One day after the end of SEMA, I attended my first Original Lowrider show in Las Vegas. Grab a seat, we have a lot to talk about. But remember I'm an outsider looking in since I'm from New York and New York has more Bentleys than Lowriders and Donks combined. It is what it is.
Let's rewind for a second, the former Editor in Chief of Lowrider Magazine, Joe Ray, parted ways with the magazine and started his own venture, Original Lowrider. Original Lowrider (from what I gathered) is designed to preserve the culture of Lowriding. It is still a business, however the business shouldn't supersede the culture and I believe that that's the direction that Original Lowrider is going in. Because I'm familiar with Joe Ray and what he stands for, I knew I had to attend this show. And I'm so glad I did.
I walked into the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and I was amazed. Again, I knew I would be but let's continue. The room was filled with Lowriders from various parts of the West Coast. Not just Nevada, but there were cars from Northern and Southern California (including Los Angeles), Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah (I'm still surprised that there's lowriders in Utah.) and as far east as Texas. There were a few vehicles that I was familiar with after seeing them at Torres Empire, Arizona Super Show, SEMA, Rick Ross Car Show, Frank's Hydraulics Car Hop, and Extreme Autofest, but the majority of the room, like a good 80%, was completely new to me.
This is how much in awe I was in. From the time I got out of my Uber at 9:45 am until the time I left the show- 6:15 pm, I didn't sit down. I only took one bathroom break. I definitely didn't eat because I'm not a fan of convention center food (I can have burgers anywhere and I don't consider Papa John's as real pizza). I was just taking photos practically the entire time and since we're being completely honest, I took as many photos at this one show as I did all week at SEMA.
To see the rest of the photos, check out Bernie's 2023 Original Lowrider Las Vegas gallery. Oh and I will be back.
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