YAY AREAAAAAA

Oakland is home for many things, for starters me as I live in Oakland California. Oakland is home of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, the black panther party, the hyphy movement. Oakland being so close to the city brings more and more visitors from all over chasing the city lifestyle.

Many come far and wide to experience one thing, FREEDOM. What truly is freedom? Is it an idea? Is it a person? Is it something you argue about? The answer is: NONE OF THE ABOVE. Freedom is truly a feeling, an instinct to say the least. For these local bay area residents freedom is truly felt at the Sideshow. Thousands of people gather from far wide to watch a very select few stuntmen show off their cars and their handling in the pit where they are burning rubber hanging out windows all over the city. This is just a glimpse of what happens in Oakland CA

If you live or grew up in Oakland there's a good chance you heard fireworks blasting in the sky, tires screeching and engines roaring hitting the rev limiter to its very limit throughout all hours of the night. The weekends are live and full of action bringing in large crowds blocked off streets and a whole lot of burnt rubber.

Getting access to an event like this is not an easy task. Information is usually passed down through word of mouth. You must be in the know to know, you know? This isn't some event people went out of their way to attain permits to shut down the streets, they just go out and shut it down themselves. Blocking off traffic and doing donuts in the intersection is a sure fire way to shut down any intersection. As the crowd begins to grow, so does the aggravation in the residents in the area as they are quick to call the police to shut down the show. So let me break down my most recent sideshow experience in Oakland California.

I just got off work from working an 8 hour shift. I'm on my way home and trying to see what my friends have been getting into for the night. Shoot, maybe we can link and have a drink or two and vibe for the night. After I sent out my "WYD" text for the night I got little to no response from most if I did get a response it was "I'm getting ready for bed". My night was beginning to look like a complete bust. As I am approaching my neighborhood I see a cloud of smoke in the distance at the intersection I normally turn to enter my neighborhood. As I get closer I see cars parked in the crowd drawn around the intersection. I already knew what was going on, it was a sideshow. I hop out the car and hurry to the crowd, the cars are roaring loud and the tires are screeching like sirens. The smell of burnt rubber filled my lungs and left a taste on my tongue I couldn't resist. Foxbody mustangs Lexus Ls400s Infiniti G35, Grand nationals and more swanging left and right amping up the crowd and blowing out tires. It was insane to see people really hanging out the window, my eyes almost couldn't even believe that this was happening. I thought Too$hort E-40 Mistah Fab and Traxamillion was making this up. These drivers had so much skill getting so close to the crowd and not hitting anything or anyone all the while having people in the car hanging out the window. Before I could think about taking pictures, cops started pulling up. All the drivers exit the pit going opposite direction of the police and some guy walks into the center of the pit and starts yelling "BRING IT IN FOR THE NEXT ADDRESS" the crowd rushes in and starts taking photos of this guys phone. I get the photo I need and begin to rush back to my car all the while spreading the information to the people who was a little late to the memo.

I start my engine and begin to drive only to realize I'm boxed in from all sides from other spectators' cars. The next spot is across town and everyone is heading that way. There's cars full of people with passengers sitting outside the windows waiting to get this show on the road. As the crowd gets moving I noticed everyone's disregard to any stop sign, red light or any other traffic law there is. Were speeding in 25mph zones and the people going faster than me are on the wrong side of the road and people in front of me have people sitting outside every possible window of the car. It was crazy, it felt more exhilarating driving to the next spot than being at the spot watching people do donuts. Arriving the spot was very interesting in itself. The area felt really quiet and as more and more cars began to pull up and block the road, I noticed the cars filling in from all sides from every intersection. I get out my car and begin to walk towards the intersection, many others do as well. The crowd begin fill in and there it goes. A loud roar to start things off. I scan around to see where the next car is. There's movement in the crowd across the pit, the open up space as a lexus is slowly creeping, engine roaring and the tires already smoking. The crowd lets the lexus loose and it rips across the pit showing the concrete no remorse.

After a few laps around the pit you see people climbing out the passenger windows as the driver is making his rounds in the pit. A loud boom goes off and I look up into the sky and it's a firework blasting into the air. The energy of the crowd and wild bulls like cars roaring in the pit and the smoke in the air had me feeling all kinds of crazy. Eager for more I started recording video to share with my homies that missed out on such a night.

A loud roar like no other started to go off. It was so loud it felt like it made my heart skip a beat. I felt horrified for a moment almost concerned to see what was about to come inching out of the crowd. It was a Cadillac with a license plate that said onlyfans on it. I always thought Cadillacs were a little ugly but after this I was truly impressed with what a Cadillac can do. The driver truly knew how to work this car swangin it all around the pit causing the crowd to really back up before they got smacked up. Next up enters a mustang and this mustang was really a wild bull amping up the crowd. They were going so hard that their tires blew out and they were riding on a rim. The car stops and 5 people get out, pop the trunk and start pulling out extra wheels. They were really having a full on pit stop in the middle of the pit and swapped the wheels then got back to it! The crowd was screaming and inching closer some people even ran to the center they were so hyped up. The mustang was drifting so close to the crowd I had to step back. Some guy wasn't paying attention and got rocked by the mustang. The crowd instantly responded and scooped him away from the pit. I was impressed with the instant response the crowd had towards that unfortunate smack.

We was probably at this spot for like 35 minutes and no police yet. I figured the cops gave up, the pit went silent and there it was the sound no one wants to hear, sirens. These cops came rolling in deep over like 15 cruisers all lined up coming down the block. Everyone scattered immediately. I haven't run this fast to my car ever in my life. The roads were all flooded with cars, the first chance I got, I drove onto the sidewalk and made moves past the crowd. Hit the corner quick then back onto the road slippin in with the other cars that broke free from the crowd on a quiet side street. At this point it was 2am, which meant it was way past my bedtime.

After I got out of the area, things started to really calm down. The adrenaline had me feeling so awake and alive. I truly felt free more so than any time in my life. For a moment I was able to live with no rules holding me back, in a crowd that also couldn't care less about the rules to the road or the consideration for others sleeping. It was just a glimpse to the outlaw lifestyle sideshows can bring. I found myself struggling to sleep rewatching all the footage and reviewing all the pictures. It really was a remarkable experience. This is what a typical weekend for some can be in Oakland California or the bay are in general. There is an endless amount of subcultures you can dive into in the bay area of even your own area. Maybe next time your in the bay, you can experience one for yourself