Madfurther 2013 Twin Cities Sept. 7

“But, said Alice, the world has absolutely no sense, who's stopping us from inventing one?”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Life can really be broken down into a series of experiments. Experiments that start with a vision of what could be. So after much thought and planning you move to make it real, you assemble the components that you think will best compliment the process to the desired result, you formulate how to assemble them in an order that will work, you set them all up in place, turn on the switch, and the gas mixes with the air, the spark shoots into the chamber, and then BOOM!

Madfurther 2013 proved to be an experiment gone right. Conceived, planned and executed in an approximately three month window it was a whirlwind of activity, with heads coming together nonstop until the show actually started.
When a Minneapolis local Euro show cancelled this season but had already picked a date, Tristan Henderson and his crew at further performance saw a need for an MPLS local event and started planning. Having their roots deep in the European scene, but still heavily involved in many other facets of car culture, as on any given day you can walk into the shop and see a variety of things parked in and around the facility. Vintage motorcycles, VIP styled Lexus’s, Large pickup trucks that if needed could push the building over a few feet, as well as some impressive to say the least builds on European cars as Further has quite the reputation for some high power builds on some notable cars like maybe some force fed R32s as well as others, so the point is, a little diversity was needed.

Thus was born Madfurther. Open to anything and everything with an engine and tires, signified by the mantra “Gas+air+spark=BOOM! Meant to tear down the walls that have been built over the years between groups of different modifying styles and fortified by the occasional poor attitude by using the equation that is what we all know as what happens inside of an internal combustion engine.

Talking about it with Tristan the night before was interesting as I rode along with him on the poker run they set up on Friday night, which by the way was a screaming success as somewhere around 40 cars participated, and it was a great way to get people social and mingling without sitting in one place and getting wasted. Our discussion came to the point “what about the people who are into different stuff with their cars?” He responded quickly with, “we have great people, I’m not worried” And he was right. Not once was there a skirmish or a shit attitude that I ran into. If you know me, you know I talk to a lot of people and not once, from the hot rod guys, or anybody that wasn’t driving a euro, hear a bad word. Our crowd of European enthusiasts welcomed it all with open arms and left us hungry for more as there were some very unique builds, some that just about took me off my feet.

So I’ll stop blathering, as I tend to go off on tangents, which I just caught and move forward to the venue.

 Wow. That was my first word when I walked onto the tarmac. I was there early in the morning as I went out with a member of the crew to help set up, and get my booth up as early as I could. Walking through the hanger and out onto the field, the first thing that caught my eye was the vintage warbirds strapped to the ground and maintained by the Commemorative AirForce Minnesota Wing (from here on out, CAF) , our hosts for the day who really pulled out all the stops for us at FlemingField or, The South St Paul Airport, I knew that when full of cars we would have the perfect backdrop for a show.

Remember when I said the show was conceived, planned and set in 3 months? Well, in many worlds that doesn't end well, but in this one, and coming from someone who does his own show, this was smooth smooth smooth. With staff directly on point, from the second you drove up to the reg point, I think the official timeframe was around 5 minutes from getting in line to parking in the grounds, to the response to a heat stroke victim, to driving out at the end of the day. Just a well thought out, ready for anything, put together like a well-oiled machine operation (I did say earlier that Further was kind of known for that though didn’t I?)

Although it was hot, there were many places to stop and refresh. Hudson Brewing had provided the CAF with enough beer to quench even the thirstiest crowd, water was available all over the place, as well as the CAF hanger that was open to the public with tables and chairs to sit at.

Food trucks, beverages, and the cars, and oh the unbelievable steel that showed up.

Entirely possible that this is the best fish taco I've ever had....

 Wow. Of course there was a strong contingent of European cars there

 but there were some very notable builds of all sorts that came out to display. 

Patience metal fab, whoa! 

Which only helped exemplify gas+air+spark=BOOM, because that is what was meant by that. Supercars and rat rods, muscle cars and VIPs, Some JDM, and some Customs. I think just about everything had at least some representation here and that is cool, exactly the feel from the original vision.

Vendors came from far and abroad, most notably Team Eurotrash, all the way from KY. These guys are everywhere only for love of the scene and the people. Give them a shout out. I think the only time they miss a show on this side of the Rockies is due to a scheduling conflict. But with Bens Vee Dub Shop, Long Ball Rally, Dubs In the Valley, Lowered Values, That Wheel Guy, Lower Standards,  Patience Metal Fab, Joeys Mobile Detailing, Roach pinstriping, Nur Teknik, SCI Performance, Rat Rod Magazine, Grimmspeed,Samaritan Tire, Creative Color Studio, Eurowerks, MN CarsandCoffee in attendance, there was plenty to see in vendor row.

For crowd interaction, there was Ben, from Bens Vee Dub Shop who also handles the MC duties at Dubs In theValley, as well as djRichardGriecoSuave bouncing off each other and playing with the crowd. Always a value to keep it fresh and people engaged. RichardGriecoSuave killed it as always, setting the tone with masterful mixes that carry you from place to place with an ambiance that thus far, I have only seen him able to provide. If he is coming to your town, I suggest you catch him, even if you are not into DJs, it is an ethereal experience.

For more entertainment, we also shaved off Mr Long Ball Rally s beard as he made the bet that his coupe would be ready for the show or he would shave his beard. Well so goes life and being a man of his word, here is a play by play……

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So a big thanks to Further Performance, Madspeed CC, Dubs In the Valley, and Long Ball Rally for putting this show together. It was a pleasure to be there and I can't wait for next year!