Room came through with a booth, which had exclusive merchandise up for grabs. Midnight Studios had a banger booth as well; MS had exclusive garments for sale and even the man himself, Shane Gonzales, made an appearance by the booth and conversed with attendees. Not to forget Kid Cud’s own ’Cudders Playground’: this ‘booth’ was built upon a space-theme; the whole environment was designed to look like Moon and it had human gyroscope for the brave hearted people to test their ability to withstand G-forces. If that wasn’t your cup of tea, you were able to sign up for 2vs2 laser tag game as well. We also need to give a shoutout to Activision for hosting a dedicated area for Call of Duty fans. Their recent release, Modern Warfare, had a doubles ladder tournament going on at full throttle during the event. We decided not to attend the tournament so everyone else had a fighting chance.. #EZ4HYPEND
Small independent brands came through with the heat this year and our personal favourite was a brand called Quarterfinal. They had some really nice trucker hats and T-shirt prints and the people behind the brand seemed genuine and down to earth. This is the magic of ComplexCon - meeting new people who fuck with the same stuff as you. Kudos to Diamond Supply for setting up a proper skate competition at ComplexCon! The food situation was extremely good this year, with the “First We Feast” food truck lagoon. From fresh lobster to spicy fried vegan treats - you could find pretty much anything you want and end it with the “Hot Ones” wings challenge. We learned our lesson last year and skipped the challenge.
The “First We Feast” food truck lagoon.
For NBA fans who spend their weekend nights watching basketball: this place was heaven. You could see Nick Young (Swaggy P) and Dwayne Wade walk among the crowd and take selfies with anyone willing.The thing that separates ComplexCon from it’s rival events is the level of live entertainment. It can be only described as a mini-festival. Kid Cudi hadn’t done any shows in Europe for a while and hasn’t been touring actively, but then, completely out of the blue, he was announced as a headliner for ComplexCon. Other artists included DaBaby and 21 Savage, to name a few.
Though the event was all around a really well put together, there was something missing. There wasn’t really that much to do, a sneaker raffle was the only thing that got people involved and that only took some minutes. There were no big-name releases happening at ComplexCon this year - like the Travis Air Forces or Diamond Dunks in previous years. More raffles and competitions would’ve done the trick surely. You can already see smaller independent vendors dropping out of the event as bigger commercial companies are finding the potential of ComplexCon.
The crowd eagerly waiting for DaBaby to jump on-stage.
All-in-all the consensus among the crowd, from what we gathered, was that last year was better. ComplexCon has set the standard so high that it makes meeting the demand and expectations of the visitors increasingly difficult each year. We will definitely be back next year to see how the event evolves.
We want to thank adidas for making this trip possible <3
Curated by:
Joel Kotivuori, Karim Awad, Kasper Kasanen, Miikka Marjamäki & Oula Valkeinen
Photography by:
Karim Awad & Joel Kotivuori