A new documentary on the ongoing situation at Southbank has been launched today put together by filmmakers Jonathan Caicedo-Galindo and Sebastian Olmos. The film discusses how public places are being privatised in London by developers and the social and political issues that arise as a result.
Bookmark this 20 minute discussion for when you have some time to watch it as it raises many interesting points.
If you missed the London and Sheffield premiere’s of All This Mayhem, the gnarly story of the Pappas brothers who brought chaos to skateboarding back in the 90s, then get stoked on the fact that it will arrive at UK cinema’s this Friday 8th August.
Put together by the makers of the award-winning Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop, All This Mayhem is a full blown documentary about the drugs, jail terms, skateboarding politics, suicide and murder that surrounded the lives of the Pappas brothers throughout their quest to dominate skateboarding with powerful technical skateboarding.
For more info on the film click here to the filmed Q&A at the BFI and look out for where this is playing out there from this Friday.
Lakai cruised into Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City in Canada and get rocky with a tight crew consisting of Marc Johnson, Rick McCrank, Stevie Perez, Rick Howard, Jon Sciano alongside local reps Ty Peterson, Will Marshall and Pat O’Rourke.
Enjoy this.
WKND Skateboards continue their video steez with welcoming Taylor Caruso to their newly formed team.
“Big Dahg” gets WLCMD.
Have some more with full fat:
Ph: Mike Burnett
Thrasher’s round up of the insane finals from this year’s Vans invitational event on Huntington Beach in Cali will not disappoint. Non-stop hammers went down!
Vert don Renton Millar has started a petition to get rid of the people who govern the SBA in Australia after finding out that Skateboarding Australia is actually run by Rollerskaters. In an effort to take skateboarding out of these hands please help Renton by reading the info below and signing this petition.
AUSTRALIAN SKATEBOARDING NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!
Not many people realise that the people who govern Skateboarding in Australia are Rollerskaters!
Yes, Rollerskaters.
A Rollerskating Organisation called Skate Australia gets the Federal funding for “Roller Sports” in Australia and decides how much to divide between Artistic Rollerskating, Inline Speed Skating, Inline Hockey, Roller Derby and Skateboarding.
Sometime ago the Roller Skating Organisation started a private company called Skateboarding Australia (SBA). Many people believe SBA is skateboardings stand alone governing body.
That is not true. SBA is a PRIVATE COMPANY owned by the Roller Skate Organisation (This is verified easily by looking up their Australian Business Number).
Recently the Roller Skating Organisation widely advertised a National series sponsored by Nike where the winner of the series got $10,000 and a trip to the Tampa Am. They did six qualifiers, and then cancelled the last two qualifiers and final. They didn’t compensate the kids that had qualified, and didn’t give out the tickets to Tampa, or the final prize money.
Yet multiple types of Roller Skating not only got National Contests, but also sent teams to represent Australia in Europe for World Championships!
Skateboarding doesn’t even get a Completed National Series and no official Australian Champion.
WE NEED CHANGE.
The Australian Sports Commission needs to recognise that Skateboarding needs to stand alone from all other sports.
I have started a petition. Please sign it!! PLEASE SHARE!!
SKATEBOARDING IN AUSTRALIA NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!
Maybe it’s in the air that circulates Seattle’s creative city or just the fact that Jordan Sanchez can shred the roughest spots with the most quirky tricks. Whatever it is this takes Skate Edit of the Week and reeks of FUN.
Allah-Las
‘No Werewolf’
Innovative Leisure
Allah-Las have a superb new album out on September 15th. ‘No Werewolf’ doesn’t even feature on the new record, yet it has been filling our ears on repeat all weekend.
How could anyone resist music so achingly cool? Allah-Las’ dark, yet dulcet tones concoct a serving of garage surf-rock so aurally delicious, that Roky Erikson himself surely couldn’t do anything but grin and lick his chops as this triumphant instrumental brews.
Some might say ‘No Werewolf’ is monotonous, maybe even predictable, but I’d argue the opposite. This is utterly hypnotic, often indulgent, garage rock to make your head spin. Maybe there’s even a hint of primitive psychedelia in there too, or, dare I say it, some rock ‘n’ roll? After all, this is a cover version of The Frantics’ 1960 single, ‘Werewolf’.
Regardless of comparison and influence, ‘No Werewolf’ feels like the fastest two minutes and twenty nine seconds of your life. With each additional play, you just don’t want this song to end, genuinely living in fear of the last chord. Surely the most essential cover version of the year, it’s an understatement to say Allah-Las have outdone themselves.
Dave Palmer
Following Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon’s unfortunate separation, Sonic Youth have remained on permanent hiatus since 2011. Hard as it may be to imagine, there is infact some exciting news to be shared for more than one member of Sonic Youth.
Proactive as ever, we already know Thurston Moore plans to release a new solo album under the guise of, The Thurston Moore Band. What’s more exciting, though, is the fact that Steve Shelly and Debbie Googe are making up the band behind him on the road, with a first show booked already for August 19th at Ocii, Amsterdam.
Moore’s upcoming solo album, The Best Day, will be released later this year via Matador Records. Listen to his latest single below and keep your ear to the ground for more news on this fantastic marriage of musical skill.
Wonkfest 2014, The Grosvenor, July 26th
Words: Jono Coote
Photos: Mark Richards
Some people argue that less is generally more. However, when it comes to punk gigs I find that as a general rule, more is more, and so the Wonkfest all-dayer at the Grosvenor pub meant a change in my usual weekend skate plans (this sacrifice made easier by the closeness of Stockwell skatepark, which was hit for the majority of the day until dutch courage sunk into the unhinged clumsiness of the intoxicant). This year’s proceedings were given a bittersweet tinge by the fact of this being the last weekend of punk music before the Grosvenor shuts its doors, victim to the ruthless redevelopment of London as a playground for the rich and braying. In their world of hair gel and paparazzi there is little place for a venue such as the Grosvenor, welcoming as it does punks, poets and oddballs. When the battle is lost, what more to do than dance and raise a drink to the good times?
Alongside the Bird’s Nest in Deptford, the pub has been one of South London’s punk enclaves for as long as I’ve been visiting the city. Its floral wallpaper and battered pool table evoke the spirit of a traditional London pub in a way that East London’s hipster retro bars can only envy, with the large gig room at the back coming as a surprise in what seems at first to be such a cramped space. Originally planning to make a full weekend of gig-going, diminishing funds meant that my focus had to be narrowed down to the Saturday. This was the obvious choice due to a killer line-up featuring some of the best live spectacles that the UK punk scene has to offer. I headed down late in the afternoon to find the bar heaving, the buffet decimated (it turns out that buffets are an often overlooked key ingredient to an epic all-dayer), and London dub/ska/punk outfit Jakal in full swing. The day was almost sold out by this point, the crowd was starting to fill out the gig room and the vibes were good. The band’s heavy dub sounds, occasionally ramping up into a skanking whirlwind of noise, were the perfect choice to keep everyone dancing and grinning as the beer started to fly.
This turned out to be a brief excursion into the fray as I had some stuff to take care of, unfortunately missing the Kimberley Steaks in the process. I returned in the middle of the Restarts’ rendition of ‘Big Rock Candy Mountain’, a good moment to walk into whichever way you look at it. At some point a bottle of Buckfast was produced on stage and passed around the crowd, with everyone drinking a toast to the venue and its owner, while on stage the band pummeled through a set of raw and dirty hardcore punk.
The crew started to show up as I headed outside for a pint and some sun, before rolling in en masse to see the Reverends’ set of melodic, early 80s influenced shout-a-longs. With a tight set of songs to match a big stage presence, I highly recommend catching them next time they’re on a bill near you. Manchester stalwarts Revenge of the Psychotronic Man were up next, a freight train of high octane hardcore and drinker’s poetry straight through your cranium. Its times like this when injuries really become a drag, the front was calling but I was too beaten and scarred to answer. I lurked at the back with my beer and soaked in the atmosphere, and was still pretty fucking stoked.
Meansteed were the evening’s wild card, but with that much energy and the songs to back it up they immediately converted the crowd to their AC/DC meets Sex Maniacs riffage – skate metallers unite! We staggered out to the beer garden with grins on our faces, giving our ear drums and sweat glands a break to enjoy the warm Brixton evening, before heading back inside to see special guests and last minute additions Hard Skin. By this point the day was catching up to me, so I can’t remember any specific pearls of wisdom from Fat Bob but I’m sure everyone was roundly heckled between shouting along to Oi! classics like ‘First Day Angry Song’, ‘Crack on Have a Booze’, ‘Whose that Boy?’ and watching the landlord crowd-surfing across the entire room.
Being, as it was, Wonkfest, closing duties went to Wonk Unit. Having gone outside again for air, we walked back in to the entire crowd shouting along to ‘Wood Pigeon’ which I’m assuming was their first song. It is testament to the band’s song writing abilities and to the crowd’s booze tolerance that, after a full day in the pub, synapses were still moving fast enough to keep up with front man Alex’s frenetic and poetic delivery. In fact, the combination of heat and all day drinking didn’t have the usual knock out end result on too many, and the crowd were still grinning and dancing until the very last chord of the intricate and mesmerising melodic punk that Wonk Unit specialise in had faded into the night.
We staggered home safe in the knowledge that one of London’s punk institutions had been done proud – if ever a venue had a fitting send off, it was Wonkfest 2014. RIP the Grosvenor!
