Photo: Reef
Reef is heading to Virginia Beach in search of the next Miss Reef by holding a Miss Reef Contest, marking the first time the event will be held during the East Coast Surfing Championships (ECSC). The region's longest running surfing competition will play host to the highly anticipated Miss Reef contest on the Monster Energy stage, August 28th at 2pm. The winner will take home her share of $2000 in prizes, as well as a trip to Hawaii in November to compete at the Miss Reef Hawaiian Pro.

Miss Reef has been an integral component of the Reef brand and an icon of the action sports industry for the past 25 years. She represents the exotic and sensual spirit of Reef as well as the brand's Latin heritage.

Photo: Reef

Becoming a Miss Reef Girl offers the opportunity to represent Reef through inclusion in advertisements, the legendary Miss Reef Calendar as well as appearances at special events around the world. The winner from this event will be flown to the North Shore of Oahu in November to compete in the Miss Reef Hawaiian Pro during the first stop of the Van's Triple Crown of Surfing.

The 2010 Miss Reef Contest in Virginia Beach will consist of 10 girls competing for the coveted title. Judges will include industry veterans and Reef athletes. Reef teamriders Paul Fisher, Brendan Petticrew and Ben Bourgeois will have the difficult task of judging the Miss Reef Contest. In addition, all three surfers will be competing during the ECSC, which begins August 25th.

For more information head to www.reef.com.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
2010 Outside LandsIt's amazing what you can accomplish in three years. Just ask the organizers of Outside Lands, the music / food / art / wine festival which just wrapped up its third annual fiesta in San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Park. It can be likened to SF's version of a more scenic but less crowded Coachella. Although notable changes were made to the festival landscape, the 2010 Outside Lands campaign featured dance-happy DJ sets, amazing local food & wine and a wide range of music every festivalgoer could appreciate.

Traditionally a three-day festival, the 2010 Outside Lands campaign was shortened to two jam-packed yet diversified days of tunes. Nearly 40 acts took to one of the four festival stages over the weekend. Headliners like The Strokes and Furthur championed Saturday's lineup and then Sunday, August 15th happened. Here are some highlights, lowlights and videos from the day.

Photo: Danny Spyra
Dougy Mandagi of The Temper Trap
The Temper Trap: An alternative band from Melbourne, Australia, The Temper Trap was among the day's highlights. Known for their atmospheric sound, The Temper Trap played all the jams from their 2009 debut album Conditions, including "Love Lost" and chart-burning "Sweet Disposition." Frontman Dougy Mandagi wowed with his vocal range and even hopped on the drums for an extended intro of "Science of Fear." A betting man would say we'll be hearing from this band for years to come.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros performing
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros: No matter who you seemed to talk to, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were high on everyone's to-see list. And for good reason. Talk about a fun, feel good act. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have slowly been climbing the charts since releasing their debut album Up From Below in July 2009. Since then, the group has built a solid touring reputation based on performing with passion. On Sunday, the stage looked like a blur of 13 people with frontman Alex Ebert leading the parade in a linen suit. The psychadelic posse took the crowd off its feat during its rendition of "Home." Here's video of the E-Sharp song, "Janglin."

Go to BNQT.com for more videos.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
Janelle Monae breaks it down
Slightly Stoopid: To be honest, we sacrificed the SD group's homegrown roots-reggae songs to catch our breath in the Chase Freedom Lounge. One of the better decisions of our life. We missed Janelle Monae earlier in the day, but were able to see the singer / songwriter / funktress play a set for the Chase Lounge. She put on a splendid performance, which included a soulful version of "Cold War." In the Chase Lounge, the beer, wine and food flowed, while the accommodations (namely nice couches & restrooms) were lovely. Great touch Chase.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
P-Thugg and Dave 1 of Chromeo on the ones and twos
Chromeo: The self-described "electrofunk" duo from Montreal made their Outside Lands debut Sunday and it was a solid performance. Comprised of P-Thugg and Dave 1, Chromeo went through favorites like "Needy Girl" and "Fancy Footwork," before playing new track "Night by Night." BNQT caught up with Chromeo to get their thoughts on playing the 2010 Outside Lands and you can see the interview below. Chromeo has a new album dropping September 14th, get pumped.

Go to BNQT.com for more videos.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
Phoenix stole the show
Phoenix: You know those bands who sound the same live as they do on albums? Well Phoenix is one of them. The French quartet simply stunned on Sunday. Taking over the main stage (Lands End), Phoenix put on an amazing 1-hour performance that left the crowd wanting more. The set included the likes of "Lasso," "Armistice" and "Lisztomania" before the group ended with crowd-favorite "1901." During 1901, frontman Thomas Mars surfed the crowd for about a minute, althewhile keeping his cool and lyrics in tact. Bravo.

Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley: Not going to sugarcoat anything here. I was pretty pumped to see Nastradamus do his thing in SF, but I was super disappointed with his performance. He seemed to just go through the motions, while probably thinking how his appearance alone will help pay his alimony settlement to ex-wifey Kelis. Damian Marley and crew kept their cool and showcased their roots-reggae vibe. However, overall it wasn't a very memorable set.

Photo: Jeff Kravitz
Emperor Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun along with
a Swordfish dancer
Empire of the Sun: It's a good thing festival organizers let Aussie duo Empire of the Sun close the Twin Peaks stage on Sunday night. The group's performance just wouldn't have had the same effect if they performed during the day. Led by Luke Steele and his seemingly Gaga-inspired outfit, Empire of the Sun KILLED it song and song again. The set was like a beat parade to a light show spectacular. Steele and counterpart Nick Littlemore even brought their four famous Swordfish girls to dance throughout the hour-long spectacle. The girls changed costumes for nearly every song, of course including a swordfish outfit for "Swordfish Hotkiss Night." The beats, outfits and stage presence were spot on for Empire of the Sun to make their Bay Area debut (and 3rd North American show). Check the vid below.

The 2010 Outside Lands Music Festival was insane. Just being in the city of San Francisco is amazing by itself but adding an epic music festival on top of that tops any person's cake.

- Danny Spyra over and out for BNQT.com.

Go to BNQT.com for more videos.

Photo: O'Neill
O'Neill Girls Sr. Design Director, Whitney MorrisWhen you think of summer, you think of the beach. When you think of the beach, you think of swimwear. The swimwear market overall is very competitive, but women's swimwear is uber-competitive. It's critical to differentiate your line while staying, dare I say it, en vogue.

One company with a leg up on the field is O'Neill Girls. With Sr. Design Director Whitney Morris at the helm and a strategic partnership with international supermodel Elyse Taylor in place, O'Neill Girls is looking better than ever. I wanted the scoop on Spring 2011 Swimwear. Enjoy!

- Danny Spyra

Photo: O'Neill
Dots shirred tri top and tie side bottom

BNQT - AFTER VIEWING THE SPRING 2011 O'NEILL GIRLS SWIM LINE, I FEEL IT IS VERY DIVERSIFIED. WHAT INFLUENCED THIS COLLECTION?

Whitney - For Spring 2011, O'Neill Girls brings a little something for everyone. Whether it's for a feminine girly-girl, a hippy at heart, or a fresh and forward girl who loves to mix her prints and stay on top of the trends, we look to appeal to all of them and approach our line as not just a traditional surf swim line, but a fashion line as well.

Overall, we went with a "Festival Tour" theme, playing off of the countless music festivals that inspire us every year across the globe. Always keeping with our California Cool vibe, we've thrown in numerous details, prints and colors that have a slight 70's boho feel with others that are a little more modern. All are meant to be mixed and matched to fit any personality, making it very diversified.

Photo: O'Neill
International supermodel Elyse Taylor in the Soul
Searcher one piece
BNQT - INTERNATIONAL SUPERMODEL ELYSE TAYLOR IS GOING TO SERVE AS A BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR THE 2011 O'NEILL GIRLS LINE. WHAT KIND OF INVOLVEMENT WILL SHE HAVE?

Whitney - Elyse Taylor will be the face of O'Neill Girls throughout all of our advertising in 2011, starting with our Spring collection which debuts in January. She will also work very closely with our brand on our major events and even in designing a small limited edition collection of swimwear. She's currently working very closely with our design team on her swim collection to get every little detail perfect for her first design collaboration. We can't wait to unveil the results!

Before then, you can see Elyse on the runway at our O'Neill Generation Next event in association with Teen Vogue, set for October 9th in Hollywood -- it will be open to the public and streamed LIVE on facebook.com/oneillgirls.

Photo: O'Neill
Henna bra top and basic skrimpy bottom shown with
Overboard tote
BNQT - HOW WILL THE ELYSE TAYLOR FOR O'NEILL COLLECTION DIFFER FROM THE 2011 SPRING SWIM LINE?

Whitney - Overall, the influence of Elyse's personal style and her experiences traveling around the world as a supermodel bring the line together. The Elyse Taylor collection for O'Neill will be more sophisticated with sexier fits using high-end Italian fabrics. The colors and prints are all very feminine and vintage inspired. We're really excited about this collaboration and love that it has a different look and feel than the rest of the O'Neill Girls swim line.

Photo: O'Neill
Foxy triangle top and tie side bottom
BNQT - THE DETAILING AND RUFFLES ON THE FOXY SUIT LOOK INCREDIBLE. WAS THIS BIKINI MORE DIFFICULT THAN OTHERS TO PRODUCE?

Whitney - Our FOXY bikini has fun fringe detail in a shiny lycra fabric that makes it extremely unique. Ultimately it's not harder to produce, but we always try to throw in special details and this suit adds just a bit of flair to the overall line assortment. It's a great festival piece, perfect with denim cut-off shorts.

Photo: O'Neill
70s inspired Wanderer triangle top and tie side
bottom shown with the Ella jacket

BNQT - I DIG THE TIE-DYE THEMES THAT RUN THROUGH A FEW ITEMS. HOW MANY PIECES REFERENCE THE 70s RETRO CULTURE?

Whitney - At O'Neill, we are constantly inspired by the spirit of the 70's and bohemian culture. Tye-Dyes and washes never seem to go away. We're always influenced by our authentic roots as a California Brand and the lifestyle that comes with that, so it's only natural that certain looks seem second nature to us and fit in our line effortlessly.

You'll always see a lot of that inspiration throughout our collections, not just in swim, as we love to mix vintage with modern to keep evolving our look and feel.

Photo: O'Neill
Charlotte crochet tank with Stroke basic bottom
BNQT - O'NEILL SWIMWEAR SEPARATES ARE VERY AFFORDABLE; SOME RANGE IN PRICE FROM $32-36. HAS THE ECONOMY SHIFTED YOUR PRICE POINTS DOWN?

Whitney - Swimwear is such a competitive market and has really changed over the last couple of years. With mass retailers like Forever21 and H&M selling on the cheap, it's made all of us more price conscious. We'll never adopt their same strategy when it comes to swim, since we pride ourselves in our fit and quality, but we've always offered some kind of incentive to our retailers -- and this year it's better pricing in order to stay competitive.

BNQT - WHO DOES O'NEILL GIRLS SWIMWEAR TARGET? WHAT KIND OF A GIRL DO YOU ENVISION WEARING THE BRAND?

Whitney - O'Neill targets a free-spirited and adventurous girl who loves to embrace fashion whether she's surfing, at the pool with her friends or lounging at the beach. We've found that many girls in their teens and 20's are drawn to O'Neill swimwear because it appeals to anyone who loves a great fitting suit with prints and details that are on-trend. Our girl loves to mix and match different tops and bottoms, throw on her favorite button down shirt over an O'Neill suit, and express her own unique personality and style.

Street Beat Archive:

Erik Paulsen with TAVIK

Joe Babcock with Gravis

Mike Quilliam with Atwater

Chris Friel with SABRE

Ryan Hagy with Metal Mulisha

Dustin & Dylan Odbert with ambsn

Chad LaBass with Freestyle

Joey Jorgensen with Analog

Kelly Magrath with DC

Frank Delgadillo with COMUNE

Derek Boucher with Vestal

Steve Van Doren with Vans

John Harbin with West Wetsuits

Ryan Rush with ECO'Neill

Nicole Hanriot with TAVIK Swimwear

Matt Gleason with Liquid Force

Eric Mehlberg with Kustom

Mike Murphy with Fyasko

Ian Foulke with ISIS

Jonathan Paskowitz with Lightning Bolt

Matt Harkins with SPY OPTIC

Chris Brunstetter with Goldcoast Longboards

Damon George with ERGO

Charlie Setzler with Rusty