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Features Skateboarding

Adidas presents The Obstacle in London Town

Last weekend was by far the busiest so far this year for skateboard events in the UK. The Manny Mania final was held at Bay 66 with Manchester’s UK Lloyd McLeggon taking the wedge, War of the Thistles attracted the bowl riders in Scotland, “The Heart Of Skateboarding” memorial jam for Bingo saw locals session hard at R-Kade Skatepark in Redcar and The Obstacle comp from Adidas was a highlight for many down South at the Central Foundation Boys School over in East London. Unfortunately it was also the same day as Crossfire’s Barfly curation at the Camden Crawl so David Woolley headed East to report on what went down in that schoolyard.

TradeMark Gonzales

This get together was kept pretty much on the quiet with the location announced only a week before kick off but as word spread through the web, select shop teams were planning their journeys for a memorable jam session whilst the Obstacles that were designed by Mark Gonzales, were being primed by Rodney Clarke, Dave Chesson and friends at the Pioneer park in St Albans.

Boots nails a blunt

After a warm up sesh a pro demo kicked off proceedings featuring Adidas team riders and of course, the one and only Mark Gonzales who has been spotted more times than Animal Chin skating London’s parks and street spots over the last 3 weeks. Not only will the Gonz be 43 years young exactly a month after this very event, but he’s still got the steez that he is famous for as he hucked out super smooth 5.0’s, trademark fs board slides, bonelesses and classic knee boarding tomfoolery! To have such a legendary skateboarder turn up to our country weeks before a comp to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy British culture is nothing but an honour and as usual he was the gentleman everyone has admired for so many years.

Lucas Puig tames the schoolyard

Nestor Judkins had front tail’s on lock, Pete Eldridge took a box of tricks home from the session alongside the impressive Lucas Puig whose tech skills just have to be seen live. The UK contingent was led by the gifted Chewy Cannon and Stereo’s smooth operator Benny Fairfax whose huge backside flip over the barrel backed up the hype on why he’s one of the most talked about UK skaters in the US right now. It’s funny to think that he walked away a winner at one of Crossfire’s very first skate events 8 years ago but no surprise that he’s up there with the best of them thesedays.

Death Skateboards pro Boots was also on form and on third try took a sick backside noseblunt whilst Karim Bakhtaoui‘s massive shuv’s over a thigh high barrier made palms come together from around the school yard. It was an impressive session with fun in mind and that’s exactly what came from it, thankfully there was more to come.

Benny Fairfax takes Three Stripes over the bin

After the pro demo a shop team competition kicked off featuring many team riders from independent skate shops from around the UK. 10 minute jam sessions were organised for 3 shop teams to skate together with 2 riders representing each shop. Skaters from Note, Exist, 50:50, Natterjacks, Detour and Slide impressed amongst many others before a best trick jam ended the day on a high with the soon-to-be Fresh Blood ripper Manuel Lopez taking the free trip to Barcelona as the main prize with a 5-0 Varial Flip out. Watch that in Harry Garcia’s edit and more from the day in Tidy Mike’s clip on this page. It was a great day out and unique to the London event calendar so well done to everyone involved.

WATCH HARRY GARCIA’S FOOTAGE

WATCH MIKE PEARSON’S FOOTAGE

Categories
Skateboarding News

Clissold Park bowl opens Easter Weekend

London’s bowl skaters will be stoked to know that the new Freestyle built bowl in Clissold Park in Hackney will be officially open to the public and ready to skate from this Thursday 21st April 2011. The bowl has been sessioned by friends of ours who say that the hips naturally line up in front of you and generally feels great. Other additional goodness includes decent seating and mounded hills that are perfect for lazing about in and watching sessions.

The Freestyle team have grafted hard to have this one up and running for you for Easter Weekend so get down there this week and have a ride on what looks likely to be a popular choice for many this summer. Big shouts to John Flood, Steve Crawford and the lads there for all their hard work on this one.

clissoldskateparkhackney

clissoldskateparkhackney

Categories
Live Reviews

Live Review: Tennis

Tennis
The Lexington, London
07.01.11

Words and Photo: Alex Penge

Meet Tennis, Denver’s husband and wife 60’s pop idolisers, apparently a tongue-in-cheek dig by Alaina Moore (vocals, keyboard) of her husband Patrick Riley’s (guitarist) interest in the sport at college. On the back of widespread internet acclaim for their web smash ‘Marathon’, the harmonic pop group play their first ever UK gig at The Lexington minus the lairy headbands and skimpy shorts…

Moore graces the stage joined by Riley at her side. The crowd is introduced to an instrumental of wistful guitar combined with mellow notes from the synthesiser. The results are an atmospheric pop haze. ‘Seafarer’ follows on from the eruptive opening with Moore’s youthful cries of summer time teenage affection. ‘Cape Dory’ is the first song to bring a sense of Supremes-like harmony as Moore beautifully proclaims that ‘we can listen to the sounds of the ocean’. The 60s girl group pastiche is not exhaustedly delivered however, with Riley once again providing the modern guitar twangs necessary for reaffirming the pastiche as just nostalgia.

This is Tennis’ first show outside the U.S, considering the universal magnitude of their next song ‘Marathon’ this show is surely not just a transatlantic ta-ta. A fulsome organ fills the room while Moore references the couple’s sailboat journeys of the past, through melancholic rhymes about ‘Coconut Grove’ cove life. Complemented with energetic cymbals the live crowd is provided with a thunderous chorus. ‘Thanks Radman’ bellows Moore at the end of the song, in reply to an overzealous crowd member.

The next song and first cover of the night is Jackie De Shannon’s ‘When You Walk in the Room’. Arguably the most energetic and empowering song of the evening, Riley’s calm yet resonant power-pop guitar builds towards DeShannon’s original emotional frustration. The love songs do not end here, as ‘Pigeon’ unwinds the crowd with flashbacks of frilly senior prom shirts and awkward slow dances. (See: The slow prom dance scene from Napoleon Dynamite. There’s awkward and then there’s THAT!)

It is clear that some of Tennis’ heroes are pre-rock icons, one of which being Brenda Lee. Brenda Lee’s ‘Is It True’ clarifies this view with passionate vocals and jangly strings. There’s hope for the future with potential mini-festival anthem ‘South Carolina’, Florence-esque echoed screams suggest that the band could be well suited to big tents on the festival circuit.

Reproduction of past records and especially forgotten genres can often be valuable, but for just how long? The one criticism is the emotional significance of their music. As it is predominantly based on influences of the past, there is a tendency to want something a little dissimilar, ultimately questioning the reminiscences being presented.

There’s undoubted beauty and charm but you just wonder how the husband and wife duo can progress in the future with a sound that is so precisely formulated. Importantly however Tennis are far from mediocre and are an interesting live collective. They are not quite ready for Wimbledon as of yet but are well on their way.

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Features Skateboarding

Video Feature: Birthday Session at Mile End

The Crossfire Advocates are back again, this time trading private mini ramps in for a rare dry winter session at Mile End to celebrate the birthday of Tom Ball.

Shot and edited by the reliable hands that belong to Alan Christensen and features skating from the birthday boy Tom Ball, Brendan Ryall, Guy Burchard, Laurie Sherman and Terrence Anthony.

Some of you may be familiar with Tom through his good work at BaySixty6. If you haven’t signed the petition to save the park from closure then please get involved here. Out to Tom with this one. See below for London shredding and good birthday vibes.

Categories
Features

Reflections 2010: Dan Magee

Dan Magee is yet another inspiring character from the Blueprint camp who has stayed true to his school and persisted through difficult times, becoming stronger and more refined at his craft. With Make Friends With The Colour Blue, Dan reminded everyone that it is still possible to resist the cheap and easy method and make a focussed, cohesive and visionary skate video. For all we know, it could be one of the last great skate DVDs of our time but then again, with Dan still lurking everywhere with a lens it’s probably just a matter of time until the next one comes along.

In 2010, Dan expanded his work outside of skateboarding while still knocking out some of the best trip and demo edits of the year. We switched the questions up a little, so have a read below for some filmer-centric words from the fried chicken and purple drink lover himself. Chop chop mate.

Photo: CN

What was a personal highlight from 2010?

This year I’ve been working a lot as a freelance cameraman / editor / director, so I’ve got to do some nice stuff within skateboarding but also outside of it too. Blueprint premiered MFWTCB and did a tour which was obviously a highlight, but in the same year I also got to interview Eric Clapton, go on tour with Lance Mountain and tour round the U.K in a mobile home with the U.K Nike team. All rewarding in different ways.

Best skate trip that you were on board to film?

Nike’s Bird Is The Word Tour.

Your favourite song used in an edit you’ve made?

Of all time, maybe Kristin Hersh in that old Day In The City Edit. This year, I liked the one in the Nike SB Malmo edit, because it’s something that I normally would not edit to.

Best song you’ve heard in an edit made by someone else?

Really liked the Joy Division ‘Atmosphere’ string quartet cover in Pontus’ new video.

What trick was the most torturous to film?

Never really torturous. But Shier’s crook pop in ender in MFWTCB was really scary, because it’s:

a) Probably one of the gnarliest things I have ever seen on a skateboard in real life.
b) Shier took one of the most horrible slams I have ever seen in real life on it.
c) We drove across the island early the next day to get it again.

But once he got it, there was sheer elation all round.

Worst ‘shit, I wasn’t recording’ moment of the year?

Don’t really have those, thankfully. But on some of the first few demos of Bird Is the word… it’s pretty gnarly, because you have the four musketeers, Ishod, P-Rod, Nugget and Cory Kennedy skating the course like a video game… ridiculously consistently. Until you get into the rhythm of how they skate, they are really hard to film. Plus I was always used to filming street, I barely filmed at parks or demos.

What edit are you most stoked on from everything you’ve filmed this year?

Bird Is The Word is the most obvious one…but I like the éS Big push too.

Best thing about the internet and skate videos?

I like the fact that you can watch different genres of skateboarding edits on the internet, that might not necessarily have belonged on a longform project. That’s why I am quite into documentary style snippets or behind the scenes type edits a the moment. It’s good to something a little bit different.

For example, Slap’s new reality show OIAM format would never have made it as a physical disc, but it’s great as episodic internet fodder.

Worst thing about the internet and skate videos?

No more full length videos and overnight heroes. Everything is so transient.

I think filmers need to cut their teeth on proper projects, rather than thinking they have mastered filming skateboarding by putting out a series of short edits.

There’s a lot more skill and organisation in putting out a project that’s filmed over 2-4 years. Making sure everyone involved gets filmed and that their footage stays relevant and timeless etc. A full length 40 minute video is a whole different ball game. However, I think we may have seen the end of those.

Best scene video you’ve seen all year?

Pontus Alv – In Search Of The Miraculous

Most watched company video of the year?

Emerica – Stay Gold

Favourite section in MFWTCB?

Toss up between Colin and Shier’s extended part, because that’s two seasoned vets putting out full parts with some gnarly shit in it. The other would be Coakley’s, but Smithy already said that. Plus it’s a bit of an obvious choice, but I really like it because I spent a lot of time in the States to film that part and had some amazing times with old and new friends.

Skater of the year?

Forrest Edwards

Fresh Blood tip for 2011?

Forrest Edwards

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?

Heard there might be a couple of Blueprint trips that Shier has planned. Hopefully they will get off the ground, the locations sound dope. Also hoping to do some stuff with Sole Tech and the Nike Euro teams too.

Squeeze That Shit

This is my all time favorite. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched this and my mouth still waters as I watch it now. Make sure you watch part 2, it gets really good once she gets past the blockage.

Pontus Alv – In Search Of The Miraculous

This part is raw as fuck.

I love how Pontus has that DiY attitude to everything, building legit spots, filming. Learning to edit stuff. Obviously he can be a bit of nutter about stuff sometimes, but I think it’s true passion and that comes through in everything he does. All the little animations, photos and footage of his family.

So sick how he had the whole interview in Kingpin, where he looks like he’s Amish or something. I like stuff where the footage or the photo is already amazing through skating and the compostion, but he adds another element to make it even doper.

Abbe Nyberg – You Got Soul

Everyone must have seen this one by now, as it spread pretty quickly virally. Not the best filmed or edited piece, but the Elmo shirt smashes it, then he goes on to kill it with an assortment of what normally should be stinking tricks. Looks like he’s having a lot of fun.

The Kalis Files

All about the tre flip at city hall down the 6 stair. This dude is pretty raw, never switched up his shit, always done his own thing…any upriver beefs aside.

Also loving the fact that you can watch a part where someone is wearing massive DC moonboots, swishy trackpants or Camo and it still looks like it was filmed yesterday. Timeless shit.

Rodney The Plonker

So good.

http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/skate/nike-sbs-the-bird-is-the-word-demo/
Categories
Skateboarding News

Watch: Tanner Vs Hold Tight Henry

Two of the hardest working skaters in the UK, Henry Edwards-Wood and John Tanner, have spent a big chunk of the latter half of 2010 filming for this edit set in grand ol’ London Town.

As you would expect, it’s top drawer stuff on all accounts; sublime filming from the finest lens wielder in the big smoke and a smooth assault on every single piece of concrete the capital throws at the Cliché rider. Watch and enjoy the good stuff below.

John Tanner – Cliché Flow Rider from HOLD TIGHT LONDON on Vimeo.

Categories
Features Home Skateboarding

The Crossfire Xmas Jam 2010

The official Crossfire Xmas Jam 2010 edit by Alan Christensen. Filmed by Alan Christensen, Nick Richards and Joe Moynihan.

Words: Stanley
Photography: Tom Halliday and Dom Marley

Over the past eight years a lot has happened within the cozy sphere of living we call skateboarding. Shiny discs with easter eggs came in and locked VHS up in the junk room only to be touched by the boney skeletal finger of the digital grim reaper a couple years later, we lost a couple magazines, we gained a few new ones, scooters are selling more than skateboards for the first time ever and yet skate companies are being born as if an entire generation of UK skateboarders missed out on the business studies lesson where they covered contraception. It’s all a little confusing and unsettling to be honest. So, at the end of another confusing year we decided that there was only one thing we could possibly do. Invite you all to Bay 66 and go skateboarding. What else?

There really wasn’t any alternative; for a start we do it every year, and every year we love it more than ever. But more importantly, a jam is still one of the most positive things one can involve themselves in for skateboarding regardless of whatever the economical climate currently looks like. A jam provides UK skateboarders of all ages with a place to meet like-minded creatives and explore the myriad of ways in which one can get rad on their wheely-board, which sounds awesome enough, but on top of that you will always meet new friends, witness amazing talent and be reminded just how rewarding skateboarding is. We’re sure most of you know this already, but given the sad circumstances that surrounded the park in which we always – with great pleasure – hold all of our annual festive jams, it feels appropriate to point out just how effective these events are at giving the young people of the UK something postive to focus their attention on. So, in another attempt to remind the youth that there’s a lot more to life than drugs, disrespecting women and riding shitty little scooters we invited you all to London’s beloved sheltered park (hopefully not for the last time) and you all came and smashed it. As in, totally, totally smashed it. Good work.

After some trouble with the sound system which led to myself, Zac and Brewster twiddling knobs like Dickfingers does whenever he has nothing better to do, we finally had Brewster’s charming vocal stylings flooding into the ears of the London yoof. Good thing too, as it was high time for them to start throwing themselves over the little driveway for the chance of a fresh Blueprint deck and fifty quids worth of Slam City Skates vouchers. And throw themselves they did, in a kind of bizarre mature manner. Sure there was havoc, but maybe the 100 little Alfies that normally walk in the way and cock things up spent this winter with the snaking scooter crews in concrete parks throughout the country, meaning that the havoc was kind of controlled. Orderly queues were formed and boards were flying everywhere and we more stoked and impressed with the standards of the unsponsored jam than ever before.

We weren’t too stoked on the theft of Alex Diss’ tapes from the unsponsored jam though. Zorlac compensates his loss by being rad. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Below: Darius Trabalza is sick. Watch out for him. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

We genuinely had to ask most of the winners if they were sponsored or not, especially considering how many pros and ams were sneaking in runs before their time. Daryl Dominguez got up early as if he intended to eat the driveway for breakfast, but it was the young and very smiley Darius Trabalsza who got the worm with a positively monstrous hardflip over the box to flat in a way that would impress Daryl himself. Huge catch and caught proper bolts. Brewster and I had little trouble awarding Darius with the prize, he really got the idea of a competition going and he fully earned his deck and should also earn your attention in the future. Look out for that smiley dude.

Before we followed the schedule to the next spot, a couple of unashamed moshers were trying their hand at the ski jump to such ridiculous results that we almost contemplated throwing the entire schedule out the window and have a gnarliest backflip competition on the launch ramp. One backflip later though and our mosher tendencies were more than satisfied, permitting us to stop kidding ourselves and return to where all the good stuff was happening: BaySixty6’s new hip with the long jersey quarter on top of it. A perfect setting for some Busenitz grind action and maybe even some Cory Kennedy hip flip trick ridiculousness. Things were kicking off straight away as the obstacle was given its first Xmas Jam treatment, with Felipe Dalcin going in hard for a mighty kickflip noseslide sadly nailing it just after the whistle. With Brewster in charge Crossfire minutes are just 60 seconds long I’m afraid; Spanky runs a tight ship that’s for sure. A shame for Felipe as it was an early contender for trick of the day, but Jason Cloete’s stream of smooth technical wizardry (landing bigger flips cleaner than Marc Johnson) set the consistency level for the rest of the unsponsored comp, if you’re gonna win you’re going to have be better than this kid. It’s remarkable that he hasn’t landed a proper sponsor yet, though that fact might have something to do with how much of a sleazy bastard he was at the after party (props though, standard). Whatever you’ve heard about Jason Cloete, what you need to know is the little shitbag kills it.

Below: Jason Cloete prior to all the sleaze (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Indeed, the Cloete show continued as the jam took it to BaySixty6’s newer, gnarlier, Amazonian waterfall of a Wembley/Euro/Step Up gap. Backside 360 kickflips, triple kickflips and more first try bedwetters, probably before people learnt to get out the way of the landing area too. When it did though, Baystation 666 was subjected to technical madness at its very raddest. Drawing Boards’ Isaac Miller took his opportunity to front 360 and backside heel as fluidly and nonchalantly as one would nollie over a crack in the pavement. We originally had some doubts at how many unsponsored kids could tackle the new Euro beast but in just 20 minutes we had our uncertainties handed to us on a plate as Jamal Breniss tore the gap a new backside (this kid can also stick a mean sticker around; the decorations you see in these pictures before you are courtesy of myself, Jerome, Jamal and a couple of other helpful gents… next time you see them around, high five them for braving the cold. Except for me, I’m a scumbag and probably deserved it.). It was Harry King who took the biscuit though who with his solo late-flip fueled demonstration that left even Cloete’s head spinning.

In a year where ADHD ran riot over the Firefox generation we felt it right to conclude the unsponsored jam on whatever obstacle they wanted to skate, providing it was on the big driveway and me and Brewster could see it. So as we strained our eyes over the fog of fried chicken in the spectators stand many of you took it to the rail, manual pad and hubba ledge and we realised that judging this one could be a little difficult. Luckily Jamie ‘Arghhh’ Morley was saving his game changers for the pro comp and the unsponsored crowd stuck mostly to the rail like slippery glue. Though a few sneaky sponsored sorts tried to blag themselves a Blueprint deck it was John Howlett who impressed us with his consistency and extensive bag of tricks; no matter how many great feeble grinds were on display, no one trick wonder was walking away with this particularly awesome Nick Jensen deck. Look out for Howlett leaping out of a taco in a Mile End near you.

Below: New moves, same ol’ Smithy. (Seq: Dom Marley)

After a short breather (Brewster went out for some fresh tobacco scented air while I stayed in getting high off the fumes from the fried chicken boxes) it was time for the sponsored jam. First up, back to the mini-driveway and as the guestlist continued getting checked off it was those that got in early that were obviously warmed up enough to smash it. Daryl Dominguez went straight in and hammering down all the tricks he has on lock – 360 flip, lateflips, hardflip, all perfect. Isaac Miller was busy snaking all the unsponsored kids on the Wembley gap but his lofty heelflip to flat literally came out of no where, then dusted off like it was nothing. 2011 will be his year for sure. Now, this paragraph cannot be complete without mentioning Gav Coughlan, who sped through the park and landed on a monster frontside flip too many times without rolling away. When he finally conquered the beast we had already moved onto the next obstacle after drill sergeant Brewster announced time was up, but big up Gav for sticking to it. We were stoked on what the Irish powerhouse brought to the event. This obstacle was Daryl’s from the beginning however, he sleepwalked his way to the first batch of Crossfire pounds dished out.

By the time we hit up the hip again our massive guestlist was more or less fully checked off apart from a few notable names (Korahn Gayle probably thought he was supposed to get on a plane or something and missed it) so things were about to take a turn for the awesome. The entire spot got attacked from all angles; Crayon’s Paul ‘Barber’ Cooper got things going on top with that frontsmith of his that’s one of the finest in this country, Witchcraft’s Jamie ‘Arghhh’ Morley took a different route and boardslid his way into the jersey quarter the hard way (the only way the pirate knows) and Smithy shutdown the actual hip with that nollie bigger spin heelflip he was stoked on in his Reflections. The hip got a thorough seeing to but a face-off emerged between Kill City’s Jake Collins and Blind’s Chris Oliver. Chroliver could have shut the day down with his balls-out backtail and mach-ten kickflip 5-0 across the entire ledge (and if you haven’t got off your arse and seen Chris skate in person yet then sort it out, it’ll change your life) but Jake just kept pulling out bangers that we had no choice but to give him the Crossfire pounds. Crooks to regular, ninja finger backsmith, backtail, backlip and a ‘proper’ mayday in under twenty minutes? This guy is amazing.

Below: Dan ‘270’ Wileman getting paper. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Now, originally our schedule was intent on taking a Delorean back to the 90s with a recession-friendly best trick over the smashed up bin but given how many gnar-hunters were on the scene we had a little re-arranging session and decided to conclude the sponsored jam on the behemoth that is Bay 66’s famous vert wall. Firstly though, we took it back to the ADHD-encouraging driveway and let the sponsored heads run riot. The rail was tackled by the Blueprint crew with ease as Nick Jensen cruised around, Tom Knox summoned up a hurricane and Smithy boardslide-shoved his way into a few high fives. Daryl got tech on the rail with a ninja-catch flip frontboard but took one for the team while trying a trick front shove boardslide. I couldn’t sleep for days after watching that unfortunate credit card disaster. Yowzers. Good thing Jamie Morley and Dan Wileman were on the scene to remedy pain with gnar. Jamie took a break from photographing the dead animals near Portobello Road to catch a ridiculous kickflip out of a perfect 50-50 down the hubba ledge. They don’t call him ‘Kickflip’ for nothing kids. Dan Wileman doesn’t have a nickname yet but considering how many times I’ve seen him earn money from these variations I’m gonna start calling him ‘270’. No one does it better. £50 each, now on to the vert wall.

As we hoped, shit got REAL on the vert wall. Luke Jarvis was obviously waiting for this moment to arrive and we’re already taking bets on whether he has some sort of telekinetic speed device in that green hat of his… no one can move that fast naturally. Before we could even set up flashes he was there killing it and setting the bar high. As high as the Westway would allow anyway. Amidst dogpissers aplenty, Alex Lally got some training in for the following mini ramp jam, Ewan Bower got amongst it and Daryl fucking Dominguez confirmed his position as the undisputable ruler of BaySixty6. After playing around with what looked like a potentially groundbreaking hardflip he stomped down a kickflip fakie from the quarter (serving under the bloody reign of a severed pig’s head courtesy of Lee Dainton) and grafted away towards and elusive but eventually rewarding alley-oopbackside flip straight into the gullet of the beast. To quote the editor of the official Crossfire Xmas Jam edit Alan Christensen “best trick of the day hands down”. Like all the hammers, it was just outside of time, plus who else could have taken the vert wall monies but the young Sam Beckett. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Sam is one of the best skaters in the UK right now and you should all recognise this. Floating a backside flip across the entire wall and not missing a single air in twenty minutes? Deny it if you can.

Daryl Dominguez shutting down BaySixty6’s vert wall. Utter madness. (Seq: Dom Marley)

Below: Nowick breaking the necks of observers. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

By this point and despite the cold we were all starting to get a little sweaty, so it could only mean one thing: time for one full hour of Slayer and bodies flying around in Baystation’s famous miniramp lovingly sponsored by Flip, Ricta and Mob Grip. And fly they did; an increasingly smashed Brewster called for high flyers and blunt 360 flips in, which combined resulted in a lot of smashed shins and tooth chippers. Or was that the product toss? Either way, shit was going down and the riffs were kicking off so there I was, standing on the corner with a notebook trying to make sense of what was going on while occasionally getting out the way of Jed Cullen’s nose-scratching airs. Judging by how illegible my notes are, it’s safe to say that everyone killed it.

Alex Lally got his post-Ben Nordberg miniramp moves on (bigspin back disasters, pop into sugarcane) and generally just ruled the liptricks, Sam Beckett continued his reign over all things transition, Barber got involved with some smooth operator lines and Kill City’s miniramp shredders Sam Pulley and Jake Collins more or less ran the ship for the first half hour with Jake getting the first ‘proper’ trick on the awkward extension (frontside disaster… mad!).

But once again, the miniramp jamp nearly turned into the Greg Nowick show, not that we’re complaining… that miniramp is absolutely his, but Jed Cullen avoided the snakes and and pulled some bonkers stuff out of his deep trick bag, all miles above the coping and so the MVP prize purse was split between the two. Best trick could only have gone to whoever first landed the elusive blunt 360 flip and since Daewon wasn’t around this took a little longer. Eventually Chris Coombs snuck a perfect one in between runs and walked away with £50. This year’s jam was the business!

Zac, Brewster and the miniramp rulers. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Just gathering what I can recall from the day is getting the blood flowing again, what an absolutely terrific day for skateboarding in London. No matter how many kids were stuck inside playing Call of Duty or clogging up skatepark traffic on scooters the turnout for this year was nothing but skateboarders down for skateboarding and the atmosphere proved it. The good vibes flowed throughout the day and out of glasses at the unplanned and very messy afterparty. It was a great thing to be a part of. Big thanks to all of you that came down and had a good time with us, thanks to all the sponsors and support from the great companies that make this country so rad, all the riders they brought with them, Brewster for strong MCing, all the good folk at Bay 66, the friendly staff at Mau Mau’s, Tom Halliday and Dom Marley for capturing souls and Alan Christensen and Nick Richards for watching the entire event through a viewfinder. And of course, big thanks to Zac for not letting a gnarly spinal injury stop him throwing one of my favourite skate events of the year.

Try and spot the product they’re fighting over. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Enjoy the rest of the photos not included above in the gallery below and stay tuned for the official edit coming VERY soon (little bit of technical trouble and logistical nightmares delviering it all thanks to that bitch Mother Nature). Oh, and if you thought you were safe after the night raids feature dropped last week, sorry, but Tom Halliday took a whole bunch more. Scroll further down for messiness and bring on Xmas 2011, but remember, if we don’t act now it might not be at Bay 66. Sign the petition here if you haven’t already and let’s keep our favourite park in London.

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Photos by Tom Halliday and Dom Marley. Double click to full-screen.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Save BaySixty6 Campaign on BBC Radio

The on-going fight to keep Bay 66 under the Westway has hit the airwaves as Gaby Roslin and Paul Ross interviewed Chris Bailey of the Westway Development Trust on Monday’s Breakfast Show on BBC London.

The interview is primarily concerned with the location of the park, which as the BBC reporter points out, appears to have already been decided by the Westway Development Trust looks set to change as office space and gardening centres are likely to be more profitable.

It’s good to see that both Gaby and Paul challenge Chris’ statements with both the social and cultural significance of the park’s current location, backing this up with words from a 9 year old local skateboarder called Alex. As we know, the current location of Baysixty6 is where thousands of young people across the UK are accustomed to going to on a regular basis throughout the year. To change the location of one of country’s most important skateparks would have gross consequences to the scene no matter what.

It remains up to us skateboarders to let our voices and opinions be heard and convince those planning on relocating or closing the park that it is in the best interest of the city of London to let this cultural institution stay where it is.

To listen to the show, follow this link and skip ahead to the 2:16:20 mark to get straight into the discussion.

For those of you who have been directed here by the radio show, please join the Save BaySixty6 Facebook page where you will find continually updated information and please sign the petition here.

Categories
Music Events Music News

NYE at The Alibi – Free Entry!

For those of you who want a banging New Year’s Eve party without the very non-banging entry free, which those of us living in London sadly know all too well about, then why not head on down to The Alibi in Kingland High Street Dalston for a Sweet Dreams event set to be a proper bubbler.

DJs include a bunch of Sweet Dreams activists and Lucien vs Farhad from the ever-familiar PWBC.

Peep the flyer on the right for all the info. It’s on from 6-6, that’s 12 hours of free entry people. Go and make yours a messy one.

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Music Events Music News

The Descendents announce UK show

The Descendents have been confirmed to play London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on April 25th.

Following the announcement that the Californian band will play Belgian festival Groezrock two days earlier, The Descendents will also appear at a seemingly one-off date in London.

Tickets go on sale this Friday 17th December at 9AM. With no other scheduled UK performances these are likely to disappear fast, so sleeping on this would not be advised.