Shaun White Unites Music and Snowboarding at Air + Style Los Angeles

Sandra Miska

A group of the greatest snowboarders in the world, along with some of the most high-energy acts in the music industry descended upon Exposition Park in Los Angeles Feb. 18-19 for Air + Style, a one-of-a-kind event presented by none other than Olympic gold medalist Shaun White.  Considered to be the greatest snowboarder to ever live, White mostly hung back during the two day event, while the musicians and his fellow athletes took front and center.

Despite a major downpour the previous day and night, skies were clear of rain the first day of Air + Style, although festival-goers had to trudge through mud when walking between the two large stages called Winter and Summer. South African singer St. Lucia brought the warmth with sunny songs such as “Dancing on Glass,” and “Love Somebody.” Minnesota-based hip-hop group, Atmosphere, kept things sunny with the aptly titled tune, “Sunshine.” Things got racy when Canadian electro-funk duo, Chromeo, took the stage and performed groovy songs including “Sexy Socialite.” Long Beach-based rapper, Vince Staples, made the strongest political statement of the evening by chanting, “Fuck the police,” before launching into “Norf Norf,” his track about avoiding cops. The night closed with Australian D.J. and musician Flume, best known for the emotional song “Never Be Like You.” Flume was later joined by Staples, rapper Vic Mensa and Pusha T.

After a testosterone-fueled first day, the second day of Air + Style kicked off with performances from female-fronted groups XYLØ and Powers. Chicago duo Louis the Child performed dreamy electronic songs like “It’s Strange,” while rapper Russ performed melodic rap tunes including “Look.” Soon, the sun set and the rain started to pour, but that didn’t stop rockers TV on the Radio from performing a strong set of favorites such as “Wolf Like Me,” with lead singer Tunde Abebimpe giving an especially energetic performance while competing with the rain that give his band a distorted sound.  Compton native YG performed one of the most fun sets of the festival, although he didn’t avoid politics, calling out the current president in a rap succinctly titled, “Fuck Donald Trump.” Electronic musicians closed out the Summer Stage and turned the lawn in front of the Natural History museum into a giant club. The rain really started to pour by the time Major Lazer hit the Winter Stage, giving new meaning to the trio’s biggest hit, “Cold Water.” Adding extra heat was their team of dancers, all hailing from Los Angeles. Another highlight of their performance was the catchy “Lean On.”

In between sets on the Winter Stage, the snowboarders took to Mt. Los Angeles, the name given to the 135-foot ramp constructed for the event. 29 men competed and in the end, Canadian Max Parrot took home the top prize. Trailing behind him in second place was Belgian Seppe Smits, while Norwegian Marcus Kleveland took third place. Also making it to the podium was Sven Thorgren. The only American to advance to the top eight was Colorado native Chris Corning, an impressive feat for the 17-year-old.

Air + Style Los Angeles took place Feb. 18-19 at Exposition Park.