Once again, we hit the Lone Star State with an incredible Tour show that brought out the area's best to compete for cash and trophies, and also for Texas-size bragging rights. We knew as soon as we landed in Houston how this show was going to go down. We were greeted with the intense heat and humidity that only "H-town" has to offer. The next day, we were greeted with people anxious to move in to show their prized possessions. In fact, there were more than 400 cars on the blacktop ready to move into Reliant Arena.
The move-in was a range of colors and temperatures as an occasional slight breeze cooled everyone from the otherwise blazing heat. The cumulus clouds made for some relief from the sun and painted a picture postcard sky. The Houston show participants have to be some hardcore riders to deal with the heat and sun, and we thank all of you who came out for that.As the heavy hitters from H-town and beyond, including some from as far away as California and Florida, started to fill up the Arena, there was more than enough candy, flake and chrome to keep the crowd wowed. On the day of the show, we arrived early so that we could start shooting the cars and try to get the best angles. Sunday's show was filled with the sights and sounds of cars, music and ladies everywhere. Tour sponsors Quaker State, Rockford Fosgate, Fuze Energia Positiva, Harley-Davidson and CCE Hydraulics were on hand with plenty of things to get, do and see.
As usual, there was a lot of traffic on vendors' row. CCE Hydraulics showed up with one of the sickest trailer setups that we've seen with experts on hand to answer all of the questions that hydro fans had to ask. The crew at Rockford Fosgate had a few hooked-up rides that were brought down from Ekstensive Metalworks. The Quaker State booth passed out goodie bags to spectators who signed up for great prizes. The new booth at Si TV was also cranking with hot Latina women giving away shirts and talking to the people about their upcoming shows.Not surprisingly for this hot day, the homies at Fuze and NOS energy drink had the busiest booth, since they were giving away samples of their flavorful drinks. Boost Mobile was also in the house giving away tons of stuff, but you couldn't just go up to them and ask for something; you had to take your chances on the craps table that they had set up, and try your luck with the gorgeous Annie or Niko.
On the performance tip, there were a few different groups hitting the stage, but nowhere was the anticipation more evident than for the one and only Paul Wall. One of H-town's heroes, the crowd was looking forward to seeing him do his thing and he didn't disappoint. With the help of Keke, Paul Wall had 'em "drivin' slow 'n' ridin' dirty."The world-famous bikini contest followed the performers and the crowd got to see some bare breasts, well, almost, but there was no shortage of barking and the winner did one of her leaping splits, much to the delight of the crowd. And no Lowrider Tour show would be complete without the craziest and biggest hop competition in the nation, where some of the cars and trucks hop to new heights while others thrash around as if possessed by the switch demons.
The Houston show was a great success due to the large amount of car clubs and individuals showing support. We would like to thank all of the spectators who traveled from near and far to give us some Texas-style love. If you missed this year's Houston show, make sure that you make it to the next one, since it's going to be the hottest show to hit H-town once again.