As Gracie Abrams took the stage at the Brooklyn Paramount last night, she couldn’t hide her excitement for one thing in particular: the intimate nature of the venue. “It’s so nice to be hanging out this way,” Abrams said. “I love that we get to hang out, nothing about this feels remotely work-related. It feels like we’re hanging out.”
In the midst of selling out four nights at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, Olivia Rodrigo has cemented her status as a pop rockstar, lifting the spirits of thousands of dedicated fans in attendance.
Christmas came early this year: Tyler, the Creator’s GOLF WANG has opened *TWELVE* pop-up holiday shops worldwide, alongside their permanent locations in Los Angeles, New York City, and London!
The stores feature portions of the FW23 collection of utilitarian-inspired tops and bottoms and outerwear pieces with mixed media details, as well as a variety of playful accessories that correspond to apparel pieces from the collection. Each pop-up location will also feature a graffiti airbrush-inspired art piece that can be seen across different items like tees, fleece, jackets, accessories, and—the best part—Converse Chuck 70’s!
In addition to the FW23 items, the stores carry your favorite pieces from the essentials collection, and of course, Tyler, The Creator’s entire music catalog to purchase on vinyl.
And, if you’re an American Express cardholder, you’re in luck! As the GOLF HOLIDAY SHOPS’ official partner, American Express is offering special card member-only perks, including:
An Amex Card Member-only entry line to the Shop.
Access to purchase dedicated apparel available exclusively to Amex Card Members.
An exclusive 5% discount on purchases made in stores.
And a complimentary gift with purchase when using an Amex Card!
(Terms and conditions apply to these card member benefits. Visit https://golfwang.com/pages/holidayshops to learn more!)
Not an Amex card holder, but one of Tyler, the Creator’s top fans on Spotify? Spotify is also continuing their partnership with GOLF WANG—fans have access to exclusive archival GOLF WANG merch items as part of the Spotify Capsule Collection here!
You can find GOLF HOLIDAY SHOP pop-up locations in Austin, Atlanta, Bay Area, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., as well as internationally in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, and Melbourne. To explore more about what each pop-up shop has to offer, and store hours and other information, you can visit the official website here!
Thursday, December 8, 2022. SOHO Loft, Manhattan, New York. – The American Express x NBA 2K23 Gaming Lab partnership event is a four-day immersive pop-up experience in SoHo that began December 8-11, and gave fans a literal shot at sharpening their 2K skills on and off the court with one on one lessons from coaches and game experts. Day one of that 4-day activation was held on a chilly Thursday evening in Soho. A loft started heating up in preparation for the American Express x NBA 2K23 Gaming Lab. In attendance to the cool event were media press outlets, game enthusiasts, social media brand influencers and diehard fans of the NBA 2K franchise.
NBA 2K streamer Kristopher London, New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and NBA 2K host Alexis Morgan participate in a fireside chat at the American Express x NBA 2K23 Lab in New York on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for American Express)
The event featured a Fireside Q&A chat moderated by producer, famed NBA 2K host and gaming influencer Alexis Morgan. Alexis is an engaging, humorous and astonishing host whose resume includes experience in live show and studio hosting, as well as covering A-list red carpet celebrity events here in New York City and as far out as Los Angeles. American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Sabrina Loneus, one of the interviewed panelists, shared her admiration of the new NBA 2K23 game upgrades that now includes teams and players from the WNBA.
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu appeared at the American Express x NBA 2K23 Lab in New York on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for American Express)
She also revealed that her favorite part about the game is “playing as myself because a lot of her moves in the game are similar,” she also added that it’s coaching her along the way in her styling, “…oh I might need to tweak that move a little bit”. The skilled athlete continued on to say that though she loves gaming with her brothers, but that the reality is that she spends most of her time playing and staying conditioned on the court.
Kristopher “Kris” London, English-American YouTuber known for his basketball and gaming videos, and member of the NBA-focused web group 2HYPE, was the second featured panelist for the Q & A with Alexis during the Fireside Q & A. When asked the question, “What do you like most about [NBA] 2K [23]?” Kris shared that the game allowed him the opportunity to express himself and that the game has allowed him to showcase his passion for gaming, basketball, and allowed him to expand his audience online. He also mentioned that his favorite features on the new release is “this year’s drip”, and that he couldn’t wait to spend the remainder of the weekend at the American Express x NBA 2K23 Gaming Lab, “taking names”.
Fans sharpen their gaming skills at the American Express x NBA 2K23 Lab in New York on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for American Express)
His light hearted banter was centered around the lab gaming areas stationed on both walls that lead up to the court. Several small hubs ran along a long side of the event space with two chairs on the left and right viewing angles of a large screen television for the guest to test the NBA 2K23 game. At each hub, digital-gaming coaches were available to aid onlookers and participants in upping their gaming skills on the 2K platform.
Fans sharpen their gaming skills at the American Express x NBA 2K23 Lab in New York on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for American Express)
My favorite station at the gaming activation was The Highlight Hub. The Highlight Hub was a large interactive half court where fans followed a lit pathway on the floor of the court to recreate the iconic shots programmed in the NBA 2K23 Game. Remaining guests sat court side engaging with the charming hospitality team, enjoying tasty chicken bao buns, brisket sliders, caprese skewers, refreshments and other mouthwatering hors-d’œuvrs. The lively crowd cheered on the courageous ball players who voluntarily performed on the court for 60 seconds to make as many successful free throw shots through the hoop as they could before the buzzer brought their scrimmage against the time to a halt.
The event was a hit! All NBA 2K fans in attendance and streaming via Twitch for the American Express x NBA 2K23 Gaming Lab, received a complimentary POAP digital certificate to commemorate their experience. American Express card holders received special perks in the form of NBA 2K23 locker codes to improve their in-game avatar’s skill level. Fans in attendance were also given the opportunity to get their sneakers cleaned by Jason Markk (founded by Jason Mark Angsuvarn in California), a top of the line shoe product and accessory brand that creates products for sneaker maintenance.
On Saturday night of the event when rapper, Jack Harlow, joined the event as an on-site guest, alongside comedian, Druski, NBA 2K23 on a Twitch livestream. It was definitely an awesome event and one that I’ll do my best to catch on the next release of NBA 2K and American Express.
Yesterday The Knockturnal had the opportunity to check out the American Express x NBA 2K22 Experience kick-off event now open to the public December 11th from 11am to 8pm and December 12th from 1:30pm to 7:30pm. Located at 901 W. Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles there’s tons of reasons to go check it out! While we were there we got to sit down with seven-time NBA All-Star Paul George from the Los Angeles Clippers and watch him go head to head with two-time WNBA champion Breanna Stewart from the Seattle Storms. While they played a couple of rounds of NBA 2K22 and WNBA 2K22 while answering some questions live on Twitch, we got to check out all the great perks the American Express x NBA 2K22 Experience had to offer.
The event features free NBA 2K digital merchandise, a face scan studio, immersive sights and sounds like the “Infinity Cube”, and access to exclusive physical merchandise and services.
To claim limited-time digital merchandise for their NBA 2K MyPLAYERs, Amex Card Members will be able to select their clothes and shoes and add them to their digital lockers. The Face Scan Studio allows 2K fans to take high quality face scans and upload them into the game to personalize their MyPLAYERs. After upgrading your MyPLAYERs you can head over to the “Infinity Cube” with its wall to wall mirrors to get the perfect social media post or you can head over to get your complimentary shoes cleaning. Before heading out you can check out all the amazing physical exclusive merchandise.
American Express partnered with 2K to give tons of benefits to their card members. Some perks for Card Members who purchase NBA 2K22 on the 2K Store with their Amex Card can receive 35,000 in virtual currency that can be spent on in-game purchases. Also if you purchase NBA 2K22 with your Amex Card you’ll receive Jersey Assurance for a full year for a free replacement jersey as well as unique team and venue perks in select markets amongst many other things. Go check it out and let us know what you think, and don’t forget to check out our official TikTok for more exclusive footage from the event @theknockturnal.com (https://www.tiktok.com/@theknockturnal.com? ).
NBA star Paul George and WNBA star Breanna Stewart face-off in a live NBA 2K22 game at the American Express x NBA 2K22 experience on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Kyusung Gong/American Express via AP Images)
American Express, NBA & NBA 2K celebrate partnership renewal with the launch of the American Express x NBA 2K22 experience on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, in Downtown Los Angeles. (Kyusung Gong/American Express via AP Images)
(Photo credit: Associated Press for American Express)