In case you were wondering, Karma pro Amir Williams is on a sure road to recovery after his ACL operation. It’ll take more than that to hold down the Brighton ripper.
Amir rode about at Urban Games and saw fellow team mate Dave Snaddon get 8th place. Dave has just sorted himself out some shades for this summer in the form of Oakley.
Watch out for the new Karma price point decks of the ‘See the wood’ series available in 7.5, 7.6, 7.75 and 8.125
You know the deal: Big Bowl, Big tunes and Big balls with skateboards attached. The mayhem of Globe Bowlbash comes to Burnley once again for the weekend of July 15th-16th. Last year saw a couple of gnarly slams, a new emergence of British talent and some of Europe’s finest bowlriders slashing and thrashing about. Be there or be square.
Saturday 24th June
Let’s set the scene. The sun is blazing, the temperature’s about 75′ and skaters from all over the country are making their way down to London’s most influential skate spot ever for a day of solid carnage.
You see, the 2005 event was such a success that we decided to do it again, but there was obviously no guarantee that this one would be attended especially as we only had 3 weeks to initiate the whole thing, but I guess with the power of the internet, things have become a lot easier for skater run operations like Crossfire to spread the word if good things are about to happen. Saying that though, it was still a gamble and one that was worked on ferociously until the day itself, looking back though, I guess it could not have gone any better on the day…
A week before the event, Rich “Badger” Holland from the Side Effects of Urethane and Zac decided to concrete the cobbles.
The same cobbles that have stood there at that spot since the 1970’s, the very same cobbles that if were deleted, could open up a nice manny pad for the SB locals and the hundreds of hungry skate travellers that pass through there annually.
With this in mind, covert operations ran through the Southbank from midnight until the final gloss was achieved by Sam Griffin. Thanks for the helping hand..
A rail was then knocked up to fit the length of the manny pad and the rest is history. Please note though, that this was all organised and agreed by the heads of the Queen Elizabeth Halls and done properly, just like anything else that should go on there in the future.
With this mutual respect in mind, this jam, comp or whatever you call it started with a huge crowd of people at 2.30pm with a minute’s silence, dedicated to Matt McMullen, a South London skater who unfortunately passed away this year. Matt had skated this spot since he was a kid and probably like myself, managed to learn his first kick turn at these banks before going out into the wilderness of the streets to discover more ways of tweaking his rig.
As the 60th second kicked in, the crowd may have well have bayed for blood as the Cheese Block Jam opened the ceremony to a rapturous applause. This block is not that easy to skate, and once the clock started ticking, people started to find out just how much of a bitch this thing is to ride.
But with some luck and some skill, Enjoi rider Richard Flude managed to crack open his virgin Crossfire account with a kick flip nose pick from the bank to the cheese stub whilst Element rider Lucien Clarke tried to get his steez down. Seth Curtis (pic) grabbed a wallie 5-0 and Chris Oliver pushed for a nose grind dropping deep into the banks on the other side. He managed one but the crowd judged today and deemed Flude the winner, even though Australian Quiksilver rider Josh Roullion’s backside tail stall to bigspin into the bank and frontside nosegrind revert into the bank missed the cash. One thing I would like to point out is that Louie Barletta was skating this block and hucked a wonderful wallie lip slide on it before the jam kicked off…you try that one next time you are there…wonderful line.
The manual pad and rail jam was next up on the agenda. As dirty garage rock from bands like 13th Floor Elevators, Count Five and The Electric Prunes rained out on the Wookie box, Chris Oliver was trying to ollie the entire manny pad, and in two attempts is was his.
No fucking about whatsoever, much like Chris’ unique style, he just cracked one over that whole thing. He was riding with a seriously bruised coxis bone, bigger than the bruise he got from an Australian spider earlier this year on his arse!
Blueprint’s Neil Smith gave it all and was the only person to 5-0 the rail. Death flow rider Boots was desperate to get a nosegrind across it, he must have hurt his ankle in the process as he was missing form the stair jam and he usually kills stairs. Look out for this kid as he is on the up.
The most impressive part of this jam was at this stage, where a small kid called Nick decided that it was an open jam and he was gonna get in there and get some! This kid could not have been more than 10 years old and made people stop so he could boneless off the 5ft acid drop in front of the crowds! This is what it’s all about – having fun – everyone in. 
It doesn’t matter if you are not an amazing skater, if you are sponsored or not,….these jams are to bring people together, to share a few beers, cokes, laughs and that, these are fun times man, fun times.
So, Chris Oliver alongside a kickflip manual cleaned up the dough, a cheeky £50 went in his sky rocket and the bank jam began. This is where Barletta decided to join in.
All sorts of tricks were going down on the banks, but the main attention focused on the block that sits on the top of them. Barletta shut this down with a blunt onto the block and frontside flip’d his way out! The whole place went off!
Louie’s name and address now joins the previous mentioned riders in the Crossfire invoice tray and by now the Thames could not be seen through hundreds of people jammed into the railings and the fuzz didn’t even grace us with their annual visit.
So, the 7-Set Jam was the grand finale and I have to say that it was 20 crossfire minutes stuffed full of lemmings tumbling every 10 seconds down that set and was funny as fuck! 
This year, most people avoided the ledge. Maybe it was Vaughan Baker’s stack from last year that put people off or maybe it’s just too darn gnarly for people to skate under pressure.
Anyway, it was annihilated by Danny Jack who attempted a back tail big spin on it for ages and broke 2 boards in the process, it just wasn’t Danny’s day. Everyone wanted to see that go down and he was so close.
Last year the Blueprint team taught this set a lesson; this year though was a different story. With Chewy Cannon and Danny Brady opting for sunrays by the Thames instead, it was left to Neil Smith to come up with the goods but could not land his nollie bigspin heelflip. If he had landed one of them, he would have won cash, but it was not to be his day after all but not from trying. Neil is one of the most gifted skaters the UK has right now.
So, the Blueprint riders left the door wide open and headlines were up for grabs for others. Dan Wileman knocked out a massive tre-flip and also a super-sweet inward heelflip to bolts, Josh Roullion provided a nollie backside flip, Barletta cheekily threw in a frontside no comply down it, and in-between a melee of nippers launching their steez down that set an unknown American rider carved out a bigspin, then a nollie backside bigspin, then a pop shuv, THEN a massive heel flip, and finished with a huge stylish tre-flip. The atmosphere was electric down there. It went OFF!
With Chas’n’Dave replacing Slayer’s Reign in Blood on the stereo for the final 5 minutes, temperatures were raised as they always do when the pressure is switched on and Aussie Richard Flude hucked a fakie kickflip and a fakie varial flip to come in third, Reese Westlake pulled himself into second place with a shuvit late flip which was sublime but no one could take out Plan B and Duffs rider Adam Howe who took the £200 cash for first prize with a switch 360 shove it.
Free shit was chucked out, kids scrambled for boards and t-shirts, stickers rained down, rubbish was cleared up and the Southbank transformed itself back to it’s usual self.
There were so many people we don’t even know the names of that were skating, we are really sorry if you did not get a name check. You may find pics of yourself below though.
Big thanks to the all UK skate companies that turned up and represented their scene, Genex peeps, Jon at Grain, Mei at Extreme, Steve Crawford, Alan Christensen, James Sherry, French, Badger, Jamie Harrison, (its only just started), Sam Griffin, Abjekt, and If you came down to this event, big thanks for being around and supporting UK Skateboarding.
We have received a lot of messages from skaters from all over the country that turned up and it’s amazing to know that people give a fuck. Thanks for your support, enjoy the video and see you at the next Crossfire Jam.
This event will be televised on the Extreme Sports Channel on August 3rd on their GENEX show. You can view scheduled shows at www.extreme.com
All pics mainly shot by Robin Hayes others shot by Nav, Stylee, Robin,Derek Bremner and Benjamin Norton. Thanks guys. There are more pics from this event at this link here from Boris Austin.
‘Gnarly Bastard’ is a pretty appropriate title for one of Britain’s best exports, Geoff Rowley – even if he does love little furry animals!
Ever since the grainy footage of this kid from Liverpool started circulating under skateshop counters, established pros were shitting themselves with each new tale of this little fella leaping off roofs and down rails. Geoff was the real deal. No bullshit – Just skateboarding.
After an explosion onto the Californian scene when Flip Skateboards uprooted and spread their wings Stateside, Geoff single-handedly kicked skateboarding up the arse and pushed it’s physical limits. Something he hasn’t stopped doing since day one.
Today, Geoff is a gentleman in pursuit of the wild animals he loves, and part-owner of Flip Skateboards. Business man and burly man, Geoff took time out of the wilderness to talk to Crossfire and answer questions from Zac, Ralph and a bunch of worldwide forum geeks.
Full name please sir?
Geoffrey Joseph Rowley Junior.
At what point did you realise skateboarding was your path and chose to follow it?
From the moment I slammed…
If you were still living in Liverpool, do you think you’d have an asbo (anti-social behaviour order) by now? Will you ever move back?
I’d have one wherever I lived, I can’t kick the social issues, I have a hard time with idle banter and wasted words.
Describe how you felt at these different times: Skating with Tom Penny at various Radlands comps back in the day?
Purity, young, alive, aggressive, veggie burgers, Chris Ince, damp floor, with the ocassional too cool for thought attitudes, baggie yellow pants.
Arriving in America straight off the plane?
Shitting it, eyes ablaze at neon lights, otherworldly.
Watching ‘Sorry‘ for the first time?
Relief and pride……yet wishing for more.
Alone in the woods?
Forced to feel ones innermost fears, “when you see only darkness, know that the light will soon return”
Why do you love the great outdoors so much….surely Liverpool had all the fluff you needed right?
I cared more about skating than my balls when I lived in Liverpool, unlike my gash seeking problems of late, nothing beats the smell of an animal!!
Have you ever experienced scarier moments out on the beaten track then riding your skateboard?
Absolutely, two lions rushing past you in the thick bush at close range is enough to make you break down and weep.
Is it wise to focus 100 percent of your attention on skating?
There is more to life than wood and wheels, though you have to ride that thing like there isn’t!! Gather motivation from wherever you like, that is the beautiful diversity that skating allows.
Do you need something else to think outside of the box? What’s yours?
Passion, and a drive for life, ever changing and questioning, be not afraid to look at yourself and judge, listen to people and suck it all in.
Please give me one example of ignorance in regards the arrival of Flip in America, and one example of open-mindedness you perceived at that time.
Ed Templeton and toy machine opened their arms to us, gave us local support, and had our back. Any ignorance was small and only served to make us stronger…..and faster!!!
Are Americans over-competitive? Is this a help or a hindrance?
The average Californian kid is probably a little more competitive than the average European kid, competitive Energy that is positive/friendly can be a good path to fast progression within a skate posse, I would call it a help rather than a hindrance.
Did Jeremy Fox propose for you to take a share of the company? Or, did you ask him? Do you work well together – any bad habits?
Timing was of the essence as far the company stuff went, it was imperative that flip be in the right hands. Jeremy Fox has given me so much guidance and support, we have been there for each other. Any differences we have or trouble working together are all what makes Flip what it is, a free, creative, ever progressive sleepless skateboard company with plenty of issues and bad habits.
Can Flip still be considered a British company?
All the company owners are still British citizens, one runs a large percentage of our workday directly from England for the last five years, I would say that makes us British until death. People can consider us whatever they want but saying untrue negative things regarding these matters is just downright childish. The things Flip/ Deathbox did for England and the English skate scene should not be sneered at.
Which British companies inspire you?
Flip/Death/Heroin/Unabomber are rad, they have the right passion, the rest aren’t my style.
Will there ever be a British company comparable to Deathbox/Flip?
I doubt it, but in order for somebody to do that they have to work from California, there is no other way to get to the level we are at, without first accepting were skateboarding was born from, and respecting that all the mags are driven from here also, it is hard to gain friends if you aren’t visible.
A European based company cannot and will not be accepted across the whole of the USA unless they embrace those areas and live them, Flip is strong worldwide for this reason, plus running a business of this nature isn’t viable based in England, too costly.
Would you agree in saying British skating suffocates itself with its stubborn attitude and pride of independence in regards the global market?
The English scene I grew up in was full of lunatics that roamed the globe in search of rad skateboarding and chaos, whether that be in Germany or some shithole area in Belgium, suffocation should not be an option, I always thought the real British soul was full of confidence and drive to be proud of ones upbringing……and yet want to spread the English way of radness, strength in character and richness in history, across the entire globe. Any other ways of thinking sound a little French to me!!
Is skateboarding really only led by three or four super companies?
Pretty much, though the passion within these brands is so diverse that constant change is inevitable, skateboarding has always been really driven by riders. If the riders demand change, or live change, the industry follows, very hard for other companies to keep up with this level, or compete, without these driving pro’s and amateurs in such strong numbers. I think it is a rad thing teams have clearly emerged again, makes skateboarding look radder.
Where does Flip sit in that picture?
Flying by the seat of its pants!
What role would you like the company to have?
A worldwide network of diverse pro’s with the spirit to keep progressing and showcasing why skateboarding is one blaster of a ride!!!!
What was your reaction when you saw ‘Spirit of the Blitz’ for the first time?
I was actually surprised to see the level of skating, in Liverpool I never really ever got to see Alex Moul and the rest of those guys around, so it was actually pretty rad, but I still preferred Hensley and the vista locals.
Do you watch it often?
No.
Does it inspire you when you work on another Flip video?
Like nothing else. The whole team loves making these things, months/years travelling with your close friends, having a blast, causing a little carnage and feeling whatever life throws at you drift by so fast, what better time could a man indulge in?
What’s next – Flip or Vans video?
Flip video. “Really Twatting Sorry”
What is the company ethos for an amateur to go from am to pro?
Head down, live breath skateboarding, unrelentless progression and motivation for the future, and a large heart.
Despite mocking Jamie Thomas for his blatant faith, Lance Mountain now rides for Flip – has that changed your attitude?
I have never mocked Jamie’s faith and never will. My beliefs and video jokes were for my amusement only, I have the utmost respect for Lance Mountain, and am proud to have him on the team, he is aware of my beliefs and I of his, we have had nothing but good laughs.
Is there a place for faith in skateboarding, or should it be left at home?
Left at home, though I don’t have a problem either way.
Who decided to incorporate Rodrigo, Bob and Lance into Flip?
They did, it was natural and comfortable for us all, those guys and Flip have always been close.
Who would you like to get on the team, but can’t?
Eric Koston.
How did it feel to win SOTY?
Fucking weird, though it was flattering!
When is Bastien going to get his?
When he quits the purple haze!
Before leaping a chasm of any sort, do you run through a safety check list?
Yeah! it starts with taking a shit, so i can’t soil my pants. No shit!
When have you over-stepped the mark?
I was unaware there was a mark?!
Is there no ditch too big?
Hoover dam drop-in, Nevada.
Who is your partner in crime when you head off on dangerous mission?
Daniel Sturt, tripods, black clothing, one filmer.
How does it feel to know you can still shock people with your skating and gnarly attitude?
Blessed and thankful.
How does it feel to see yourself on massive billboards?
I actually find it amusing that some old hag is looking at that stuff whilst waiting for the bus, wandering what in God’s name is going on!!
Lots of people seem to be moving about right now. Is it hard to have morals in the skate shoe business?
I am driven by morals, if a company doesn’t have any, including a rider, well they are gonna be fucked, I rarely quit any companies, regardless of what rumours are around.
Internet umours are rife that you could be heading to another shoe company and that is why the new Trujillo has taken a design leap into the Rowley 1 area, could you ever see yourself riding in anything other than Vans shoes?
I will ride for Vans until they quit making the best skate shoes, Tony rides the same kind of shoes as me and so the likeness in design ends there. My first shoe is being redone as we speak; I’m still stuck on it and have been messing with revamping a new version.
Do other shoe companies “tap you up”?
I am untapped, as i said, Vans is the way.
How involved have you been personally in the development of your new Rowley Squares shoe at Vans?
I have designed/drawn/tweaked every single one, also coloured about ninety percent of them, I fucking love it, it’s so rad to see things on paper develop into radical skate shoes, when ideas work out. I have to wear them, and take pride in fucking with them all.
Click here to watch footage of Geoff talk about the new shoe and skating from the early 90’s.
Would you relish another Vans UK trip like the last one?
That Vans tour was ace!! Flip will be in England August time, demo at the Middlesbrough Plaza, then some street rolling all over. Please do come.
You travel a lot. Which country has the harshest security?
United States of America.
Fave country to skate and why?
England, dreams of youth, and dog shit.
Where will you live later in life?
Arizona/England/Colorado/California/and the rest of the world.
If you took part in a speed dating night – what would you describe yourself as?
Fast/rude/honest/short/average length old man/handsome animal man with snaggleteeth awaits shining dark beauty with face of happiness, smiling, passion and dark lust in unfavourable positions a must, bangers need not apply, below 5’5” the smaller the better.
Lemmy tells me you really are a regular at the Blue Oyster Bar with that tash?
If I could grow chop’s like the man I would say that also!
Have you ever set your tache alight by accident?
Three weeks ago burnt my hair/tache/chinny/face on an open bonfire. I was blinking for days!!
If you had to fight one of the following, which one would it be: a) great white with a diving knife – b) bear with a cricket bat – c) giant boar with a meat cleaver
Boar with a meat cleaver…..they are fast but they are also blind bastards!
Crossfire and Sidewalk Mag are organising the UK Skater of the Year awards for this Xmas in London, could this be an excuse for the UK lads in the USA to come back and see Mum and Dad for Xmas?
Absolutely!!! I’ll have a stiff Glenmorangie!
Final three words of wisdom?
Hope and Glory.
Links
To comment on this interview, leave a message here.
Go to the Flip Skateboards site for team info, there is a new one coming…the company are “Really Twatting Sorry” about that!
The new Rowley Squares are about to hit our shores, click through to Vans to check the footage of Geoff over the gap at Meanwhile.
If you want to see footage of the Flip Team at the most recent Prissick Plaza demo in the UK, then click here.
The follow up to 2004’s critically acclaimed, mega selling ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ – ‘Define the Great Line’ is undoubtedly set to establish Floridian Christian mob Underoath as leaders of the “Screamo” pack without dispute.
Having drafted in Killswitch Engage guitarist and well-respected genre producer Adam D to give both vocals and guitars a kick up the backside of the most epic proportions, the result is a career-defining record that oozes quality and drips raw emotion from every pore. From the all-out assault of lead track ‘In Regards to Myself’ to the piano-led delicacy of the awesome ‘To Whom it May Concern’, the results are never anything less than spectacular – a true classic in every sense.
Tear up any pre-conceptions and open your ears, mind and soul to what is to be one of the year’s true masterpieces.
Swedish thrash titans The Haunted have completed the recording process for the highly anticipated follow-up to 2004’s critically acclaimed ‘rEVOLVEr‘.
The album was recorded in Denmark at Antfarm Studios with renowned producer Tue Madsen (Himsa, Kataklysm) and is said to be their most accomplished work to date. The group spent months working on the new material pushing themselves to create something unique that combines certain elements of their previous work, while ultimately forging ahead in new, unexplored directions.
An announcement regarding the title of the new album and its release date will follow over the next few weeks.
Keep tabs on the latest over at www.centurymedia.net
I sat there dazed and confused. Some random dude in the bleachers fired water in my ear with his freebie pistol which stirred my inner demon, but I sat still with my eyes fixed on something far more obscure: 10 feet away, a skateboard legend, Tony Alva, was happily signing his name across a 12 inch rubber god-stick! This dedicated dildo was only the tip of the bizarre, brilliant and brutal weekend I was spending atop the Snickers Bowl at the Donnington Download Festival.
It all kicked off on Thursday night. A late check-in and one too many tipples had our minds racing with thoughts about the longest grinds and best tricks we were about to witness. DJ’s Zac Slack and The James Sherry Fanclub had compiled an extensive list of tracks to blast out of the PA, when the live bands were busy at the bar. Both mine and Alan’s batteries were charged to catch all the great footage and photos of skateboarding’s elite as they battled it out inside the belly of the beast. The Snickers Bowl is truly a feat of engineering and construction that could blast all those philistine make-over shows into outer space. 15 foot walls of pure pleasure or pain depending on how you play it. My first few tours on the platform had my vertigo playing tricks with my motor-neuron abilities.
As we checked in, the first result was founded: Alan and I were a mere stroll from the bar and swimming pool complex, whilst The James Sherry Fanclub and Zac had to align their inner GPS’ every night. With the bags in the room we hit the bar. Schwingy! Four hour drives out of London are mini marathons in comparison to this four day weekend, but the crew was hot and thirsty. Despite the exorbitant prices, the late bar satisfied our thirst and had us laughing away at the 9 o’clock wake up call for Friday’s UK skate bonanza.
Day two started off in a puddle of sweat. So much so, that my ear was blocked. We may have won the best room, but the Air Conditioning unit was not complying with the general safety rules of a blistering hot 4 day sleepover. Alan got scared when our room mate for the night, Alex Gosman stood tall with nothing but a toga tied loosely around his waist. I had no trouble with this attire, but Alan wasn’t feeling it and made sure our friend Alex spent the rest of the weekend alone in a tent. Downstairs was a breakfast of champions, and I nearly dropped my croissant when I spotted skate legend Christian Hosoi sitting three feet from us. I rarely fan-out among professional skaters, but Hosoi is the Man. Nobody can walk confidently up to a ramp in spandex and day-glo tiger print, rip it up for a few hours and get all the girls. Hosoi can. Luckily the spandex wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Gradually, the Crossfire crew assembled and we brushed our teeth of bacon and eggs and made our way off to the site.
Alan insisted on a quick dip in the pool which was a mighty good idea, I must say, especially when the only female company you have is a 60 year old woman waiting for your nimble young limbs to step into her Jacuzzi. The old girl seemed fine with my presence as we made polite chit-chat about the festival, but Alan’s burly South African build had her running for the steam room.
It was a true mission to get to the actual bowl, especially when one of the many essential wristbands you need to visit the site is missing. A couple of quick calls and some stern talk had all of us in the VIP suite where athletes sang inner mantras and lined up for massages before the skating kicked off.
UK FRIDAY
Today was UK Friday with the best of British skate talent taking to their stage- the Snickers Bowl. Schwingy! Naturally Slayer was the call of the day on the decks and Death’s Mark Munson swung his body around for back to back miller flips and other various reverted inverts. Any trick that involves dangling upside down over the edge of a ramp on one hand deserves respect in my book, and Munson got a good cheer for his effort. Fresh with freckles was Ben Raemers who cruised the bowl nonchalantly and came oh-so-close to a backside crailslide varial out. Next time buddy! A lad I’d never heard of called Luke Haslett (local Epic ripper – Z-Ed) let it rip with lots of air time and a good bag of tricks to throw at the judges, but it was the Scottish Devil Spawn himself, Div that grabbed everyone’s attention. For starters, this red-headed fire starter wore no pads- Not even a helmet. His cruising and boozing antics had jaws dropping and ambulance attendants mentally prepared for first aid. But Div knows what he’s doing (I think…) and his frontside ollie up and off the entension into the bowl was definitely the trick of the day for me.
It was later learnt that Tony Alva patted Div on the back and expressed his pleasure at watching the young lad skate. Div celebrated by getting blind drunk. A quick run down of the top three finalists had Jim ‘The Skin’ Atkins in third behind UK skate legend, Sean Goff. Sean was ripping, but his best trick would come much later on… The well deserved first place and golden ticket to the pro comp on Saturday and Sunday went to little Sam Beckitt. Sam has only just reached his teens, but you’d think he’d been skating since day dot. Nice frontside airs, frontside rodeos, and a backside 540 were all it took to walk away the winner. As UK Friday wrapped up, the big guns strolled into town and had a little whiz around the ramp. Bucky Lasek’s massive frontside air through the corner pocket was only a taste of what the weekend would hold. As we all celebrated with cold Carlings and admired Strapping Young lad blow a fuse on the main stage, Mr. Vans a.k.a. Steve Van Doren and his mate Alan threw a proper barbeque US style with burgers and bangers a go-go. Cheers!
“WO, WO, WO…!” – sorry i had to jump in here Ralph…
This Friday night was a fucking riot after the burgers went down. The drunken walk over to the tents was a legendary one. Imagine 30 skaters at a security gate, all fired up. One security said “WO..WO! and the rest is history…we used that to get everywhere! A party brewed in Aiden’s van, we rinsed his cold beers and fuck me they were cold! Props mate! We danced around to Tiffany and Flock of Seagulls on bennies and Shwingy! and then rampaged a party in the exhibition centre that saw everyone hit the floor. Aftershock and anything else they carried behind the bar was rinsed, the rest, they say…is history apart from the 2 skin deep carpet burn on my elbow! Z-Ed
SATURDAY
I woke up on Saturday. The James Sherry Fanclub and Alan looked awake, but a lie-detector test might have been necessary to verify that. Zac was out for the count in someone elses room! Unofficially, the Blue Jean Cowboy Denim entourage at the exhibition centre had taken him on a wild ride. Officially, he was compiling a top-secret tracklisting that required complete concentration and calm. Even the cleaning lady was turned away. As Alan and I waited for the bus down to the Bowl, a debate arose over the true colour of a zebra tail, and whether or not they had tails at all?? Alan couldn’t figure it out, so I squashed his distress by letting him know zebras do have tails and they resemble elongated paintbrushes with white stems and black tips. Case closed.
Now, unless you were tripping off your tits somewhere deep in an Amazonian jungle about to be cast into the brain drain that is that awful series Lost, you would know England had their first World Cup football match on Saturday. I will not commentate on the match itself as 50,000 metal fans can probably tell you more about it than the poor bands and BMXers that had to play during those engrossing 90 minutes.
In any case, the main event at the Snickers Bowl was the Longest Grind challenge; A simple test of speed, balance and balls. Ride the dragon, enjoy the ride. Juergen Horrwarth and Lincoln Ueda must have been on the same train because they both clocked in 22 and 21 foot grinds respectively. Omar Hassan stepped it up a few gears and smashed his previous record of 27 feet with a whopping 30 foot 5-0 to fakie. Go Omar! But the boy to beat was Brian Patch who won the comp with a stupid 33 foot long double axle grind motion. His grind was longer than Mr. Trujillo from Metallica’s guitar solo, but we’ll talk more about that later…
With the longest grind in the bag and Zac Slack emerging from the dust cloud of Donington Castle, skate practice could get under way and stops were getting pulled. Of all the stars and skate talent that lined the platform and sweated it out that afternoon, only one was missing: Div. Our man from Scotland had got lost in the arms of security and socialising, and was last spotted face down somewhere on the circuit with a bag full of bottles and a bemused smile on his ugly mug.
Anyway! Schwingy! Back to the thunder dome where urban athletes with taught muscles were flying through the air and whooshing past at high velocity. Now, there were only a few UK heads skating on the Saturday- Andy Scott, Pete King and Sam Beckitt. The rest of the fort was being held down by the Yankees- Neal Hendrix, Benji Galloway, Bucky Lasek, Omar, Brian…- and their foreign cohorts- Lincoln, Juergen, Terence Bougdour, Renton Millar, Sandro Dias. Despite the small British contingent and Pete proclaiming how he felt like a ‘wanker’ opposite the others, I must say they put on a damn good show.
Sam had his airs and 540’s spinning, whilst Pete took care of the lip tricks and Andy… Well, let’s say Andy skates like he’s asleep at the wheel. The dude just drops in out of nowhere and grabs everyone’s attention with a single trick; As Double D Dave Duncan on the mic put it: “The skaters are suddenly red hot!” Neal Hendrix was skating very consistently, pulling back to back nollie heelflips and full cab heelflips all afternoon. However, the session suddenly turned cold when Stratospheric tourist, Lincoln flew a massive frontside stalefish to back truck hang-up and consequently a fast forward dive to the bottom of the bowl. Clutching his ribs, Lincoln was out for the count, but the crowd applauded as he made his own way out of the specially designed plexi-glass trapdoor.
Another trapdoor that got opened on Saturday was the gateway to tequila fuelled debauchery. You see, as the day came to an end and everybody made their way over to the main stage to watch Metallica play Master of Puppets from start to finish (plus a couple of Misfits covers!), two merry young women joined the testosterone toned group of Crossfire men. Say hello to Niki and Dee!
You might recognize these lovely lasses from previous Crossfire events or musical features. In any case all you need to know is Niki warned us straight away about the danger of opening the tequila trapdoor, but seeing as we had succeeded in taming the dragon for two nights already, her sweet South African pleas fell upon deaf ears. One Metallica concert, several fireworks, two stalkers, some bennies and a whole lot of alcohol later and Zac was reaching out to Mother Mary like a scared child at 6am! Apparently he has no recollection his early wake up call by the Crossfire gang, but The James Sherry Fanclub definitely does. In his own words: “No guys! We’ve got to sleep! We’ve got a huge set to play tomorrow… Oh alright, jump on him!.”
SUNDAY
Sunday, the day of rest and repentance had already begun by the time we lay our heavy heads on the sweaty pillows. No rest for the wicked, eh? With no naked Alex around, Alan dreamt sweetly of braiding Axl Rose’s hair, whilst Niki tried to compose the best and most sincere apology of her life. I just rode the wave of adrenaline and alcohol fumes, annoyed that I had gone to bed at dawn and missed the sunrise.
Despite the mixed emotions, we all felt worse for wear and disappointed for having missed the skate finals. As Alan avoided direct sunlight and filmed anything with a pulse, Niki sealed her trapdoor shut and I went my investigative ways to find out what we had missed. Thank heavens we live in the digital age where everyone has a camera at the ready. I watched all the footage from Sunday’s early morning battle and came to the following conclusions: Lincoln Ueda doesn’t let a heavy spill dampen his weekend and rode the pain away to 8th place.
Fellow South American, Sandro Dias reached for the sky with huge airs of which one spun 540 degrees placing him in 4th. The top three ran as follows: Brian Patch 3rd, Bucky Lasek 2nd and Omar Hassan 1st- Now, there are three names that don’t budge all that often from the top, and rightly so. You see, the trick to win is consistency, variety and air time. Each of these three guys played it right, be it Brian with his ‘bolts’ approach to skating hard and fast, Bucky switching things up to a level very few have witnessed, or Omar mixing flip tricks and lip tricks like an age old recipe. An honourable mention must go to Benji Galloway for his 360 inverts back to back and Andy Scott keeping the dream alive with a magic mix of tricks that mixed the extension, flips and slips.. Well done guys!
The only thing left on the to-do list was the Best Trick Comp, but that wasn’t for another couple of hours, so I took this break to try and find a cool and quiet spot to gather my thoughts. As I wandered aimlessly through the human mass of Donington, I saw Darth Vader and metal fans sun burnt enough to be Imperial Guards. The endless thrum of Fenders and the smell of charred skin sent me quickly back to the Snickers Bowl where the BMX fraternity were busy with their Best trick. I know this piece should concentrate on the skating, but BMX riders are something else, plus they get all the hottest chicks, goddammit! Some burly Texan by the name of Joe Rich went one better on Bucky’s frontside air through the pocket by about 10 feet and 90 miles an hour. On the first two attempts he broke the guard barrier bailing and almost killed a photographer too close to the action. Needless to say, he finally got the honey and the money and left a satisfied man. What would the skate Best Trick comp have to offer?
Not much, at first… Honestly, Best trick comps are tough to call at first because everyone is pushing themselves after a very long and enduring weekend, and when you want to land a trick that you’ve never attempted before, the outcome is unknown. After 30 minutes of playing with the crowds nerves, Juergen Horwarth spun into first place with a fakie 720 tailgrab, only to be followed closely behind by Bucky with a nollie flip frontside tailslide up the extension buttery smooth and Renton Miller’s kickflip frontside 5-0. Other tricks that came so close but no cigar were Andy Scott’s ridiculous kickflip eggplant, Lincoln’s sky-high frontside Madonna, and Sandro Dias’ jokeman attempts of an alley-oop540 Christ air spanning a good 15 feet of the ramp! As I mentioned earlier, Sean Goff also had his little surprise for the crowd which consisted of a stark naked invert to full cavity search. Schwingy!
The deed was done and Guns and Roses featuring Axl Rose puffed up with ginger braids played us out to the tune of Live and Let Die. As I verged on a nervous breakdown, Niki got the last round of drinks in- Strictly Coke and Ice!-, Zac called his Swiss bank manager from Hotel reception, The James Sherry Fanclub asked to join my nervous breakdown and Alan watched the World Cup on the big screen.
Next stop: Paris for the Etnies 20th Anniversary Party! Schwingy! – Go on, click that red link right there, you would not believe it, after this carnage for 4 days in a row, we had to go to Paris the next day for the most rocking party, it continues!
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
15/06/2006
Having fronted the highly influential Bad Religion for twenty-five years (if you don’t know who they are, check the DVD reviews section!), Greg Graffin could be forgiven for wanting to try something a bit different.
So earlier this year, he recorded Cold As The Clay, an album of songs in a folk/country vein, featuring a few of his own compositions alongside covers of various American traditional songs. Alex Gosman spoke to him briefly whilst he was doing promotional work in Europe…
Hi Greg, how are you?
I’m fine, been over here for about a week…didn’t make it to the UK, though. I’m in Amsterdam right now, and it’s pissing down with rain!
So what made you decide to record a solo album? Been wanting to do it for a while, or just a recent idea?
Well, this kind of music has been around in my family for generations, from the earliest times – I can remember getting together with my family, and my uncle would break out the guitar or banjo and start playing old-time songs. That’s how I first learned to sing, to those kinds of songs, and I’d always play them at band rehearsals and during recording sessions…and one day, about three years ago, Brett [Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist and co-songwriter] said “Why don’t we make a solo record of that kind of stuff?”and I said sure, that sounds great, as soon as we find a break in our schedule.
Bad Religion came off the road late last year, and we’ll be writing a new record this year, so we had a nice little gap there to record the album.
You’re credited with playing piano on most of the tracks, and I myself didn’t know that you played piano until I saw ‘Live At The Palladium’ [Bad Religion’s recent DVD release] recently – have you been playing for long?
Yeah, that was my first instrument, actually – most of the songs that I wrote for our earliest albums were originally played on the piano! I used to adapt a lot of punk songs for the piano too.
Is there any particular reason why you chose to cover the American traditional songs that you did?
Well, the subject matter of all the songs – not just the traditional ones, but also the ones that I wrote – deals with the climate in America right now, and it dawned on me that that too is a tradition in American history: the idea that the common man, the working man, is always getting shafted by the corporation, by the government ignoring their needs. It leaves us feeling very destitute and alone, and that’s the imagery that I tried to weave into the songs.
So are the songs that you wrote inspired by people who you know personally, or are they more a reflection of what you feel the situation in America is like for a lot of people?
A little of both, really…lyrically speaking, I tried to use imagery that was timeless, but the song ‘Afraid To Run’ was inspired by a particular event; namely, the Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans. I was on tour in Europe when that happened, and all I could see were the broadcasts of news every night in my hotel room, and I tried to imagine what it must’ve been like for the families that got washed away or had to abandon their houses, only to come back weeks later, to find that the government had done nothing to help them.
A lot of families got separated during that time, and when they tried to come back for a reunion, I imagined that some of them may have only found a note taped to the door, with the advice: ‘Get the hell out of here, and don’t believe what any government agent tells you’…and so that’s kind of what inspired it, but I realised whilst writing the song, that it’s also appropriate for many other times in American history, be it the coal-mine disasters of the 1800s or flooding in the early part of the Colonial period; times when people were very much on their own, and a sad testament to the failings of the American government.
Your songs on ‘Cold As The Clay’ seem to have a more personal slant than your work with Bad Religion; was that intended?
Not really…I guess I only have one approach to songwriting, which is to try and say something meaningful and thought-provoking, and on this record, the meaning may be more hidden; but like I said with ‘Afraid To Run’, there’s a lot of thought and imagery behind it that I think shows it to be inspired by events that are larger than myself!
So after years of playing with the Bad Religion guys, how did it feel to play and record with a different band for this album?
It was very refreshing – I was nervous about it at first, but we got the whole album recorded and mixed in just seven days [as opposed to roughly six weeks for a Bad Religion record], and that’s a testament to how great these musicians are, but also to the spirit of production that Brett wanted to capture; namely, don’t overthink it, just play the songs as they’re meant to be played, and try to capture it as a moment in time. We didn’t do any overdubs or auto-tuning or anything like that.
Do you think Bad Religion fans will like ‘Cold As The Clay’?
Well, I think that if they only like Bad Religion for the punk genre, then they probably won’t find anything interesting in the record, but if they like the lyrics, melodies and the way I sing, then they might be more interested in how those aspects of the band translate to a different musical style.
What are your plans for the near future? Are Bad Religion on hiatus right now?
Well, we’re at a very early stage of writing the new Bad Religion record – that’s gonna take a while. We’re really looking at this year as a writing year, and that’s how I’ve found the time to get this record released.
I’d like to tour the record, but first we have to see if there’s actually any interest in it! If there’s any promotere that are willing to have me, then that’d be great, because I think the best way to experience this kind of music is to hear it live.
‘Cold As The Clay’ is released on Anti Records on July 10th. Check www.anti.com and www.badreligion.com for more info.
The Sleepy Jackson are back and are supporting their new single God Lead Your Soul with some tour dates in the UK. The single is taken from their upcoming album Personality and the single will come with some bonus non-album tracks. The tour dates are:
July:
Wed 12th – Leeds, Cockpit
Thur 13th – Manchester, University 3
Fri 14th – Glasgow, King Tuts
Sat 15th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Mon 17th – Oxford, Zodiac
Tue 18th – London, Scala
In addition to this, you are also able to stream the video for the single here:
Atreyu have announced that they will be playing some European tour dates with 36 Crazyfists this coming September. After having played the Give It A Name and Download festivals, they will be back in support of their new album A Death-Grip On Yesterday. The dates are:
September:
12th – Endhoven Effenar, Holland
13th – Munster Skaters Palace, Germany
14th – Koln Live Music Hall, Germany
15th – London Brixton Academy, UK
16th – Glasgow Barrowlands, UK
17th – Nottingham Rock City, UK
18th – Manchester Academy, UK