Categories
Skateboarding News

Nothing Meaner: Dean Lane skatepark trailer

Over the last 7 months the guys from DIY Bristol have been putting together what looks like a must-watch documentary on the history of Bristol’s Dean Lane Skatepark.

40 years of skate history will be included in the full ting when it premieres at the Campus Pool on the 9th August, the day before the day before DLH funday. For now though take in this trailer and get hyped for what awesome stories and memories will follow.

Amazing work….

Nothing Meaner: Dean Lane skatepark trailer from Clockwise Film on Vimeo.

Categories
DVD Reviews

Coping Mechanism

Coping Mechanism DVD by Phil Evans

coping_mechanism_skate_dvd_malmo_sweden_phil_evansPhil Evans is somebody who has built himself a reputation as filming skateboarding differently from everyone else. The obvious definition of a skate video is a film that features skateboarders doing tricks on spots with a musical soundtrack. The purpose of a skate video is to get you hyped to go skate and hopefully incite you to support the skaters you’ve seen on film. Coping Mechanism goes beyond the conventions of a typical skate video because it introduces the viewer to a group of skateboarders who rip great spots but also drive their scene forward through positive actions. As a result the viewer wants to go skate, act in a responsible and positive manner for their local scene and support the guys featured in this film. Coping Mechanism is a documentary film that focuses on the efforts of the Malmö (Sweden) skateboarders who have learnt to work with or without their local authorities to build one of the strongest and most influential skate scenes in the last decade.

Skate-Malmo and Brygerriet are two incredibly competent bodies that act as the link between the skateboarders and the politicians to get concrete poured, contests run, local entrepreneurs promoted and good times had by all involved. Phil turns his camera and mic towards a handful of individuals that each plays a part in strengthening the Malmö skate scene. Will Taylor and Dave Toms are both foreign construction workers who have settled in Sweden and helped pour a vast majority of the concrete everybody shreds on a daily basis. Then you have Emma Lindgren who acts as a figurehead for female skateboarders breaking down the barriers of convention and paving the way for Swedish ladies to get radical.

oskarPhotoNilsSvensson.A trip to Malmö is also a pilgrimage to the DIY spots of TBS or Steppeside molded and mastered by local rippers like Pontus Alv and Matthias Hallén. These guys knew that their city was limited in what it could offer terrain-wise, so they decided to grab a couple of bags of concrete and build their own spots. This do-it-yourself mentality has spread like wild fire around the globe, but for the Malmö skaters it was never a question of setting a trend. It was a simple necessity if they wanted to skate. All of this creativity and elbow grease has had a strong influence on the younger generations who lend a helping hand in building their scene, but also polishing off their abilities to rip all sorts of spots. Fernando Bramsmark and Oskar Rozenberg Hallberg skate all day and all night and are the poster children of this next generation.

Finally, one man embodies the Malmö skate scene and is held in the highest regard by his peers for going above and beyond the duties of a local skateboarder for his scene. That man is John Magnusson also known as J-Mag. Described as a calm and humble person by his peers, John took it upon himself to create a dialogue between the skateboarders and the local authorities to guarantee a constructive collaboration that has seen the old industrial town of Southern Sweden become a premier location for national and international skaters seeking great spots to visit. These visitors breathe new life and esteem into a community that previously had very little to offer in return. The key to the success of the Malmö skate scene is probably due to the level of trust between all parties. The skateboarders have the responsibility to develop and build their skateparks with the direct experience and knowledge of using them afterwards. The street scene thrives too as locals share their old and new spots with one another and newcomers in a bid to push the scene and be proactive in promoting local brands.

Evans has been careful to embed himself within a scene and listen to what the key players have to say without neglecting anyone or anything. The Malmö skate scene didn’t just appear overnight. Spots had to be built and sometimes re-built, lines had to be found, films were made and dialogues were established to serve as a testament to the City and the skateboarders who seem to have cracked the code of positive collaboration. If you were wondering how to push your scene forward, the first step would be to get a copy of Coping Mechanism and watch it with your friends, family and local authorities. As a documentary, a single viewing of Coping Mechanism should spark the fire in viewers to contemplate their own scenes and communities and figure out what needs to be done to compensate older generations and invest in future generations.

You can pick this DVD up from the Skate Malmo site where Oskar Rozenberg Hallberg’s photo featured in this review on this page and other shots by Nils Svensson are available to buy as prints.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

Categories
Skateboarding News

10 Birthday Tricks with Lloyd Mcleggon

Freestyle Skateparks’ latest build at Projekts in Manchester gets the tech treatment from local ripper Lloyd Mcleggon in this recent Birthday bonanza. Press play for 10.

Categories
Features Skateboarding

Total Recall: Crossfire Xmas Jam 10 Year special

10 years have flown by since we threw the first Crossfire Xmas Jam at BaySixty6 skate park. We have seen three different sponsors, many face-lifts, and a plethora of pro skateboarders, locals and visitors leave a legacy in the park with various tricks from demo’s, events and sessions.

Just before the park was shut down for a wonderful renovation by Nike back in September this year, we filmed this Total Recall edit with various UK skaters with the 10th Anniversary in mind, mainly because this should be a celebration about the skate park too, as without their dedication, we could not have reached this milestone.

This park has always been there as a place for London’s skateboarders to meet up and hang out doing what we do best: skate, have a few beers and enjoy life. Press play for a snapshot of memories from various people who have skated the park from scratch and enjoy a feature looking back over a decade of bringing the UK skate scene to London.

HISTORY

The Crossfire Xmas Jam was put together for the UK scene to defy the winter and to get together for one last session of the year. At the time, there were hardly any London events to attend at all. The ones we did have were retarded ‘extreme sports’ events, promoted by people that didn’t even skate, in an era where capitalism and corperate branding were just re-igniting within our scene. Big brands were keen to associate themselves with skateboarding once again due to the emergence of Tony Hawk’s record breaking impact in the gaming market, but what happened at the time was never planned and turned out to be a very happy accident and a total path changer.

Product toss.

THE EARLY YEARS.

The very first skate jam we rolled out was at PlayStation (now known as BaySixty6) in the Easter of 2003. The Crossfire club nights that came before these skate jams were pulling over 500 people per month with bands and DJ’s for skaters to attend and get amongst it. Sessions at PlayStation proceeded these parties next door to the Subterania where the parties were held, so it was only natural that we organised daytime skate jams too.

I remember the Dirty Sanchez guys turning up and stage diving into the mini ramp crowd on that first jam. Over 800 people were in the park. I also remember Terrence Anthony (who worked at the park) flattening the woman from BBC Newsround, by bundling her to the floor in drunken celebration! A very young Benny Fairfax won the honours in the street course that day and Danny Wainwright ruled the mini ramp. In fact, the Bristol (5050) and Welsh (Kill City) crews from this jam onwards became first on the list guests, and still are to this very day.

The classic Crossfire Pound note is part of Xmas Jam history. These notes were devised so that we had time to move quickly from one best trick jam to the next without having to sort out paperwork, so cash is exchanged at the end instead. One of our guest pro riders (who shall not be named) actually tried to pay at the bar with one of these!

Paul Shier and Rayman, Croydon’s finest. Blueprint always supported and will be missed by many. RIP.

THE 10 YEAR COUNTDOWN

2003

With this relationship with 5050 sealed, they asked us to premiere their Jus Foolin’ video and the very first Crossfire Xmas Jam was held at Playstation on Saturday 14th December, 2003 with Heroin, Eastpak, Death and Ortega Skateboard teams in attendance as guests. We were also investors in CIDE skate shop at the time, but nobody really knew that. Slam City Skates were involved from the start too.

Chris Pulman graced the first flyer, shot by Richie Hopson. Rich at Bulletclip designed a lot of these flyers and layouts, Gorm helped us loads too. I could not have done it without them. I think this particular photo was taken on a Death trip to Brussels with Matt Pritchard’s arse mooning the background whilst Cates and Zorlac looked on. The jam itself was amazing. Over 850 people turned up. It was followed by 5050’s video with a room full of 600 skaters. The Xmas Jam was born.

Custom pre-doors shot.

Danny Wainwright destroying the mini ramp. Honorary member.

Dan Wileman was always first on the list and still is. Honorary member.

2004

CrossfireXmasJam_2004

Globe got involved in the 2004 jam. As a result, the event welcomed its first European sponsored riders and also Toy Machine pro’s from the US. The session went off with a show from the most insane vert skills from Jocke Olson and various vert friends. Ben Grove took dough with a front blunt, Johnny Layton smashed the rail with feebles and more, Josh Harmony, Neil Smith and Vaughan Baker killed it. Others won Crossfire pounds but all I can really remember from that day was that it was absolutely freezing cold, but the session was incredibly warm.

Is that a very young Ewen Bower?!

Josh Harmony nosegrinds.

The Crossfire tee stall run by the lovely Dani, who froze annually to bring you stickers and tees! Thanks Dani!

The after party was held in Kings Cross with Kerrang! Magazine. Karaoke was the order of the night. Massive hangovers followed. A clan of honorary members in this photo.

“Highway to Hell!”

Highway to the Bar!

Calow and Grove in the house.

2005

crossfirexmasjamflyer2005

I have no idea how we managed to actually fill the skatepark from this bloody awful flyer but it would have been my fault it looked like this and nobody elses! Circa Shoes flew Peter Ramondetta into London for this one and he ripped! We decided to build two kickers in the street course and it turned out to be one of the best ideas ever. Ben Raemers (seen below thanks to Leo Sharpe) killed it across the park and made his presence known big time. Wainwright nose picked the motorway roof off the mini ramp and sent everyone into chaos. Flynn Trottman and Rodney Clarke also took the honours at this jam and spent their hard earned dough at the after party held upstairs in a pub called the Mother Black Cap.

The Size Matters lads and Phil Procter fueled the decks on the night with hip hop sets. We all got mash up and another Xmas Jam ended on a high. Watch the video from this event here and the full article is online here.

BaySixty6 crew – honorary members

We could not have done any of this without James Sherry and Alan Christensen.

Or Ralph…all of these 3 are super-honorary members

Pete King and Dave Chesson always repped. Honorary members.

Snowy and Joey have seen a few jams too. Honorary members.

2006

Crossfirexmasjam_2006

The 2006 flyer is one of our favourites, designed by French. Globe were back as sponsors and the big focus was on the Koston block in the street course and the Heroin Whale that was designed by Fos. His whale design was inspired by an obstacle he had skated in Japan and he came down to paint it one cold December night once Mike in the park had knocked it up. Jak Tonge and Kyron Davis took unsponsored honours, Ben Raemer’s went one higher than Danny Wainwright with a frontside air into the ceiling. Chroliver, Rob Smith, James Gardner, Nowik, Boots and many more took best trick prizes on the day.

Read the full skate feature here and the party photos from Mau Mau’s here.

Fos works on the Heroin Whale. Legendary Xmas Jam obstacle. Honorary member.

Carl Wilson never misses this event. Honorary member.

Cates came as Santa. Honorary member.

Or maybe it was Scrooge.

2007

CrossfireXmasJam_07

This Osiris sponsored jam at the park brought more guest pros. John Rattray, Garret Hill, Corey Duffel and Diego Bucchieri all arrived as guests and got stuck into the freezing temperatures alongside a full house of UK pros. Stuart Kolakovic designed this awesome flyer. Chris Ault, Danny Brady, Nowik, Potter and many more took the honours on the day.

Read the full article here and the gallery of party pics from the ‘Feed the Need’ video premiere here. The party was closed down early at the Truman Brewery over East due to people dancing on the bar to a Madness tune. Bog rolls were thrown, the lights went on and we were all told to leave.

Fun times.

Sidewalk filmed this jam:


More Skateboarding Videos

Our footage is here on YouTube but now without sound:

Churchill is a ruler. Honorary member of course.

Crew deep.

2008

CrossfireXmasJam_2008

Emerica and Altamont were involved in 2008. We spent most of their sponsorship money on the Altamont block, another Fos inspired design, this time built by Rodney Clarke, Pete King and Willis. I had flu on the week the jam was scheduled for. It rained all night long and all morning, so the mini ramp was absolutely soaked and the street course was also wet along the train line side. I remember getting into the park and wondering how we were going to pull it off at all. Everything was damp and slippery but once everyone turned up, the session lifted spirits.

The amount of slams on the mini ramp were ridiculous,as a result, we had to move the vert wall onto the mini ramp which made for a fun sesh. Ben Raemers took the wallride pounds, Nowik took them on the mini ramp, Brady took the Altamont block dough with a frontside 180 fakie nosegrind to revert. Eniz Fazliov and Ricardo Fonseca were European guests and really impressed. Mike Wright took the rail, Dominguez tre-flip fakie’d the wall. Full story here.

Check out little Jake Collins. Aw. Now an honorary member.

Mike Wright shut down the rail. An honorary member who returns this year with Steak.

Daryl Dominguez gets stuck into his local park. Honorary. Of course.

Ben Reamers footplants to fakie on the wall. Honorary Thrasher cover star member.

I remember the party being a total clanger. We had booked the Portuguese Sporting Club of London on Elkstone Rd opposite Meanwhile Gardens but they had triple booked it with a bunch of other Xmas party’s and had an entertainer on a keyboard booked in! Rob Smith was ejected after a huge fight at the door with the security guys. Absolute disaster of a night!

2009

To be honest, the 2009 event was lucky to happen. I had broken a disc in my back and the recession had fully kicked in. Luckily, a Mutate Britain Art Exhibition had been set up underneath the Westway. One of the very best street art gatherings London has ever seen. We approached Garfield on the site who was running it and asked them to build us a skate-able car in return for sending people down there on jam day as part of the ticket. They loved the idea and Alex Wreckage delivered something special. Every part of the car was grindable. Jess Young’s hippy jump through the windows was mental. Neil Smith went switch lipslide on the roof, Casper Brooker kickflipped the entire vehicle. Nowik took the mini ramp jam (again) and the car got wrecked. Read the feature here.

The after party at the Metropolitan Pub ended with a 6ft Xmas tree being thrown down the stairs fully dressed.

Nowik, picking up his annual Xmas bonus. Super honorary member.

Casper Brooker flipping one. Honorary member.

2010

CrossfireXmasJam2010_web

This jam will always be remembered by a pigs head. Lee Dainton had brought one down from Wales in the van and needed to get rid of it, so instead we decided to plonk the pork on the wallride and that’s where it stayed. The primary objective for this was to make sure everyone knew that the skate park was at risk of being closed down. The skating shut the park down on the day though.

Jason Cloete took the honours in the unsponsored amongst others, Daryl Dominguez wrecked the wall and Jake Collins had an all round display. neil Smith, Dan Wileman and Sam Beckett annihilated alongside Chroliver. Jed Cullen, Nowik and Chris Coombs took the mini ramp sesh. Amazing day out! Alan Christensen’s finest video edit too. Feature here.

The Kill City crew represent every year.

Jake grew rapidly and now Carve’s Wicked.

Sam Pulley front blunts. Honorary member.

Party time then…

2011

I remember looking at the skate park as this jam kicked off and thinking this park is on its last legs and looks to be closing but on the postive side, everyone turned up to make it a day we will never forget once again. Throughout the years, the sponsorship money has always gone into building something to put back into the park, but on this occasion, we had none, and regardless of that, we had a blast due to the skating that went down. It’s a reminder that no skate jam needs thousands of corperate pounds to have a great day out, it’s the skateboarding that makes it work every time.

Manny Lopez clashed heads with Tim Prozorov. The Estonian was fine, but Manny had an egg on his face for a couple of weeks, poor bloke. Thankfully his constant amazing skating at every xmas jam helped him get the attention needed for Fabric to hook him up. Chris Oliver’s BS lipslide/FS bluntslide/5050 down the super long hubba won the Superdead comp outright. Chroliver, Nowik, Cullen, Raemers, Zwijsen and Jake Collins took the honours. The entire Kill City team ripped too, even though they had just flown in from Barcelona and brought their DVD for us to premiere at Mau Mau’s. We are now banned from there too. Full feature here. Video here.

Chroliver after the backside disaster hubba treatment. One of the best tricks ever. In fact, what is the best trick ever over the ten years?

Jed Cullen. Honorary member.

jed_cullen

2012

So here we are awaiting the video, photos and highlights to put in here from the 10th Anniversary Xmas Jam. Get down to this event and make it the best we have ever witnessed, as without you lot, this event is nothing.

I would like to thank everyone at BaySixty6 skatepark over the years for having us. All the photographers (i’m sure that Tom Halliday, Dom Marley, SMAY, Matt Clarke, Jerome Loughran, Styley and others may have photos on this page), and filmers Alan Christensen, Andy Evans, Moose and so many more. There are actually too many to mention here, but you know who you are. Thank you so much for helping. Honorary members.

I also want to thank everyone who has sponsored the event, Mark Brewster for mic duties over the years, every distribution company and skate shop that help us reach skaters with flyers. All pro teams, skaters and UK skate companies that have traveled miles and donated product annually. All at Sidewalk who covered the event throughout the years, and of course, you, for being there to make it happen. Here’s to another decade.

Zac

Crossfire_xmasjam2012

Categories
Skateboarding News

Scots skate 53 hours straight to raise £25,000

Sometimes you have to push the boat out to get what you want, and that’s exactly what a crew of East Lothian skaters did in October to raise money for a new skatepark. With Livingston’s bowl 30 miles away, a bunch of fund raisers got together for a charity skate and managed to drum up £25,000 of cash towards a new park after skating constantly for 53 hours. Teams of three operated in shifts of 3 hours to make this work. Get out there and do it for your local scene.

Thanks to Mark Burrows for highlighting this.

Categories
Skateboarding News

And the Lords of the Swords 2012 winner is…

Pics by Kevin Broadbent

After a week of voting and over 21,000 people visiting the Lords of the Swords 2012 video page, the winner has finally been decided thanks to everyone involved. Team Pasty Attack Force have taken the most votes making them champions of 2012.

It went to the wire in the end but Corey Bayley, Batfink, Rob Jones, Simon Gillard, AJ Martin and Marc Carter had the most ‘likes’ and probably the most mileage on the clock with over 550 miles driven during the weekend of filming. Their win left the Banana Hammock crew in second place and Michael Barrymore’s Skateboarding Dream Team in third.

The pro team comp went head to head over the last week too, crowning the Zombie Skateboards team as the raddest in Essex despite a strong push from the Monster Network lads. Look out for party photos soon and thanks to all of the teams involved in this year’s get together.

Categories
Features

Lords of the Swords 2012 vote!

The Essex skate scene spent a full weekend from the 24th-26th August skating all over their county to tick the boxes of many tasks set for this year’s skate video comp that is the one and only Lords of the Swords. Over 20 teams hit the road this year proving just how popular this comp has become.

These videos you see here are the nominated teams that are into the grande finale. To make it clear, 10 teams are in the main comp and 3 teams are in the Pro Comp. Yes, there will be two winners from this week’s chaos. Don’t forget to vote for both comps.

If you don’t know how this works then listen up, it’s very easy. Watch the videos below and vote for your favourite video edits by ‘liking’ them. The team video with the most’likes’ will be crowned Lords of the Swords 2012 on Saturday 29th September at 7pm. Sit back, watch the entertainment, share the videos online and get voting!

Categories
Skateboarding News

Watch new ‘Over Ply Wood’ trailer on Welsh skate scene

overplywood

Jono Atkinson’s 2nd trailer for his nearly completed documentary “Over Ply Wood” went live last night. The documentary in the making tells some of the story of the history of skateboarding in Swansea, Wales over the years featuring many skaters who have shredded its many famous spots over the years.

Jono has spent the last few months interviewing all of the skaters involved in the film so expect some fantastic memoirs to come from this. We will bring you the full feature once he sends it all over.

Over Ply Wood 2nd trailer from Jono on Vimeo.

Categories
Skateboarding News

LIKE teaser 2 video hits web ahead of premiere

likeEd Hubert’s latest South Coast scene DVD LIKE premier’s tomorrow night at The Duke of Yorks Picturehouse down in Brighton and the locals down there are salivating on the results. more Dave Benson and sneak peeks at what’s coming can be found in this new trailer released overnight. We LIKE the Banana flavour of this. Get ready.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Like video premiere tickets on sale in Brighton

Dave Benson Phillips tells you a little something about the new Brighton skateboard film ‘Like’ that is ready to roll by Ed Hubert. Premiere 14th September at The Duke of Yorks Picturehouse, Brighton. Tickets available from Push Skate Store or The Duke of Yorks box office. £4.