Silveroxx Festival is all about X

Whoa, North Idaho is skewing toward Gen X.

OK, that’s not exactly true. But on Saturday, expect a noticeable Gen X-Game party vibe in the air at the first Silveroxx Mountain Bike and Music Festival at the Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg.

Five bands, two stages, and a 3,500 foot vertical drop mountain bike race on a course known as The Hammer – almost makes you want to slam a liter of Mountain Dew just thinking about it.

Ska-punk-funk band Fishbone headlines the event, and appropriately so. The frantically high-energy Los Angeles group is something of extreme sport royalty – the group appeared on the original soundtrack to The X-Games, released in 1996, and has since become a virtual staple of the “extreme sport sound” showcased on The Vans Warped Tour.

In many ways, it’s safe to say that events such as Silveroxx – events noticeably X-Games derived and Gen X directed – have been something of a safe haven for Fishbone and ska-infused bands like them. For the past decade, despite a relatively unstable ska market, Fishbone still gets mad love from high-energy extreme sports fanatics.

On a more regional level, the same can be said for Civilized Animal, which also will appear at Silveroxx. Much like Fishbone, members of Civilized Animal, Spokane’s ska-rock institution for the better part of the past decade, have sharpened their chops and widened their support with four consecutive years of Warped Tour servitude.

And while a far cry from anything remotely ska, local band Flyreal has polished its heavy alt-rock leanings in recent years at several regional extreme sport events including Unleash the Freaks.

Teenage alt-rockers Mylestone (who are reportedly flirting with major label suitors) and indie prog-punks Belt of Vapor round out the Silveroxx music bill.

Also on the agenda: Big Air Bike Jump Show courtesy of Freestyle Productions Inc., free mountain bike demonstrations and gear from Inland Northwest bike shops.