Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire’s Tetbury will host legendary act Massive Attack on July 30th with Terry Callier, who appears as the guest on their last single, as support for the group. Tickets go on sale this coming Friday [24th March] and will set you back £27.50. A bargain for all fans.
Also, their best of album is due for release next Monday.
www.massiveattack.com for the rest.
A full 9 years after his death, Biggie Small’s shooting is being re-opened for investigation by the LAPD. Recently, the family of BIG had sued the LAPD for allegedly trying to sabotage the investigation to cover up for former policeman on the force who had been linked with the murder. A new piece of evidence was “found” which helped the LAPD officer’s case and when this was brought up, the judge declared it was a mistrial and ordered the force to pay Biggie’s family over $1.5m dollars.
Meanwhile, Biggie’s first album, the classic “Ready To Die” has been pulled from shelves because a group called the Ohio Players have successfully sued for the use of a sample of one of their tracks without permission and have been given $4.2m in damages from P Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment.
www.badboyonline.com has the official word on Biggie.
Michael Jackson, the once titled Prince Of Pop, is closing his Neverland Ranch so as to save money on expenditure, meaning some of his staff will no be without a job. It was reported that Jackson was forced to pay over $300,000 in unpaid wages to staff after being threatened with legal action, on top of having to pay a fine of around $150,000.
More worryingly, reports are floating around that he wants to make his musical comeback with bullet-hole ridden rapper 50 Cent, after the singer spoke to Fiddy’s DJ in the middle east not long ago. Watch this space… if you even care.
www.michaeljackson.com as always for the official news.
UK Superstars Radiohead have announced dates on their tour of Europe and the UK in May of this year, which will showcase tracks from their forthcoming album.
As well as playing these dates, more shows are set to be announced for later in the year, as well as playing the V Festival. The support for this tour will be in the form of Willy Mason, and tickets go on sale for Wolverhampton, Blackpool and London on March 25th.
The tour visits:
May 6-7 – Copenhagen KB Hall
May 9-10 – Amsterdam Heineken Hall
May 12-13 – Blackpool Empress Ballroom
May 15-16 – Wolverhampton Civic
May 18-19 – London Hammersmith Apollo
August 19-20 – V Festival
August 22 – Edinburgh Meadowbank Stadium
August 24 – Dublin Marlay Park
Check out www.radiohead.com for the full works.
Congratulations to Nigel House from Tackley who will be going to this year’s Nass Festival this weekend.
Enter now to win DMC tickets and look out for a Rick Howard package and Etnies comp this week..
Damn! Didn’t we say Andrew Brophy would be the next big thing? Well, damn right- Brophy is turning heads and could easily leap over them with his pop.
After securing a set spot on the Cliché squad, the Manchild has sorted himself out with a spot on 4-Star Clothing, alongside impresario Lucas Puig. Brophy’s hook-up was recommended by Rick Howard himself- perhaps he should enter The Apprentice getting props like that..? Look out for the new Foustar website coming this month at www.fourstarclothing.com
In other Cliché news, new pro, Joey Brezinski MIGHT be getting dressed thanks to Matix Clothing. To be confirmed…
Saturday the 15th of April sees the return of Death Skateboards to Revolution Skatepark in Broadstairs, Kent.
The team consists of:Dan Cates
Mark Nicholson
Nick Zorlac
Ben Cundall
Mark Munson (Death Urethane)
Lee Blackwell
Carl Wilson (Death Urethane)
..and Steak
www.consolidatedskateboard.com
I have to take my hat off to the guys at Consolidated Skateboards. These guys are all about skateboarding and you can tell they are in it and at it for all the good reasons- reasons many others have forgotten… This double DVD is only a couple of hours worth of great skating from a very diverse team, ad I guarantee you it will have you rolling about in no time.
Miles is a simple road trip that took the Consolidated team across America in search of sick parks and gnarly spots. The journey passes through Washington DC, Orcas Island, Minnesota and Arizona to name a few stops. There’s even some foreign footage in there in case you thought these skate troopers might turn up a chance to visit Spain, for instance. Seeing as everyone skates together and no-one gets a defined part, it’s hard to say who rips the hardest. I think the general vibe of Miles is to open your eyes and get you m travelling into the unknown because there is a whole wealth of spots out there that are yet to be found or skated to their full potential. If that was the plan, then its mission accomplished!
The second DVD, So quick achieved, is a short team video that came about through endless travels (c.f. Miles), and gathered footage since the last 18 months at least. Obviously the Consolidated riders are too busy riding to stop for photo Ops and press calls, so this DVD is a chance to catch up with some seriously good underground skaters. First up to bat and definitely on route to greater things is Emeric ‘Olu’ Pratt. Olu doesn’t skate like your average street skater and that’s a feather in his cap. Seth McCaluml (who recently got the boot!) comes through with a well-rounded part that hardly touches any familiar spots. Seth can and will skate anything you put in front of him- Lets hope his next sponsor realises this.
Stepping up for OG status at Consolidated is Roberto Aleman whose solid style races around your screen and has you scratching your head as to how he gets away with such gnarly tricks. Next up is the man- Karma Tsocheff. Karma never ceases to amaze me with keeping up to par and simply doing what he likes. Karma’s skill is often over-looked but trust me this guy can skate it all, and has skated it all- huge transitioned boat skeletons? No problem. Sweltering indoor demos? He’s there. Sketchy rough asphalt hills? Karma’s had it. Finally, SQA ends with a sweet part from Brian Heck. I remember thinking this guy was looking comfortable on his board a few years ago, so today he’s breezing it. That said, Brian will still risk on some hairy line or carve if necessary.
So, for a double DVD pack, Miles and SQA are worth your pounds and pence. Even if Consolidated don’t hog the limelight, and half their riders are globally unknown, this team embodies skateboarding to the fullest. Whether it’s travelling with friends in search of new terrain, or standing up for the restless roots of our culture and taking it to the face of dubious corporate management, Consolidated get it done.
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
16/03/2006
DVS runs a tight ship of stylers, and everybody knows that you can judge a man by his shoes, so these kicks have got to look good. The Nova keeps things simple- it’s lo-cut, gum sole, suede, no air bags, stash pockets ankle straps or other wing dings. In fact, when I first saw this shoe, I thought it might not last very long, because of the minimalist outlook- I was wrong.
Now, I know the winter is not the best time of year to test new skate shoes, but every occasion I got I went for roll about, thrash and slash. And if Mother Nature was hellbent on keeping me indoors or offboard, I still wore my Nova’s.
Firstly, the gum sole grips. Always a good sign because in today’s saturated skate shoe market, some people will use anything for a sole in order to flog stock… So, I’ve got good grip, but will it last? I know other brands’ gum soles wear down pretty fast, but this DVS material took a good 4-5 months to finally bear a hole!
Next, the suede upper and toe area. I prefer suede to shiny leather because it grips your board straight away and doesn’t slip around like oiled fish scales. However, leather lasts longer as suede takes a harsh knock when applied to abrasive grip. Stitchings pop and holes rub through, and before you know it the shoe has fallen to pieces! Not here. The DVS Nova kept things together and even if the stitching wore away, the layers didn’t peel apart. In the toe area where ollies do the most damage, the suede simple wore away very slowly to reveal a weird silicone layer that wasn’t going anywhere. No holes for my socks!
Finally, I rock the hidden lace hoops because ripped and torn strings are not a good look, plus shoe laces are never around when you really need one. The only place my lace snapped (once!) was where I thread it through a regular hoop. Oh well…
So, the DVS Nova gets some sausage thumbs up. It’s simple and sturdy- two things so many skate shoes can’t seem to get right.
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
16/03/2006
