Flyer courtesy of the DLBA.

“It’s not every day you see freestyle motocross in the middle of downtown LB,” spectator Sam Roberts Instagrammed during Thunder Thursday, the Downtown Long Beach Associates’ (DLBA) 16th annual kick-off to Grand Prix weekend, in partnership with Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.

The free event drew thousands of spectators to the motocross stunts and freestyle demo, live music and pit stop competitions, that took place yesterday on Pine Avenue and Broadway in downtown Long Beach. Many of them described the experience via social media. 

The DLBA also brought in ska-n-punk outfit Hooray for Our Side, San Pedro’s Warehouse One, Los Angeles-based Kid Culver and Long Beach’s own Knyght Rider to the Federal Bar parking lot to liven the scene as part of a special Live After Five: RPM Edition.

Below is a curated collection of some of the sounds and images from last night.

For more information about the 42nd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, expected to draw more than 180,000 attendees, click here.