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Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC

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We’ve waited a long time for this one. Crowd-funding for the making of ‘Salad Days’, a look at the incredibly fertile hardcore punk movement that exploded out of Washington DC in the early 80s, first started over four years ago when brief snippets and enticing trailers started to work their way across the internets. And now it’s finally here…

We live in an age now where so many bands, movements and artists are getting to tell their stories in film. Every week there’s a new music documentary to see, a story to tell, but Salad Days is something special. From the very start, the Washington DC punk scene documented itself. More than any other punk scene in the world at that time, the participants took care to photograph, film and record everything that was happening. They knew what they were doing was important and special and wanted it preserved. “I didn’t want to own the scene, I just wanted there to be one,” explains Ian Mackaye, who through his work with Minor Threat, Fugazi, Dischord Records and many more is understandably the lynch pin and constant through the whole movie. So the upshot of this is that there is a wealth of incredible footage in this film. It rushes past, much like the music, in a high-speed, high-energy blur. This is not any easy film to sit still and watch in a cinema, as each band and song crashes by, every moment made me want to leap out of my seat and explode.

Ph: Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat, Wilson Center, DC, 1983 by Jim Saah

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Film maker Scott Crawford has done an incredible job of capturing the spirit and energy of the time. Having been involved in the scene in DC from a very young age (he was just 12 when he started going to gigs and making fanzines), he was trusted to tell the story and help the various participants open up.

Running chronologically from when Bad Brains exploded onto the scene and everything went FAST with bands like SOA, Void. Teen idles, Minor Threat, Untouchables, Youth Bridge, to the mid-80s ‘Revolution Summer’ years with Rites Of Spring, Embrace, Gray Matter, Dave Grohl’s first band Mission Impossible. They then move onto the end of the 80s as the alternative rock explosion beckoned, and Grohl, fresh out of Dischord legends Scream propelled Nirvana into the mainstream, bringing Fugazi attention they never expected, Jawbox a major label deal and the rest is history.

There are so many magical moments in ‘Salad Days’ that it’s difficult to know where to start but here’s a few. The footage of Void is utterly off-the-hook insane and demonic, the bit where MacKaye talks about Straight Edge and how he still gets people, to this day, phoning him at the Dischord office and screaming “hey Ian, I’m drunk, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!!” before slamming the phone down, the self-belief, politics and conviction that run through every band, the thought that they really believed they were making a difference and could change. Subject to change. The realisation of just how young everyone one was when this started…

“Salad days” is a Shakespearean idiomatic expression to refer to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person.”

That says it all.

James Sherry

You can pre-order the film on Vimeo as it will be Video On Demand from August 4th.

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Skateboarding News

Evan Smith Experience Pro Part

Evan Smith has joined the pro ranks at Element Skateboards today with a ridiculous four minute edit that takes Skate Edit of the Week. The 22 year old from Florida takes apart huge gaps, banks, stairs, pools, ledges and everything else in front of him. Press play for all round goodness and take your pick for best trick.

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Skateboarding News

Manny Lopez, Macare and Zehnder do DC

Manny Lopez, buddy Douwe Macare and Kilian Zehnder had a Game Of Honor at the DC Embassy. click for fun.

G.O.H. NGP: Kilian Zehnder, Manny Lopez & Donwe Macare from THE DC EMBASSY on Vimeo.

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Skateboarding News

Big Three footage from Lloyds this weekend

James Harris captured the highlights from the annual “Big Three” Competition at the Lloyds Amphitheatre this weekend. Korahn Gayle took the honours again and £1000 for his NBD skills. Press play to catch up on what went down with skating from Shaun Currie, Jason Lewer, Josh Arnott, Caradog Emanuel, Sean Smith, Pete Adams, Ollie Lock, Phil Parker, Korahn and many more.

Lloyds Big Three Competition 2012 from James Harris on Vimeo.

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Skateboarding News

DC skate the Canary Islands

The European branch of DC spent some time in the Canary Islands and came back with an edit. Watch Madars Apse, Jatta, Wes Kremer and Antony Lopez in this new clip.

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Skateboarding News

Barney Page shuts down the DC Embassy

Barney Page takes his Exeter skills over to Barcelona and shuts down the DC Embassy this week. Amazing footage from the UK’s finest.

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Skateboarding News

Get Well Soon edit with DC’s John Bell

dc-shoes-logoJohn Bell has a Get Well Soon video feature online today thanks to the handy lens skills of Phil Harvey. Unfortunately John will not be able to skate for a little while so share this DC clip as it will make him stoked. Click play for some rock and rolls on route 66 and watch Johnny go.

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Skateboarding News

Sidewalk’s In Progress video premiere’s in London

London’s Prince Charles cinema was invaded by the creme of the UK’s skateboarders last night as the new Sidewalk video In Progress was premiered.

Popcorn and beers were thrown as standard, before three quarters of an hour of British skateboarding was unleashed with sections from Barney Page, Conhuir Lynn, Ben Raemers, Nicky Howells, Sean Smith, Harry Lintell and Tom Harrison alongside Ben Nordberg, Mark Baines, Nick Remon, Chris Jones, Denis Lynn and footage of many more.

Overall the film got a great reaction, the skating was banging, the music was spot on and the film mainly shot by Ben Powell, Ryan Gray and Kevin Parrott and many other contributors, could have just kept going and going. 45 minutes flew past with raw UK skating served just how we like it with Barney Page and Ben Raemers receiving the decibels they deserved. .

There will be some fantastic hangovers this morning as the free bar set up around the corner and funded by Nike would have sucked everyone in and destroyed most.

Well done to Sidewalk who have rolled out, amongst everything else they do for the scene, a video that captures some of the UK’s finest. The video will not be free on the cover of a magazine but will rightly be on sale in your local skate shop, so you treasure it and watch it with friends at home before you go for a skate. Pick up a copy in October in your local skater owned shop.

More video premiere’s have been announced this week:

Friday 30th September – Hush Bar, Bristol, 8pm.
Contact 5050 for further info.

Saturday 1st October – T13 Skatepark, Belfast, 7pm.
Pre-premiere jam at T13 Skatepark (time TBC), £3 in – keep an eye on the www.bogginzine.com forum for updates.

Saturday 1st October – The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, Glasgow.
6pm sharp. Over 18’s only.

Thursday October 6th – Milton Keynes Buszy.
6pm – under 18s. 7:30pm – over 18’s with afterparty at the Buszy Bar.

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Skateboarding News

Chris Cole partners with Zero

As previously reported, Chris Cole made a slightly unexpected move from Black Box footwear brand Fallen to DC Shoes. This caused a few to jump to some needless conclusions, most notably the assumption that his loyalty to Zero isn’t as strong as we once thought. Far from it, as Black Box have just announced that Chris Cole will now be business partners with Zero chief Jamie Thomas and will have an active role in directing the future of the company, while still ripping it professionally of course.

Here are some words from The Chief himself…

“Cole’s loyalty and support have always been an integral part of Zero’s success for the past decade. I’ve always included him in important decisions and brand directions, so it’s exciting to know we’ll get to work together for the life of the brand. I couldn’t imagine a better partner.”


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Skateboarding News

DC Welcome Chris Cole to the team

After a week of teasing, rumours and leaked ads it’s officially official. Chris Cole is the newest member of the DC Team. Click his picture below to see his rider profile via the DC Shoes website.