Vans turns 50 this year, and to celebrate their new middle aged years (in addition to releasing an awesome line of new sneakers) they threw a bunch of concerts worldwide.
Vans went out of their way to throw a pretty spectacular shindig at SXSW at The Mowhawk. Headlined by Erykah Badu, Van’s brought an eclectic group of artists together to celebrate their belated that seemed to touch all types of genre. Want to dance to some futuristic beats? Kelela brought her minimalist stage setup to focus on maximalist beats. Want to mosh and dance around in the pit? Downtown Boys provided the guitars and the sax. Want to sit back and get serenaded by one of the best singers in soul today? Erykah Badu closed the night out perfectly.
Over the years Vans has managed to be more than cool sneakers, there’s a certain rebel spirit that they’ve been able to maintain for all these decades and its apparent in the shows it sponsors and the skate parks it builds. May it live for another 50.