Complexcon Weekend Recap
Complexcon is one of the biggest pop culture events of the year. It’s a convention hosted by Complex, the media magazine company that brings together everything from sneaker culture to music to fashion to sports and more. Located in Long Beach, California, approximately 45 minutes to an hour from Los Angeles, it’s an event in which both local and big-time celebrities featured by the magazine show up to be a part of. Fashion and sneaker booths, performances, games, and live interviews and podcasts are all parts of this convention. If you consume content from Complex, then a trip to Long Beach in November is well worth it. Let me lay out our eventful weekend at Complexcon.
Friday, November 5th, “The Krewe“ landed in Long Beach, California to experience Complexcon weekend. Upon arrival, after getting notified by the Complexcon app to get pre-health COVID checks to avoid the lines the day of the event, we dragged and carried our luggage to the convention center to obtain our health-check wristbands for the weekend. While that process - which took place inside of the tents right outside of the convention center - went quickly and smoothly, the next task inside the building did not go as expected. We quickly found out that if you did not have the Complexcon wristband, which was mailed to everyone who had purchased tickets ahead of showing up to the convention, the staff was reluctant to give you a new wristband. Being on the road the week before the convention, some of us were not able to retrieve our wristbands. Not thinking anything of it, we assumed we could easily get another wristband with our confirmation code in our emails. After some convincing, the staff eventually began to understand our situation and gave us a couple of wristbands to the guys who were not able to go home and pick up their mail prior to the event. It was a lesson learned and should serve as a fair warning to anyone planning on going to the event. In the end, we were finally able to settle in and get ready for the event the following day.
Saturday was Day 1 of Complexcon, and doors opened at 11:00 a.m. for general-admission ticket holders. As expected, upon arriving at the convention center at about 11:45 a.m., lines for the health check-in and entry seemed never ending. The health check-in line started on the north side of the convention center walkway and stretched from the check-in tents outside the building down to East Ocean Boulevard. On the south side of the walkway, the entry line began opposite and parallel to the building and wrapped around the end of the walkway to allow the attendees to move towards the barricades for security checks before entering. Even though the lines looked painfully long, we walked through security and into the lobby of the convention center within half an hour of arriving. Next, we grabbed a few beverages being handed out at the minibar in the lobby and made our way to the escalators that led us down to the convention. Stepping through the open doors and into open space, we were welcomed with a massive color changing screen and letters that hung in front of the screen that read “COMPLEXCON”.
Only a minute after being inside the convention and standing in front of the COMPLEXCON welcoming screen, we received a notification on our phones from the Complexcon App to enter the giveaway raffle for a pair of Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 “Lemonade” at one of the eBay pillars located in three locations somewhere in the convention. Struggling to navigate the map of all of the booths and stands on the app, we decided to split up to cover ground and find the eBay pillar. Eventually, a couple of us were able to find people huddled around the pillar scanning the QR code located on the upper portion of the pillar to enter the raffle. While waiting for the results, we stood by the pillar that contained a glass casing of some of the most coveted sneaker grails including Oregon Jordan 4s, CPFM Nike SBs, and 1985 Chicago Jordan 1s to name a few. A couple minutes of standing near the pillar went by until we received our Ls. However, we knew where to find that pillar for the next scheduled release, a pair of 1994 Chicago Jordan 1s.
Now, we were able to move around the convention floor and take a look at some of the booths and activities going on. Some of the more well known brands that hosted booths included Adidas, Billionaire Boys Club, the NBA, MA®KET, Pleasures, Saucony, Crocs, and more. Even J Balvin had his own booth with merch. In between some of the booths of the bigger brands, influential people and brands like Mache, Kerwin Frost, Nicky Diamonds, Kool Kiy and Coral Studios along with local California brands hosted the rest of the booths. With so many things to see and do, we walked around and peeped at each booth to get an idea of the products being displayed. Overwhelmed with the various brands and products, Day 1 became a day just to get familiar with everything Complexcon had to offer.
After walking the floor for about an hour, it was time to grab a bite to eat, and Complexcon’s First We Feast Lagoon did not disappoint. The outdoor portion of the convention included the Hypland Carnival, an NBA 75th anniversary school bus, and the First We Feast Lagoon where all of the food stands were set up. Making our way around the “lagoon”, we walked across the grass where people enjoyed their meals at picnic-like tables and made our way to a line of people waiting to purchase a lobster meat sandwich. Satisfied with the taste of lobster, beverages, and a few cookies for dessert, we continued our venture exploring the convention.
Following the First We Feast Lagoon, Day 1 was capped off with more exploration of the Complexcon setup, purchases at the Complexcon gift shop, and a DJ set performance by Lil Yatchy on the mainstage. At the end of the day, we were disappointed to not have heard much about Complexcon exclusive sneaker releases outside that of Adidas releasing the BBC ICECREAM x Adidas Originals HU NMD featuring the running dog embroidered on the shoe. Trinidad Jame$ also released his collaboration with Saucony that is inspired by Sorrel, a drink native to the country of Trinidad. Even though those are a couple quality releases, it wasn’t what we expected, and the eBay and Adidas limited giveaways were not enough to keep us hopeful. We wanted to see a crazy Off-White Air Force 1 Complexcon exclusive level release, but that did not happen this year as it had in the past. The hope was that Day 2 would give us an opportunity to experience a memorable Complexcon release and to purchase more products after having become familiar with the booths.
Day 2 ended up being similar to Day 1. The difference was that we were ready to hit certain booths and make purchases. Unfortunately, there was still no such Complexcon exclusive release, and we continued to take Ls at the eBay pillar giveaways. Instead of being disappointed in that expectation, we enjoyed what the fashion brands had to offer, and attempted to watch the live Complex Sneakers Podcast at the scheduled time. I say “attempted” because we showed up a couple minutes late, and the doors of a hall in the lobby had already been shut. So we hung around the convention waiting for the A$AP Rocky concert at the end of the night.
With some time to kill, we decided to walk across the street from the convention center to fill our stomachs at one of the restaurants before going back for the concert. At about 9:00 p.m., the concert began, but per usual, we were a few minutes late. Still, we saw A$AP perform several songs, and that was enough to be entertained by a great performance.
Complexcon was a success for the most part, but let’s give you some pros and cons of the event. As already mentioned, there was only one Complexcon exclusive release that we were aware of but not excited for. Fortunately, we did not buy the VIP tickets to get into the convection at 9 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. If we had, we would have been disappointed to spend that extra money and to not have had access to more limited sneakers after hearing about great releases in the past. That left a little sour taste in our mouth, and other than participating in live interviews and the podcast, we did not leave with the feeling of needing to come back to Long Beach for the next Complexcon.
Despite those small negatives, Complexcon did have things we loved. The First We Feast Lagoon had some incredible food that we saw, but did not get to taste. The food we did have exceeded our hopes for what we expected. Coming from New Orleans, it’s hard to come close to what we consider a good meal outside of our city. Furthermore, the event gave us an opportunity to see a bunch of brands we had never heard of. It was an opportunity to see smaller brands and gain a sense of the diverse fashion styles displayed at each booth. For up and coming brands, this was their moment to get great exposure. With celebrities and influential people walking the floor, there was no better chance to network with people. This benefit alone may be a reason you see Krewe of Kicks back at Complexcon in the future. At the end of the day, the consumption of product, the intimate brand experiences, the concert, and the other entertainment are all reasons why you may want to experience Complexcon for yourself.
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