Scenes From Last Night’s “Momentum Generation” Premiere And After Party In LA

As anyone present would surely attest on this hazy fall morning in Los Angeles, last night’s premiere and party—put on by the Home Box Office—celebrating the upcoming release of “Momentum Generation” was a damned fine time, indeed. 

We’re fairly certain Rob, the Taylors, Benji, Shane-O, Pat-O, Kalani, Ross, and even Kelly are feeling it this AM, last night one for the ages for the tight, if occasionally tense, pack. 

The crew spent an hour slugging their way through media duties on the Blue Carpet, handling lines of inquiry from ESPN and Bleacher Report, as well as the standard Entertainment rags; by the time they got to the end of the firing line, where the surf media had been happily quarantined, their relief at familiar faces was palpable. 

“I haven’t even seen it yet, so no spoilers,” Pat O’Connell admitted. 

“I think they took a little artistic license with a few things,” Kelly Slater hedged. “But for the most part it’s pretty fair.” 

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Taylor Knox said of the grueling eight- and nine-hour interviews the Zimbalist Brothers, Jeff and Micheal, put them through compiling the film. 

According to both Steele the Zimbalist Brothers, the project required digitizing and archiving more than an actual ton of footage from Taylor’s archives. Like 40,000 hours of tape. 

“They pulled up to my studio in, like, a rental car,” Steele said. “And they walked in and saw how much footage there was and just… There were four people, and they filled the car up with the tapes, and only one person could fit in the car. They drove off with all of it and I though, “That’s fine, right? They know what they’re doing.”

Actress Rachel Boston.

Kelly Slater, Perry Farrel, Kalani Robb, Offspring’s Noodles, Shane Dorian, and Pete Parada.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Rolling into the Bungalow in Santa Monica, Stab was greeted by a flock of familair faces, all thoroughly enjoying the top shelf open bar, as well as the incredible spread HBO had rolled out—a poke bowl station, an endless buffet of roast chicken, ribs, and veggies. 

With a stage erected out front (and a sound board that Mick Kelleher assured us wold handle a fucking stadium performance), acoustic guitars strewn about, and both Offspring, Perry Farrel, and members of Unwritten Law in attendance, there was pretty much a 100% chance that, like a moth to a flame, Kelly Slater was going to get on stage and sing with whoever ended up there. 

Ross Williams, snacking. Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, listening. Kelly Slater, center of attention.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

While Stab laid down a cool $20 that Slater would be on stage before the night was through, an hour into the party, Kelly’s longtime partner, Kalani Miller, combed through the crowd for any sign of Slater’s polished dome amongst the well-heeled crowd, to no avail. But after the first few acoustic takes on Offspring’s more recognizable ’90s vintage—as well as a tongue-in-cheek punk ode to the North Shore called, we think, “Don’t Fuck With Da Hui”— there was Slates, organic cotton blazer and good, sturdy selvedge denim, looking up the lyrics to… The Beatles “Revolution”? Joined by Rob on guitar, the five-piece stumbled through the Lennon-McCartney masterpiece before shoeing Slates and Machado off and finishing the evening with a ukulele-heavy rendition of “Self-Esteem.”

Scroll south for some more images from the evening. Momentum Generation premieres Dec 11 and is absolutely not to be missed. 

Offspring.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Offspring’s Dexter Holland

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Robert Trujillo and Perry Farrel.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Taylor Steele.

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Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Best dressed went to Sophie and Rob Machado.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Johnny Knoxville and his wife, Naomi Nelson.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Rachel Leigh Cook and Rachel Boston.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

The Weatherleys.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

Kelly Slater, right at home amongst this crowd.

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO

“…But she came over
I lost my nerve
I took her back and made her dessert.”

Photography

Josh Blanchard/FilmMagic for HBO