The TITUS "Destroy the Spot" series looks back on a legendary history. First organised by Mathijs Tromp in the Netherlands in 2018, this "real-street" contest series has evolved over the years into an event that has now also been held in Germany and Belgium. Time to venture a step further and so this format found its way to France for the first time. The legendary "Hotel de Ville" spot in Lyon was the "place to be" at the beginning of April 2024 and was a complete success thanks to the enthusiastic locals - short, but sweet!
Created by T. Gentsch |
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TITUS "Destroy The Spot" | "Hotel de Ville" Lyon
Legendary event at a legendary spot!
The plan was already very ambitious. As part of a TITUS Tornados trip, we were supposed to go to Lyon for the last tour stop and hold a "Destroy the spot" event at the legendary Hotel de Ville spot on the last day of the tour, to round off the trip, so to speak. However, if you are not there beforehand, neither in Lyon nor in France, this plan turns out to be a real challenge. Luckily, Jeremie Daclin, mastermind of Film Trucks and Lyon skate legend, was on hand with a few tips during the planning stage and so I had the opportunity to at least give it a go. However, when I left the guys with the Soundboks and the equipment at the spot on Saturday 6 April 2024 (parking was not possible there), there were just 10 skateboarders at the spot. Maybe the event wasn't going to happen after all...?
As the spot is located right in the centre of the city and it seemed that everyone in Lyon wanted to go shopping on this Saturday, it was extremely difficult to find a parking space with an oversized camping van. In the end, I found a suitable parking space 3.5 kilometres from the spot and after half an hour of pushing, I was back at the spot. It had filled up quite well in the meantime, so the fear that nobody would turn up quickly disappeared.
Flo Marfaing was supposed to be on tour, but was unable to leave Barcelona for personal reasons. He would have been the designated MC for the event, which of course also fell through. Fortunately, we had Deniel Cramer at the start, who also speaks good French and quickly established himself as a good MC. The Soundboks filled the entire square with sound and the event quickly attracted a lot of attention, even from passers-by. Loco Papi handed out the "Cash for Tricks" money to the locals and they gave their all to earn a little extra change.
The stand-out riders were clearly Matisse Banc, Arthur Fontis and Theo Moga, who had travelled all the way from Paris. However, the more unknown locals also impressed with their remarkable skills and made the event a complete success. "Finally something is happening in Lyon again" was the statement and that made us a little proud. The "Destroy the spot" series aims to do just that, to offer the locals in a city an event in which they themselves are the protagonists! Thanks to all Hotel de Ville locals, maybe we'll see you again next year!
