Matix took over Dublin this weekend for the annual Lord Of The Lines competition in which street-heads took to the ledges and the consistently tech game was brought!
Peep the video below for the good craic. 50-50 murder flip out? You mad?
30 years is an age that you might expect to be filled with emotional breakdown, existential crisis and panic. Well, don’t worry because that’s absolutely true, but don’t expect that from when a skatepark turns 30 years old.
Livingston Skatepark reached the big three-oh last month and celebrated in true concrete carnage style. Have a look at the footage that surfaced this week to re-live the day or see what you missed…
This Saturday’s Rom Jam went off in fine style as usual in Essex but unfortunately we were shredding in Holland this year and missed it. Luckily Boggin Zine’s Jay Dords was there with his man cam to pick up some action from the likes of Trawler, Zorlac, Steak and many more. Watch it here.
Consolidated aren’t your average skateboard company by any stretch of the imagination. The guys on the team are the kind of guys that wouldn’t hesitate to get the logo tattooed on their face. These are the kind of guys who would step up to body-ink levels of loyalty without needing to be filled with a night’s worth of booze. But then, these are also the kind of guys who are perpetually tanked on years and years worth of the good stuff. It’s clear in the humour that leaks from the incredible artwork on the decks, this is a company that treat their customers like they treat their own team: as skateboarders.
It’s not hard to see why those that are supported by Consolidated regularly compare being on the team to being in a family. They’re given the freedom to do what they want and is this not how incredible things are made? What went down in their tour of Europe in May is just another point in the argument for skateboarders to be free, get pissed and let rip. We caught up with Roberto Aleman, Ryan ‘Danger’ Carruthers and Sean Gutierrez in the kitchen in the hotel in Prague, armed with nothing but some cold ones and a pocket full of good times.
Photography : Tom Halliday
What was your favourite demo on your tour of Europe?
Sean: The best demo is not important to us as it’s for the kids. I had a lot of fun at Saffron Walden even though I was hungover as shit. Beers… Zorlac had the bbq going… good times.
Roberto: I think the best demo was the last one in England, more chilling, best skatepark.
What’s the best and worst country for booze and grub?
Danger: Holland has some weird burgers going on there when we bbq’ed there. Best place for food I would say was Cologne. Some of the best pizza I ever had and bbq with chicks in the park was hesh.
Roberto: England offers the worst food, but the beer is always good!
Most creative way of opening a bottle without a bottle opener…
Roberto: Always with a skateboard.
Sean: Your mums teeth is the best way to open a bottle!
How many broken decks were there throughout the trip?
Roberto: Not even one, I don’t break boards too often.
Sean: No broken decks because we suck, I’m still riding the hesh skateboard that Zorlac gave me, my shoes are fucked. Danger’s board is made for Vikings!
What’s the funniest story from the tour?
Sean: After a whole night of partying, Danger sleepless on a 2 hour or more train ride to Amsterdam, the train is over booked with no seats left in our carriage so we had to stand and Danger, while sleeping standing up, nudged the doorhandle to the shitter and fell into the bathroom and made the gnarliest crash, funny shit there!
Roberto: There were too many! But I remember Sean sleeping in a king size bed which is pretty weird cause he always sleeps on the floor, so here is Sean waking up in this huge bed by himself and warming up chicken nuggets with his lighter to eat them warm!
What was the best skatepark on the tour and what was the best street spot you hit up?
Danger: Saffron was build by Dreamland so I’m gonna have to say that was the best park, but street, I guess Holland. We skated a pretty famous spot- it’s a tunnel with trannies that go from mellow to steeper to over vert tranny for days!
Roberto: Even is it sounds weird, for me, the best skatepark was Brixton cause I’ve never been there, and the best spots we skated were in England- weird isn’t it?!
Besides the train’s toilets, where was the strangest place you slept on the tour?
Sean: I slept standing, in the grass. I woke up on a couch covered in a mountain of jackets sweating like shit with everyone still partying around me!
Roberto: This one was pretty mellow for a Consolidated tour, but we have these really cool distributors that put us in a hotels all the time!
Music you could not leave the house for this trip without: 3 albums, artists or tracks
Sean and Danger: David Allen Coe longhaired redneck/rides again. Mercyful fate Melissa or early demo and Grindline the band if you don’t know it your fucked.
Roberto: Los Chichos
What are your thoughts on the Dreamland park in Saffron Walden?
Danger: We all wished we could have partied with our crazy buddies who build the park we know from back home.
How about Zorlac’s hospitality?
Sean: Totally didn’t have to ask for much because he had taken care of everything. If We needed beer it was in the deathmobile, if we needed a pub, we weren’t let down. We went to Harrow which was rad for us to go to and check out after seeing in videos and shit. He was spent and tired and still partied and showed us some London. The street adventures were great too… Brixton and the streets… thanks London locals!
Roberto: Zorlac is like Consolidated for me: true, roots and love. They are the best!
Describe what Consolidated means to you in one sentence or paragraph…
Roberto: Consolidated is my fucking life!!
Sean: The struggle continues, we wouldn’t want it any other way, Birdo and Leticia can get all the money in the world from this tomorrow and they’ll never be jaded.
On that note enjoy this banging edit from their UK visit thanks to Jake Shunt who traveled the country with the team and has footage of Scotland, Saffron Walden and much more. Also thanks to Luke Petty who covered some footage of the Saffron Walden demo with skating from many other guests from Death and Death Urethane. Thanks to Tom Halliday for the photos.
This UK tour footage filmed and edited by Jake Shunt Martinelli was filmed across the UK:
Luke Petty shot this from their visit to Saffron Walden.
This footage was shot with guests in Brussels, Belgium at the Square Des Ursalines to celebrate 4 years since they built the park there…
Fresh new skateboard company from the south-west, EKTA have announced that one of Bristol’s finest, Tom Gibbs is on the team.
You can catch his welcome to the team video HERE, and if you’re not sold on him through that then have a look at his Bristol’s Finest section and be prepared to see more of him and a lot more of EKTA around soon.
For all those are are unable to get your hands on the physical copy of the new London-based quarterly Grey Skateboard Magazine then you’ll be pleased to hear that each issue will be posted online a month after it’s been out in print.
Head over here for the mag and a little insight into the world of skateboarding’s often overshadowed heads. The first issue contains interviews with Nick Jensen and Scott Howes, some local knowledge courtesy of Joey Pressey and some photographic treats featuring Snowy, Tom Knox, Jak Pietryga and Rory Milanes.
Bay 66, London
Wednesday 30th June
Photos by Pip and Stan
Arriving in a tour bus so impressively colourful it bordered on the ridiculous, the Nike SB team you’d think the team weren’t simply going to turn up and just skate Bay 66. Except that’s exactly what they did, but then it’s also exactly what they didn’t. You see, when you’re dealing with the likes of Cory Kennedy, P-Rod, Shane O’Neill and the rest of the Nike flock, just watching them skate and have a blast is much more exciting than any pre-meditated things they could have possibly had in mind.
Chilled-out unpredictability was the theme of the night, as the team started out on the funbox and just not stopping from there. Cory had a lot of fun, pulling out the hammers as if they were penny sweets and throwing nollie front foot flips and nollie inward heels as casual as less-reputable dork tricks like an -amazing- benihana, all stomped down smiling. Shane O’ Neill had his back in a similar cap with some ludicrous stuff for someone who supposedly cracked a rib at the CPH. Could have fooled me, Nugget was on some stylish THPS trip, with a 360 flip nosewheelie on the awkward snake-shaped manual pad and a first-try 720 flip on the hip. Sure it took him a little longer to film it, but landing something like that while just cruising around isn’t messing about.
Every time P-Rod dropped in the camera-carrying massive threw themselves in his direction, his absolutely relentless delivery of trick after trick after trick, just got progressively sicker each time. The height over the funbox was pure jokeshop shit, P-Rod has the moon gravity cheat built into his shoes I’m sure. How about a switch front blunt first try? Backtail kickflip out down the hubba? The goods were coming through like no tomorrow. Daryl Angel came through and was the only one to really hit up the – admittedly enormous – drop ledge, mach-ten baby!
The highlights were from Ishod Wair (on a high fresh from delivering the best First Try Friday that’s ever been filmed at The Berrics) and Younes Amrani who both hit everything in sight. Ishod’s catch was felt by every member of the audience who all shared some vicarious radness, and Younes’ manual madness was exactly that, madness. There competition for best trick wasn’t a small one, but I think Younes’ nosegrinds along and down the ledge took the entire biscuit tin.
The UK squad held it down with the best of them too, Korahn Gayle did his thing, Chris Jones killed it with a huge tailslide, Snowy laid some smooth-jams on the funbox and Smithy smashed up both the funbox and the hubba.
Wieger just cruised like he owned the joint and occasionally dropped a few high-speed bombs, Salazar took flight on the ski jump and watching Lance Mountain skate anything is nothing short of magic.
Bay 66 was going off louder than a bomb, but ignoring the hundreds of people and the giant Nike SB tour bus outside it really was just a regular Wednesday session. Cory Kennedy had a game of SKATE with about 40 kids and there wasn’t a frown to be found. Good vibes, amazing skating and a bus covered in birds. Same time next Wednesday yeah?
It’s that time of year to grab your rocks, socks and cocks and head down to SKEG plaza for X-Site’s Seaside Showdown. The event is on July 24th and they’ll be tons of goodies up for grabs in the under 15 comp, the over 16 comp and the sponsored and pro jams. Get down there and get down, all-day entry is a tenner and that includes the after party so get on it!
Steve King is one of the most consistent skaters I’ve ever seen in person. If you’re ever in Wales, head over to a small place called Dinas Powys. The park may not be anything great but you might come across the one-man-demo himself. Consider the fact that he’s without a sponsor while watching this, here are ten tricks at his local park courtesy of ESPC – it’s mindblowing stuff.
Don’t you love living in the era when offcuts are just as good as the finished product?