Issue 106 May 2010 free
mith S n a Morvg iew Inter
la: m LaRamb Hello fro na by email
Barcelo
S.D. MTL andd/Moerrcier
with PLG
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fart f o H n a d i Jor us in Duba Dubio
Lagoon: the Black . Sessions .A L s e t a
Skull Sk Issue 106 . May 2010
Ontario
: o ‘Couver 3355 KMs t tal t Coas e G s d i K
Identity Chris Cole /// Five Spot Dustin Dollin /// Shoe Vault Etnies Natas /// Art Blender Winston Tseng
TOREY PUDWILL F R O N T S I D E H E E L F L I P B I G SPIN. SEQUENCE: GIOVANNI REDA
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ANTHEM SHO WN IN BLAC K S U E D E . THE
SQUARE ONE / MIKE ANDERSON - KROOKED COLORWAY
MIKE ANDERSON / FRONTSIDE FEEBLE / éSSKATEBOARDNIG.COM TIMEBOMBTRADING.COM STICKERS@TIMEBOMB.BC.CA
SKATEBOARDING STARTS WITH
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“You could just tell that both camels were so pissed off…”
52 Jordan Hoffart: dubious in Dubai
“You don’t want to be jumping down that unless you have your trick good.”
38 Ontario kids get Coastal
“I’m bringing a bottle of Absinthe back, you guys need anything?”
a
24 Hello from L Rambla: Barcy by Email
“I can’t really skate bowls – that shit’s kinda gnar.”
72 Morgan Smith tales of the turtle
“There’s nothing like a plain poutine at three in the morning…”
64 MTL and/or S.D. PLG and Mercier
“The purity and skateboard ritual capacity of the trip was astounding.”
58 Black Lagoon: Skull Skates in L.A.
issue 106 M a y 2 0 1 0
14 16 20 84 92 94 96 98 100
Identity // Chris Cole Inventory Art Blender // Winston Tseng Young Bloods video reviews Shoe Vaults // Etnies Natas Sound Check // Surfer Blood Five Spot // Dustin Dollin memorial // Nathan Matthews
contents: 16 year-old Billy Beemer writes: “How do you get super awesome at skating?” Well, you cruise over to the North Delta, BC skatepark every day (preferably in a ’92 Blazer), hunt down international street spots, and have fun the whole damn time like MAGNUS HANSON does. Repeating the routine just might bring you that much closer to doing a 360 FLIP as sick as this one. photo
High-Wire Artist cover photo and caption
Brian Caissie
This spot came up at the end of a long day in Barcelona. AJ McAllister did an ollie off it last year [“Barcelona: A Home Far From Blown” #99/April ’09], and this time around I thought MORGAN SMITH might be able to get something into the bank. The run-up ledge is really skinny so Morgan didn’t seem into it, especially after he was sent swimming through the air when his truck got caught right when he was trying to pop. But next try he rolled away from a perfectly caught KICKFLIP! The French Connection, who was watching from up the hill, came down to congratulate our Canadian crew.
Rich Odam
issue 106
randy laybourne
M Ay 2 0 1 0
Rise & Shine
///
Randy Laybourne
In Concrete’s new tradition of placing emphasis on a standout contributor each issue, North Vancouver’s Randy Laybourne tipped the Rise & Shine scales for us this time around. Over the past 10 years, his design client-list has included Emerica, TransWorld and Element, just to name a few. Needless to say, the 37 year-old (who’s been skating since ’86) brings a wealth of experience to the table as Concrete’s Guest Designer – a role that began with the 2009 Photo Annual. Randy’s ties to the creative community helped bring our new Art Blender regular into the fold, and this issue his keen eye and handwork can be seen in Jordan Hoffart’s “Dubious In Dubai” [p.52] and the Morgan Smith cover feature [p.72]. Aside from considering brussel sprouts “rotten garbage” and stockpiling sugary US-exclusive breakfast cereals, Randy is also photo-savvy as the above downtown Vancouver image attests. He blasts off nearly a dozen rolls of film each month utilizing one of many collected cameras, his favourite being “the camera all photojournalists used in the ’80s” – the Nikon FE2. This issue, you can find more of his photography on the opening spread of “3355 KMs to ‘Couver: Ontario Kids Get Coastal” [p.38]. lookforwardtothepast.com
10
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Kicks top to bottom:
DVS Berra 3 original intent – berrics // white suede Lakai Mike Mo // black / grey suede Dekline Belmont – toy machine // Monster Olive Axion Mandela // black / teal Etnies Enjoi ‘rojo’ Barge // brown / white / gum éS Edward // black / white / red Nike sb zoom Omar Salazar // team red / matte silver DC Kalis 8s // black / envy Osiris Chino mid – Creature // Black
16
Concrete skateboarding
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inventory
Denim
left to right / top to bottom:
Matix mike mo // black rinse Fourstar Eric Koston // worn grey Altamont Wilshire // slouch fit – worn black éS The worrest 2 // classic fit – dark rinse Emerica Hsu // slim fit – bone Etnies slim 15.5 // light grey C1rca Original // straight leg – overdye black Hurley ’84 // slim fit – grey quiksilver Alex Olson // cool max – dark rigid obey Juvee Modern // straight leg – raw grey
18
Concrete skateboarding
A R T B L E N D E R // WINSTON TSENG
R
ight now you might not know who Southern California’s Winston Tseng is, but you’ve probably seen some of his graphics for Enjoi [enjoico.com] and laughed your guts out. His path into the world of skateboarding hasn’t been the most usual, especially since his degrees from UC Berkeley are in mathematics and economics. After graduating university he didn’t get a job related to either of them, but instead landed a job as a graphic designer for Popwar in 2004.
clockwise from top left:
Enjoi “Jock Empathy” tee graphic Enjoi “Dog Meats” deck Enjoi “Cat Collage” deck Enjoi “Puppet” deck Enjoi “Kitten Dreams” deck Popwar “Wigs Out” deck series Enjoi “Corporate Pig” Bearbrick toy Enjoi “Popper” trucker hat 20
Concrete skateboarding
From there he moved over to Enjoi where he collaborates closely with Matt Eversole and the team. The images Winston creates are a slightly twisted, yet humourous and critical view of American culture. His simple and bold style of drawing meshes easily with Enjoi’s visual identity.
Winston made the move over to New York City a few years back, and is one of the very few full-time skate artists that avoided back-room relegation in some cookie-cutter office building. Although his parents hoped he would become commercial banker or a trader on Wall Street, his art and cynical attitude about skateboarding are paying dividends.
—Randy Laybourne
winstontseng.com
“Working with Winston can be difficult; he’s punched me in the face a few times. If I would’ve known he was trained in Taekwondo I probably wouldn’t have hit on his girlfriend, and I definitely wouldn’t have told him he used the wrong colour on a deck graphic.” –Matt Eversole, Enjoi Brand Manager
“Consumerism� by Winston Tseng, created exclusively for Concrete Skateboarding.
visit concreteskateboarding.com to download art blender wallpapers for your computer and iphone.
. 49 days on the road New ams. New spots. New opportunity.
m. Still chasin' the skate drea
This year we're hitting the road to film our first ever video project in hi-def. Follow our journey at 49days.ca and stay up on our photos, videos, blogs and more.
Hello from LaRambla !!_ Barcelona By Email_ photos
Brian Caissie
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From: Brian Caissie To: Frank Daniello – Concrete Skateboarding Cc: Kelly Litzenberger – Concrete Skateboarding Subject: Hello from LaRambla !!
Hey guys, how’s things going over at the mag? Things started off pretty slow out here to be honest. It rained for 5 days straight and it was just above freezing so no skating at all, which drove me nuts. But we managed to play a ton of ping-pong (I finally beat Joey Williams after 2 years of trying), and Stenger is the new champ of the table. Also we found an amazing pool hall that looks like an old church of sorts, so we’ve been hanging there lots. We’ve been spending our nights watching the 2010 Olympics in Spanish – looks like Vancouver has been getting good weather for it...the parties must be fun? When the sun finally came out here everyone was excited to skate. There’s about 30 Canadians here with only a few photographers so I think things will pick up coveragewise. There’s a big crew from Toronto, Calgary and all over Canada. Our friend and local comedian Winkle has been showing us around to some secret spots, so it won’t be the typical old faithful spots, even though they’re all amazing too. We found this great tile stair-spot but the cops showed up and took everyone’s boards. Luckily they ran right by me while I was packing my gear up cause they took Brandon Del Bianco, Will Cristofaro and their whole crew to the police station for about 4 hours wanting money. The cops here have been really strict on skating and you really have to watch your back, especially when they want 100 euros to get your board back or 500 euros to get your camera back. So keep close watch on the phone cause I might need to get bailed out soon, ha ha ha. Have you guys seen any news footage of the Carnival here? Wow, it’s huge with thousands, actually hundreds of thousands of people partying in the streets. It’s 2 weeks long and looks like halloween every night. People are all dressed up and there’s huge float parties in the city. It makes walking down LaRambla street pretty much impossible. The clubs are packed with hot ladies though, and one of the Canadian crews is staying across from Minola’s bar (popular skate bar) so there’s been some good stories from that, some I can’t talk about. Hope all’s well at the mag, talk to you guys soon. I’m bringing a bottle of Absinthe back, you guys need anything? B
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Concrete skateboarding
From: Jamie Jeffery To: Frank D / Concrete Subject: Barcy bear-trap Hey Frank, I can’t believe that I’m back here in Barca meeting up with all the homies. It’s like a Canadian Invasion down here right now! There’s so many of us. The spots are endless and we’re hitting up all the ones we’ve missed before, plus some new ones. While we were out skating the other day, it started sprinkling so we decided to go check out some 10 stair rail before heading home. Around the corner we saw this perfect 7-flat-7 kinked bear-trap rail. Wanting to mess with it we dried it off, then I rode up a couple times and attempted a few noseslides to get the feel. The next try I ride up and jump on a boardslide, and the next thing I know I’m riding away. So Stoked! We ended up running into Brian Caissie, and mentioned maybe shooting a photo of it. The next day we showed up to the kinker again, and after 10 or more attempts an old lady barges the spot yelling in Spanish. We don’t understand her, all we know is she’s saying something about Policia. Pretending to be over it we leave and wait around the corner for a minute ending up with a few more tries, and finally getting the shot. There’s been a few rainy days, but I can’t complain. Except for the fact that we gotta leave Paradise soon… Jamie Concrete skateboarding
27
From: Jesse Tessier To: Frank (Concrete) Subject: Greetings from Barce! Yo man, I had to get out of the apartment and escape the cheese fumes for a bit so i thought I’d email you. Besides, as usual I’m up 3 hours before anyone else since I regularly pass out early when drunk. I barely remember what happened last night... i know chess and window markers were involved and possibly the camera doing somersaults through the air, but the human mind makes up what it likes when it sleeps. When I did wake up General Rampage was KO’d and covered in toilet paper and Too Baked was heavy snoring on the balcony still clutching a shotgunned Red Bull. Before that all transpired we skated Montbau then bombed the hill down to this... umm... i don’t know what it was. A sculpture? Statue? Either way, after much debate whether or not Levi Brown graced the spot with his trickery or not, Colonel Ralph suggested someone run up and pop a fakie flip. I had dropped in on it a week ago for fun so I got a boost back up there. As soon as Caissie was set up we nailed it. Later, we rung a hula-hoop around a hooker from our third floor balcony... or was that a dream? J
Concrete skateboarding
29
From: Mitch Pryma To: Dan Yellow / Concrete Mag Subject: Dice for Beds Hey man, Where to begin when you’re in Barcelona? No worries, no troubles, no jobs, just skating and enjoying every moment. Getting into our 1 bedroom apartment with 7 of us was a great way to begin. Luckily we were only there 3 days then got a more sizeable one. Rollin dice for beds and playing mad pocket change games of cee-lo. Things were workin but then we had to dip out for 3 nights because our landlord rented the same apartment to another group for the weekend. We luckily found a hostel to stay at. We paid for 3 nights, that is until after the first morning when we woke up and were asked when we will be leaving; a little confused we show our receipt to the front desk, and they just took it. We had no proof so we had to go. But Hill Sulpher left a nice present on the balcony and sink, Colonel Ralph style. We finally got settled back into the apartment, the good times haven’t stopped. While getting the Macba warm up on, I watched Strelow skate then got the random motivation. Waiting for people to walk past and scooterers to scoot on, I had some trouble grinding, putting on many layers of butta, but got one switch backside nosegrind to grease through. Time for street brew. Being in Barcelona is unreal, just living the dream. –chea
Concrete skateboarding
31
Hello from LaRambla !!_ Barcelona By Email_
From: Geoff Strelow To: Kelly L / Concrete Subject: Barce Updates… Hey kelly! What’s going on man? Caissie just got here and we went shooting for the first time today. Cruised over to Sants to start the day and check out a wobbly rail with little Will Cristofaro. As they checked it out and dealt with “local heroes” that didn’t want them to skate it, i cruised down the street to find a beer and stumbled across this out-ledge! Super stoked because i haven’t really seen it blown out in every video so i thought i’d try to get a backtail. After getting pitched right to my ass a few times, i was stoked that the rain came directly after i rode away with a broken tail. After most days of skating, our couple different crews part ways to make dinner and nurse sore bodies. The early evenings consist of everyone meeting back up at the flat, with bags of cerveza and pockets full of change to play dice. We almost always end up outside of the local skate bar drinking cheap street beer, and leaving with good stories. With the abundance of dirt cheap 40’s and sloppy Donairs, it’s gonna be real hard to leave this place! Cheers! Geoff
Concrete skateboarding
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From: Travis Stenger To: Kelly – Concrete mag Subject: Master Ponger Kelly, We’ve been playing a lot of ping pong, and I’ve been whipping Caissie and Joey Williams’ asses daily. I got a switch flip manny switch flip out sequence today, the only trick I got due to rain. Our homie Winkle from Florida took us to the spot and it was pretty cool, though there was glass everywhere, and random kook photographers that Caissie had to throw peanuts at to get to leave. I forget what stop on the metro it was on, but it was really fun. After that we went to the store and grabbed some 6er’s of Estrella’s, got shwarmed at a La Turca and went back to the ping pong tables for some more ass kickins. Travis
From: William Cristofaro To: Kelly – Concrete mag Subject: Spanish spaghetti K, I’ve never been out to Barcy before and I’m stoked to be here for a couple weeks… I’ve been staying with homie/Filmer Jordan Moss, Will Jivcoff , Byron Ready and Brandon DelBianco. To kill the time while it’s been raining I bought the complete first and second season boxset of Gossip Girl in London, and got the homies addicted to it. Even Geoff Strelow, who wasn’t even staying in our apartment! “That’s one secret i’ll never tell…you know you love me. xoxo, Gossip Girl.” haha… Today I was really hyped to go shoot with Caissie for the first time. Because of the rain, we grabbed a couple of towels from the apartment to dry up the runway leading into this long ass brick bank. I started skating the spot and this cop car kept passing by like 4 or 5 times before I rode away from a kickflip into the bank. Since I don’t drink alcohol to celebrate, I came back to the apartment and enjoyed spaghetti with the homies! W/C Concrete skateboarding
35
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3355 KMs
Ontario Kids intro
Frank Daniello
intro photos
randy laybourne
photos
brian caissie
“We’ll leave together. This way we don’t go out like a bunch of hobos, one at a time.” This script-line was colourfully brought to life by Joe Pesci (playing the very badass Tommy DeVito) in Goodfellas. But the quote from Scorsese’s 1990 film is pretty much the opposite of what happened when four 18-and-under rollers from Ontario – Mississauga’s Brandon Del Bianco, Whitby’s TJ Rogers and lil’ Bobby De Keyzer, as well as Cornwall’s Will Marshall – flew across the map to ‘Couver in order to skate the ’09 Damn Am. One-by-one, they began trickling back east – some only a couple days after their west coast arrival, and others three weeks later. If this was Goodfellas, Pesci would’ve been pissed. “TJ mentioned to Brian Caissie that since some T-Dot dudes were in Vancouver at the same time, we should try to shoot for a little article or something,” Del Bianco says, outlining the group’s motive. “We were all pretty stoked to make it happen, so we were trying to get stuff done every time we went out skating. Bobby and Will only had a couple days to get photos with Caissie because they had to fly back home for school. So they got the first choice of spots.”
Hayden Kelly – who divides his time between Ladner, BC and Point Roberts, Washington – took full advantage of the daily sessions with his eastern skate compatriots while they all stayed at Brandon Alton’s house in Richmond. “It was nuts when they were in town,” Hayden declares. “Those guys were always so motivated to go skate, it hyped me up so much more. The vibe was awesome. Brandon Alton would film, and he’d usually try and cap everything each night. We’d just watch the footage and play Call Of Duty.” The kids on this ‘Couver mission took a stab at verbally captioning each other’s skate photos, which you’ll find on the following pages of map-spanning madness.
to ‘Couver
Get Coastal
Concrete skateboarding
39
Hayden Kelly
Noseslide
“Hayden’s a homie, for sure. He’s always stoked and shit, and he’ll try to get on your nerves [laughs].” “I wasn’t actually there for this noseslide at the anti-curve ledge spot downtown, but we did go there on the last day I was in Vancouver – the same day I did the switch heel [p.45]. I remember looking at this ledge with Hayden when he told me he wanted to noseslide it. The spot has a short run-up and the way the ledge curves with the high drop on it – I thought it was pretty sketchy and not really doable. It’s not like I didn’t think it was possible, it just seemed really gnarly and the concrete that the ground and ledge are made of is so shitty. I just thought, ‘Why skate that out of the other perfect spots you could skate?’ I heard he did it a week later after I went back home for school, then I saw this photo. It’s sick that Hayden thought he could do it then actually went and did it.” —Will Marshall
40
Concrete skateboarding
TJ Rogers
Switch 180
“This is out at UBC, right by the 14-set I was skating [p.49]. While I was skating the stairs I saw TJ checking out this huge roof gap. I don’t think anyone’s really skated it before, and TJ was kinda hyped on that. He was like, ‘Caissie, I want to get this switch 180 done.’ I looked at it from the top with TJ, and it’s just a crazy drop. You can’t even see where you’ll be landing; you have to just hope for the best. You don’t want to be jumping down that unless you have your trick good. It’s just gnarly.” “TJ was getting his guilty pleasure music set up, probably some S-Club hyphy track, and was dancing all over the place, getting pumped up to try it [laughs]. Before throwing his board down, he’d play with his trucks a bit and always spit three or four times. Every time he’d roll up, he’d have to go through that routine for a few minutes again to get motivated. We were like, ‘TJ, security’s gonna come.’ He’d pop it and land on it perfectly, but it’s such a big drop that the impact would make him stick every time. But he ended up getting it good – pretty mind-blowing.” —Brandon Del Bianco
Concrete skateboarding
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Will Marshall
Switch Heel
“I travel with Will a lot, he’s like a brother to me. Everything is fun and laughs for him – his attitude is why he’s such a rad kid. Because we’ve known each other for so long, we can make anything into an inside joke. It’s kinda stupid, but we find it funny [laughs].” “We were right downtown, and this was the last day Will could get a photo while he was in the city. He did the switch heel last time he came to Van, but he didn’t shoot it. This time, he got it really quick. I was setting up a new board, and by the time I did that he had already shot the photo. It’s a pretty dope double so we sessioned it some more – Will got a front biggie sequence, and I got a switch backside flip. We didn’t get hassled or anything, so it ended up working out really well.” —Brandon Del Bianco
Concrete skateboarding
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Bobby DeKeyzer
Nollie Bigspin Heel
“I’ve known Bobby since he started skating when he was six. He’s always ripped it since day one. I still don’t understand how he does his tricks so good with his trucks looser than anything. They just shake forever when you tap them, it’s ridiculous. I’ve gotten wheel-bite from just riding his board [laughs].” “It was starting to get dark and this was the last spot of the day. Bobby didn’t get a photo yet, and he needed one because he was only around for the weekend. I was like, ‘Do a nollie big heel, you got that trick first try.’ He was like, ‘Alright’, then he would land on it every try but couldn’t ride away. It was because of his loose trucks or something – I think a bolt might’ve fallen off while he was trying. But it was so steezy when he finally did it; his legs were all crouched down, like Chka-chka! Bobby’s a funny kid. When he can’t land a trick, he turns into a mini-Hulk because he just wants to get down. He can’t even come close to focusing a board, though. He’s too little [laughs].” —TJ Rogers
46
Concrete skateboarding
Brandon Del Bianco
Nollie Flip
“I can’t believe Binko did this nollie flip at the UBC 14, it’s so gnar. The ground at the bottom of the stairs is different now, it’s way worse. So rough. On one of the tries, he caught one when his board was nose-diving, but still committed and fell on his elbow so hard. Me and TJ were across the street filming the long angle, and we heard him hit the ground all the way from there. Caissie started putting his gear away because Binko thought he might’ve broken his elbow. He was just laying on the ground, then he got up and said, ‘I’ll beat it.’ Caissie offered him $35 bucks if he landed it, and Binko ended up doing it so perfectly next try. There was blood all over the landing from mashing his elbow and his hands. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed. So tight.” —Hayden Kelly
48
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Jordan Hoffart
All it takes is a quick click-session on the interweb to easily come across the latest JORDAN HOFFART exploits. He’s regularly on the skatepublic’s radar since turning Pro for Powell last spring, and his predominantly North American presence now extends to the sandy reaches of the Middle East. In early February ’10, a contingent of the Bones Wheels team – including Hoffart, Josh Hawkins, Aaron “Jaws” Homoki, Chad Bartie, Sierra Fellers and David Gravette – visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. “That was my first time going there, and basically it’s this huge, brand new mecca-epicenter-super city plunked in the middle of nowhere in the Arabian desert, but on the shore of the Persian Gulf,” Jordan explains. “Dubai has an army of people just building constantly and the city is using a third of the World’s cranes, which is crazy. It’s all oil money.” 52
Concrete skateboarding
One of seven Emirates of the UAE, which is bordered by Oman and Saudi Arabia, Dubai has a population of just over two million. The city also houses a relatively new and growing skate community of about a thousand, so the Bones crew came out for a weekend of demos hosted by Rage, the local skateshop chain. They also shot with Chris “Rhino” Rooney from Thrasher and filmed for an upcoming Bones video project. “There were a lot of ridiculous spots – they’re brand new and perfectly built, with lots of granite and marble. It was sick,” Jordan mentions before providing point-and-shoot commentary from his adventure in what’s dubbed The Las Vegas of the Middle East. Follow Jordan @ twitter.com/hasslehoffart
“This TRE FLIP is from the first day of the trip. The spot’s in a courtyard between two buildings at a shopping mall, and no one cares if you skate it. The ground is perfect, and there’s a little kicker over a long two. We were fuckin’ stoked! Everyone had fresh legs so we were just floatin’ over that thing all day.”
above:
aaron homoki
hoffart
Low-Dirham Safari
Hookah-Mania
“You can’t avoid the hookah – it’s a big part of the culture in Dubai. These pipes, which are pretty much bongs, were just sitting on a street corner [laughs]. There’s hookah lounges and stores that sell them everywhere. They had a hookah tent on our safari, so we were all blazin’ off the green apple flavoured hookah. It’s actually really smooth, and it doesn’t really feel like you’re smoking tobacco.”
lucas
jared lucas
“We took a convoy of 4x4s out to the desert and ripped around the sand dunes. We did a bunch of doughnuts in dune buggies, went sandboarding, had dinner and beers, smoked hookah, and got henna tattoos. There was a belly dancer after dinner, which was fuckin’ hilarious. The whole thing was pretty cheap, like 140 Dirham per person. A UAE Dirham is worth around 25 cents US, so it cost about 35 bucks.”
From Jordan to Jordan
Nightgown Try- Outs
“Gravette wanted to get something tight for his lady back home, so he copped some silk Middle Eastern threads. When he questioned a random passer-byer whether or not she thought it was nice, she eagerly stripped the nightgown from his hands and modeled it with approval. Good work, Gravs. I think your chick’s gonna dig it!”
lucas
hoffart
“This is Sierra and a crew of kids right after one of the Rage [rage-shop.com] demos. We handed out a bunch of stickers and wheels, and the kids were super respectful and nice. The scene is pretty small and it’s a new concept for them. There were a few people who came really far to see the demo; one family drove out from Jordan, another country, so that was pretty crazy.”
Disgruntled Camels
“This is Sierra’s camel ride on our desert safari. He’s wearing a traditional dishdasha. You could just tell that both camels were so pissed off, like, ‘I don’t wanna carry these assholes around.’ I swear they were racist camels – they hated whitey. They had these muzzles on and still kept trying to bite at our toes and spit on us, but I don’t blame ‘em [laughs].”
Rubble Removal
“This pit was actually built for skateboarding. While we were clearing rocks some lady came out from the house next door and said, “What are you guys doing? I put those rocks in there!” She didn’t want people to skate because it’s too loud. It’s a fuckin’ skatepark, deal with it! After cleaning it, Bartie launched to 5-0 on the railing then popped back into the bank. He’s gnarly like that.”
opposite page: “I was super sore and broken from the whole trip. On our second-last day in Dubai I wanted to go try a NOLLIE HEEL down this set. The marble ground is almost too smooth and too hard – you have to land so perfectly or else you’ll slide out. It’s pretty much the biggest set I’ve nollie heeled, and I did it in the Middle East. Hyped!”
counter-clockwise from the Left
P.O.T.M.
“I was like, ‘Shit, I gotta take out my FUN! ender, dude!’ I just stood up on there and thought it would be kinda funny. That’s my Poser of the Month photo. One of the guys from the distributor in Dubai saw this photo and was like, ‘Aw, shit! How many tries did that take?’ He thought it was for real [laughs].”
B-B-B International
“Ballers wit’ Boats ‘n’ Buildings. The B-B-B International Club seems to have its biggest chapter right in Dubai. As you can see, there’s tons of money out there and this was just one of many man-made inlets around the city. Amazing.”
2,717-Foot H.J.
all photos this page: jared lucas
“I’m jerkin’ off the world’s tallest building [laughs]. The Burj Khalifa is so fucking big that it’s hazy when you look at it. I heard the ruler of Dubai built it but ran out of money and couldn’t finish it, so the ruler of Abu Dhabi – which is a neighbouring Emirate – bought it out and it was named after him. It cost like 2 billion dollars US to make it.”
rhino
Concrete skateboarding
55
distributed by Ultimate
intro and captions
Sam McKinlay
photos
Dan Bourqui
Back in November of 2009, a harsh noise colleague of mine – Jay Howard from Circuit Wound [myspace.com/circuitwound] – emailed me with some incredibly interesting news: “Behind the house I grew up in, in the suburbs of LA, there was this old park out in the hills called Corriganville,” Jay’s note read. “They shot a lot of old Western movies there, and a ton of other stuff. It has this man-made pond where they shot a lot of underwater scenes. Fortunately, it has no water in it anymore – it’s an almost-perfect bowl and halfpipe. I decided to look this place up on the Internet and see what else was shot here. Well, in this very pond it looks like underwater scenes from ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ were shot here! I thought you’d be into knowing...” Jay Howard knows I’m a massive fan of that particular 1954 Creature film, and after cross-referencing the three Creature films featuring the iconic “Gill-man” – Creature from the Black Lagoon; Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) – I found some exacting shots from the third film in the trilogy that were obviously filmed at the upper snaking section of the ditch. I immediately called the illustrious PD of Skull Skates to tell him of the “discovery”, and received a cryptic email response that simply stated: “Let’s go there.” 58
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Forgetting that Skull Skates once had a full-length Gill-man graphic on a snowboard, I quickly discovered that PD meant business about establishing an LA adventure that revolved around skating the Black Lagoon ditch. The plan was relatively simple: skate as many obscure LA-area ditches, banks, schoolyards and pools as possible, all the while executing a photo shoot at the Black Lagoon with one of us in my full Creature from the Black Lagoon Gill-man regalia that was constructed years ago by my girlfriend. The crew: PD (Skull Skates owner), Mike McKinlay (PD’s Hot Shop rider), Craig Williams (Skull Skates rider), myself (PD’s Hot Shop store manager/Skull Skates rider), Satoshi Ono (Skull Skates Japan owner), Timmy Jak (our tour guide/Backstabber Skateboards rider), Dan Bourqui (photographer), George Faulkner (legendary Vancouver skateboarder), and a brief appearance by Montreal’s Justin Gastelum. Skull Skates rented a killer townhouse in Marina Del Rey that was perfect since all of us needed a dependable place to crash our elderly bodies after heavy days of ditch worship and bowl smack-downs. The purity and skateboard ritual capacity of the trip was astounding. Lines were drawn violently as we all conjured what we wanted from the wrathful range of banks and pools. Our most secure form of expression on this trip was the initial warning to everyone we’d meet and skate with down there: “We don’t party, tell everyone.”
A chance meeting out of the darkness. Deer Man Of Dark Woods was in Upland long enough for a fixed barrier ritual – backside railslide to unwinding MC5 maelstrom.
Clad completely in fearsome white is one of the Barrier Kult’s newest members: Crusade Templar Horse Skeleton. His historical and imperial judgements of wrath join DMODW’s blackened nature prophecies in a double layback that features point-to-point construction of the pentagram at the Upland fixed barrier.
1 3
1.
Before escaping with their lives, Dan managed to snap this photo of Gill-man defiling the Black Lagoon ditch with wood, aluminum, urethane, and a tailblock.
2.
Myself and PD.
3.
Craig Williams in the midst of a lofty stalefish to disaster. This private backyard wooden bowl had a nearly-finished concrete coping upgrade.
4.
Obligatory group train shot that really displays the pure enjoyment a shred-head can get from the historical schoolyard banks at Paul Revere Middle School.
5.
PD powers through a textbook-perfect Bertleman slide at the Bronson Canyon ditch, where the joust in Thrashin’ was filmed.
6.
As the sun went down, I powered through as many witch-faced frontside grinds in the deep end of this Malibu pool as I could.
4
5
6
2
Mike McKinlay stylishly and violently backside smith grinds through the curvatures of the Malibu pool’s shallow end. The private backyard pool/bowl was poured by skaters, and this photo really shows the perfect attention to detail found in the more abrupt shallower areas.
Concrete skateboarding
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distributed by Ultimate
AND/OR
with
PLG
and
Mercier
Pierre-Luc Gagnon grew up a Montrealer but has called the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad home for over nine years – a move that was originally predicted by fellow Canada-to-Cali transplant, Colin McKay.
PLG’s vert gold at the X-Games for the second year in a row; first at Tampa Pro; first at the Portland stop of the AST Dew Tour, and second at the Maloof Money Cup after winning it in ’08.
“When I first drove down here from Montreal I was planning on trying to get some coverage; be out here for six months and see how everything went,” PLG explains. “It was kinda funny because Colin was telling my dad: ‘If your son moves out to Cali he’s not moving back to Canada, there’s no way.’ He was definitely right [laughs].”
For PLG [pierrelucgagnon.com], relocating to SoCal means it’s expected that his skate brethren from MTL will come knockin’ during Quebec’s grueling winter months. One such long-time homie is veteran roll-soldier Eric Mercier, who tries to make it down about twice-a-year when he’s able to take some time off from being both a father and the Marketing Manager at Empire Sports [thinkempire.com]. Concrete decided to contact these two separately once Mercier returned home from his most recent San Diego stint. The mission of these conversations? To gain the geographically-based perspectives of a Montrealer-turned-Californian, and a Montrealer who visits The Golden State semi-regularly.
ryan o’dowd
Since his southwestern skate-pilgrimage, PLG has built up his vert ramp rep and amassed a sponsor stack, which currently consists of Osiris shoes, Darkstar wood and wheels, Monster, Skull Candy, Diamond hardware, Electric eyewear, RDS apparel, Capix helmets and Boost Mobile. The 30 year-old also became widely recognized through his consistent efforts on the televised contest circuit – the bread-and-butter of a Pro vert skater. A few ’09 highlights include
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rich odam
Doubles sesh! Eric Mercier takes the front tail route while PLG floats a kickflip backside grab at the old DC ramp.
rich odam
I’d rather travel to visit the sun; then you’re more hyped to be there.” —mercier
“Every time you drive to another spot you have to warm up again,” Eric Mercier gripes about the SoCal car commutes. “In Montreal, you skate up to the next spot, and that warms you up – you don’t get stuck in traffic.” Here, Eric battles through a case of Cali car legs in order to execute a feeble grind.
Montreal San Diego and/or
“As far as nightlife goes, I don’t think there are any cities on the west coast that can beat Montreal. But San Diego has all the sunshine and everything is baby-ass smooth compared to Montreal. Even though I was born, raised, and lived all my life up here, I’m not used to winter at all. I hate it.” —Mercier
“Montreal is more of a city environment versus the giant California suburbia. In Montreal you get to walk places and the whole vibe is a lot more laid back. Here, people are more about trying to make money and in Montreal they’re more about trying to enjoy themselves. Down here you’ve gotta drive everywhere; that’s kinda annoying sometimes, but you can’t really beat the weather and the skate spots.” —PLG
jody morris
“Down here, you get kicked out of street spots after driving for two hours, but vert skating is a lot more convenient,” PLG points out with a nollie backside bigspin during the remaining days of the old DC ramp.
Poutine Cali Burrito
Montreal Police S.D.’s Finest
“Even though it’s nasty, poutine from La Belle Province feels good right after coming off a drinking session at Foufs [Les Foufounes Électriques – 876 Sainte-Catharine Est]. You can find poutine pretty much everywhere in Monteal, but greasy fries with gravy and cheese curds is not a healthy meal [laughs].”
“I’d say Montreal police are pretty mellow. Some of them will actually talk to you instead of just power-trip. Don’t get me wrong, there’s fuckin’ crazy ones, too. But with San Diego police, there’s no way you can have a conversation with them. They’ll kick you out, they’ll scream at you and they’ll make you feel like a moron because you jumped a fence.”
and/or
—Mercier
“There’s nothing like a plain poutine at three in the morning from La Belle Province [numerous locations open 24 hrs] after the bar in Montreal. It’s also kinda hard to beat a burrito from Filiberto’s [476 South Coast Hwy 101] after a rough night at The Saloon [546 South Coast Hwy 101], a skater dive-bar in Encinitas. I’m definitely a big fan of the California Burrito – filled with carne asada, french fries, cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole and all of that.” —PLG
and/or
—Mercier
“I haven’t really had to deal with cops down here too much because I’ve been mainly skating vert. They definitely love to pull me over for tint on my windows, though. That gets pretty annoying [laughs]. In Montreal it seems like cops can be kinda shady sometimes. There’s been a few different experiences where the cops are making shit up to try and arrest you. But cops will be cops wherever you go.” —PLG
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“It’s never too cold to skate, and it barely ever rains,” PLG states the obvious but once again parades the visual example with a fakie shuv tailslide to front shuv under the desert warmth of a SoCal sunset.
Montreal Femmes San Diego Females and/or
“Montreal girls are more open-minded; they’re more real. In Southern California they’re trying to be so perfectly shaped, and they’re getting cosmetic surgeries or whatever. I like the shapes, but I like it natural. And the more you stay in the sun, the more winkled the skin gets. You don’t want to get that crocodile skin [laughs]. I think Montreal girls are focused on more than just physical appearance, and I think winter has something to do with this.” AND/OR
—Mercier
“Actually, I’ve never been in a relationship with a girl from California [laughs]. Down here they’re definitely more high-maintenance than they are in Montreal. The style girls have in Montreal almost seems more hip-hop based, and down here it’s more hipster style with really expensive purses and shoes.” —PLG
dan mathieu
jody morris
“We have the Big O because of the Olympics, but it stayed alive because the Expos were playing there,” Eric Mercier says about the iconic MTL spot. Once you’re used to the O’s tough trannies, it can only help your nollie heel game on raw inclines.
Big o the DC /Monster Ramp
4 Seasons 1 Season
and/or
and/or
“I would for sure love to be in the California sunshine all year long, but with seasons you get hyped because spring is coming, and you know you’re going to be out skating. I think winter, in a way, is kinda good because you can take a step back to focus on other stuff in life that you’d probably slack on during the summer rush. Four seasons is probably best. I’d rather travel to visit the sun; then you’re more hyped to be there.” —Mercier
“In California you can skate all year ‘round so sometimes you get so tired because you’ve been skating for a year straight [laughs]. In Montreal, you’re forced to slow down a little in the winter and just skate the indoor. It definitely makes you more hungry. When you take something away from someone, they crave it so much more and it motivates them. In California it’s all accessible, so it’s easy for some people to get lazy and take it for granted versus growing up somewhere else where you have to work harder for it.”
“Big O, hands down. It’s a landmark. Fortunately, we got lucky enough to save it. That’s one of the backbones – the pillar of Montreal skateboarding. We’ve got to keep that alive. The spot is a natural vert ramp, well, minivert ramp [laughs]. I think it was the first half-pipe built with flat bottom in the world.” —Mercier
“It’s pretty much like the two extremes [laughs]. We really tried to incorporate a street vibe to the new DC/Monster Ramp, where there’s a Euro gap that launches you onto the deck to do manuals; moveable ledges; there’s a giant pyramid hip sticking out of the transition…It’s creative, and definitely the most advanced vert ramp anyone has seen. The Big O is the most raw, natural half-pipe that’s as good as it is without being built for skating. It’s been there since the ’76 Montreal Summer Olympics. You don’t get kicked out, and everyone that visits Montreal skates it. It’s a world famous historic spot.” —PLG
—PLG
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oskar szydlowski
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MO RG A N SM I T H
intro / Q&A
“I don’t really know where ‘Turtle’ came from; I think it was from some of the Blind guys,” Morgan Smith mentions over the phone when asked about the reptilian nickname. The 23 year-old took some time to chat while riding shotgun on his way to skate the plaza in Brantford, Ontario. “It was either James, Ronnie or Jake Duncombe who thought I looked like a Turtle. I was like, ‘Sick’ [laughs]. But I don’t really get called it that much.” When you first meet Morgan and see him skate, there are two commonalities to draw from the experience: 1) He’s a man of few words, and 2) His uncanny consistency onboard is exactly as it appears in his video parts. However, both conclusions point to the same thing: He’s all about the skateboarding. If you happen upon the chance to learn even just a bit more about Morgan, you’ll discover that in light of all the travel and critical acclaim
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Frank Daniello
his skating gets in Canada and the US, there’s still no place like Unionville, Ontario. Morgan is a homebody and has little interest in a permanent move to the industry hub of SoCal. “California’s nice, but I don’t have my own car or place down there so I rely on everyone else,” the 23 year-old explains. “I like just being at home in Unionville [laughs]. I have a car and the freedom to do whatever I want with less pressure. I can go to Toronto, I know every spot, and I can still shoot and film.” Again, at the end of the day it all leads to the fact that he’s all about the skateboarding. “Morgan is addicted, and when he doesn’t get enough of it he can become somewhat agitated,” says Blind’s James Craig. As a response to this claim, Morgan’s Concrete feature (and this issue’s bangin’ cover) serves as a rock-solid look at the Unionville loc doing what he truly loves. Read on for a little Q&A with Morgan, along with some key homie-testimonials about the hardest working Turtle in the skateboard game.
Photo - Caissie
nollie bs flip
Photos - Brian Caissie
QUESTION
and
ANSWER
What’s your earliest memory of skateboarding? My mom bought me a board on my sixth birthday, like 1992, and it was this old-school setup from Zellers that had rails; I think it said Snake on the bottom. Pretty raw [laughs]. I’d just take that to this little area in our backyard that had a curb, and I’d just ride off the curb. That’s all I would do [laughs]. This was where I grew up in Midland, then we moved to North York where I had an actual street. So I started skating a lot more when I was like 10. You’ve obviously been around Bill Weiss in a lot of different situations at this point. What’s a memorable weiss story that immediately comes to mind whenever someone asks? That’s an extremely hard question to answer [laughs]. One time he ate like 20 hamburgers from McDonald’s in one sitting. It was a challenge on the last King Of The Road in 2007, and there was a couple of old ladies sitting in there and watching him. After he ate the burgers, he puked them all up in the parking lot and we actually got in a car accident right after that [laughs]. Some guy cut us off and we T-boned him. It was a pretty good half-hour. You’ve traveled throughout the States. What’s the sketchiest situation you’ve encountered? There’s really sketchy areas in Atlanta. It’s really ‘hood there. We were staying at some hotel, and this guy got shot with a shotgun in his room a couple doors down. Pat O’Rourke was in the room next door to him, and he was freaking out. The cops came and were questioning us all night. It was sketchy, but Atlanta’s sick for spots. When people watch your footage, it’s easy for them to assume there’s no such thing as tricks you can’t do. But everyone has skate vulnerabilities…what are yours? I can’t really do switch hardflips that well, and I can’t do regular pop shove-its that good [laughs]. I think switch ones work a lot better. Some tricks just don’t feel right, like heelflip stuff. And I can’t really skate bowls – that shit’s kinda gnar. Maybe I need to skate a bigger board or something. Everyone’s riding 8s, but I still like to ride a 7.6 because you’ve gotta flip it, you know? What’s the story behind the YouTube channel you started in early ‘08? The name of it [youtube.com/user/durdeburde] is just kinda gibberish [laughs]. I’d just film random clips with my digi point-and-shoot picture camera once I found out it had a video mode on it [laughs]. I figured I might as well do something with the footage, so I just put it all up on YouTube. It got kinda fun, so I just kept doing it. I’ll put clips up there if I have them, and sometimes I won’t post anything new for months. It’s just for my friends, basically. Any Ronnie Creager clips on there usually get more views [laughs]. Morgan Smith rides for Blind, DC Canada, Momentum, Venture, and Blue Tile Lounge Skateboard Shop in Newmarket, ON. Look out for his part in Social Withdrawal by Toronto’s Devin Guiney, slated for a late 2010 release.
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SWITCH VARIAL FLIP
MO RG A N SM I T H
“One of my favourite things about Morgan is watching how excited he gets about skateboarding – seeing him getting anxious when people are lagging before a session. It’s not like he’s upset, he just can’t wait to go skate. That’s rad.” - Bill Weiss, Blind Skateboards TM
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Photos - Brian Caissie
“Morgan’s not a fan of Starbucks sandwiches after a night of boozing, and his YouTube page is a serious gem for most of us interweb addicts. He can take a slam better than most skaters and sometimes gets into a zone while filming where he talks out loud and says some of the funny stuff. If you ever get the chance to talk to him, ask him about candy – he fucking loves it!” -James Craig
bs flip
Photo - Shane Hutton
nollie flip nose manny nollie flip out
Photos - Oskar Szydlowski
“Before I even spoke to Morgan for the first time, I talked to his mom. You know the type of mothers who can make you feel like part of the family just by chatting with you? Well, that’s Morgan’s mom. So it didn’t surprise me to learn he’s such a modest and well-adjusted human. Morgan is a fucking workhorse and makes my life easier by constantly ringing to let me know what’s going on in his world.” -Jim Fenton, Momentum Wheel Co. TM
“Dude’s kind of a nut. He’s down to do anything, as long as he gets to skate. He once drove my mom’s van for 26 hours straight to Miami. Others asked him if he wanted to switch drivers, but his only reply was, ‘Man, I just wanna get there’. After we got to the hotel in Miami, Morgan passed out on the bed for 10 minutes, took a shower, then proceeded to get 3 clips at the first spot – a doubleset. He’s also ollied an 18-stair twice in his life. Isn’t that kind of kooky?” -Devin Guiney
sw fs flip manny 180 to sw manny
Photos - Johnny Martinez
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nollie BIGspin HEEL
Photos - Johnny Martinez
“About three years ago on my birthday, Morgan, myself, and a couple of friends hit downtown Toronto to skate an underground since it was winter. We got kicked out and started skating to the cars to go home, but on the way we had to walk up the famous SkyDome 13-stair. We usually just walk right through but Morgan said he wanted to check it out. It was freezing cold and he starts rollin’ up to it a couple times, then he suddenly ollies the set first-try. There’s salt all over the ground, it’s like minus-15, and the dude doesn’t give a fuck. He ended up frontboarding, lipsliding, and 50-50ing the rail all first or second try – no cameras, nothing. Hands down, that would be insane if someone just did that for fun on a summer day, but at night in the winter!? That’s crazy, straight up. Thanks for a sick birthday, bud.” -Koty Brown
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“The most desired gift from skateboarding isn’t free stuff or fame. For Morgan, I think it’s his focused attention, consistency, and great attitude. He’s super fun to watch and skate with.” - Ronnie Creager
“Morgan Smith cares in a time when it’s cool to not care. He cares about his family, his skating, his body, and his friends. It’s refreshing to see when so many people claim the ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude. Not much has changed in the past ten years of getting to know Morgan. He’s still a man of few words, but if you’re lucky enough to get some out of him you might be surprised to find that his whole vocabulary is based off Gucci Mane’s latest releases. But I’m cool with that ‘cause he still picks my sorry non-licensed ass up to go skate whenever he can.” - Ryan Bonnell
SWITCH FRONTSIDE FLIP
Photos - Brian Caissie
MO RG A N SM I T H
“Who knew the phrases ‘Hard work pays off’ and ‘You can do anything you put your mind to’ were actually true? Morgan Smith, case-in-point. Around five years ago I learned how to switch tre and didn’t waste a second before calling Morgan to let him know. At the time, that particular trick was not in his repertoire, and the next night he calls informing me that he landed one hundred consecutive switch tres. Eventually I forgave him for stealing my thunder so hard [laughs]. My point is, Morgan really can do anything he puts his mind to; he’s found his niche in the skate scene and he’s excelling with the best. Just don’t forget to keep your gnar-blade sharp, son!” - Cephas Benson
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YOUNG BLOODS
Byron Ready
Age: 19 Lives: Guelph, ON Sponsors: Chocolate and Fourstar (flow), Etnies (flow), Legacy Skateshop (London, ON)
The first time I met Byron he was a young looseball hucking himself down whatever gap we went to. A while later I saw him at Victoria Park in London and his skating had clean style, proper pop and speed. After rolling with him steadily for almost a year now I’ve noticed he likes to drive well over the speed limit in the left lane of the highway while texting, and he’s down to skate just about any trife spot in the 519. I’m not gonna drop some cheeseball line like “This guy is better than you” because for all I know Appleyard could be reading this. But Ready kills the streets, and if you ever see him at The Ward in Guelph prepare for a one-man demo every single time. —Mike Mains 84
Concrete skateboarding
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Nollie backside kickflip
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YOUNG BLOODS
Jon Cosentino
Age: 15 Lives: Oakville, ON Sponsors: Darkstar, Globe, Hurley, CB/MK Skatepark (Mississauga, ON)
Jon is one of those kids who is just a natural at skating – good style and an endless bag of tricks. I’ve been shooting with him for a year or so now and he’s always down to get something done any day of the week. Jon can effortlessly skate anything you throw at him and he’s always having a good time whether you see him at the local park or in the streets. Keep it up, Jonny. Things are looking bright. —Sam Fidlin 86
Concrete skateboarding
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Nollie heelflip
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YOUNG BLOODS
Clayton Uhlig
Age: 20 Lives: Vernon, BC Sponsors: DVS (flow), Dunas Skate Shop
To start things off, Clayton doesn’t really give a fuck. He doesn’t skate to impress you or your friends; he doesn’t match his shoes to his hats and he certainly doesn’t go out of his way to follow any sort of trend. I’ve seen him skate since he was a little bugger wearing a helmet and not much has changed since then except he’s traded in the helmet for some long-ass hair that he cut into into an off-centered rat tail. I would say go to his house to check out how he’s truly living, but he and his friends just got evicted so don’t bother. Keep on doing it for the love, man. —Dane Collison 88
Concrete skateboarding
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bluntslide
December 7, 2009 - Northridge, California timebombtrading.com stickers@timebomb.bc.ca
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Est. 1990: Canada’s premiere skateboard magazine
EDITOR / ART DIRECTOR Kelly Litzenberger kelly@concreteskateboarding.com
PUBLISHER Kevin Harris
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PHOTO EDITOR / staff photographer Brian Caissie brian@concreteskateboarding.com
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associate EDITOR Frank Daniello
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Contributing Photographers Rich Odam, Randy Laybourne, Joey Shigeo, Shane Hutton Oskar szydlowski, Andrew norton, Johnny martinez jordan hoffart, rhino, dan bourqui, jared lucas dan mathieu, jody morris, ryan o’dowd, will jivcoff sam fidlin, louis feller, Rich odam Ian witlen, andrew mapstone
contributing Writers frank daniello, randy laybourne, Robley McDonnell ben stoddard dan watson, jenny charlesworth Jamie jeffery, jesse tessier, mitch pryma geoff strelow, jimmy miller, travis stenger will cristofaro, jordan hoffart, sam mckinlay dane collison, craig williams, glenn suggitt
Concrete skateboarding is Distributed 7 times annually by Ultimate Skateboard Distributors inc. // east: 705.749.2998 // west: 604.279.8408 Subscriptions: 1 Year for $19.95 (includes shipping / taxes) – 7 issues including The Photo Annual newsstand release subscribe online at concreteskateboarding.com or send cheque / money order to: Concrete Skateboarding Subscriptions | 150 - 11780 River Rd. | Richmond, BC | V6X 1Z7 concrete accepts unsolicited submissions, but is not responsible if such materials are lost or damaged. submissions sent via letter-mail must include a self-addressed stamped envelope for return sending. for further submission inquiries, contact submissions@concreteskateboarding.com. for retailer inquiries in regards to carrying concrete, please contact info@concreteskateboarding.com.
NEXT ISSUE: issue 107 // June 11th, 2010
video
Reviews Prevent This Tragedy Thrasher Straight of the bat, Sammy Baca is badass. You can tell just by looking at him that he don’t give a fuck! Shower? Nope! Nutritious foods? Nope. Clean clothes? Forget about it. Sammy gives off an air of constantly living in the moment, with zero thoughts of the past or future. Do you know anyone who would slam facefirst into the bottom of a drained pool, knock their tooth loose, then get a buddy to just yank the damn thing out? Well, this is how Thrasher’s latest flick starts out. Prevent This Tragedy is a collabo with Converse that features a fine assortment of skaters – from the obscure Raymond Molinar, to the sleepin’-behind-the wheel styles of Nick Trapasso. Devin Appelo and David Gravette both get crazy with parts that scream louder than their recent Hesh Law performances. Andrew Allen truly does Anti-Hero proud, and sits securely on my Top 5 list of shralpers. Ethan Fowler and Molinar share a part that honestly left me a little disappointed. Raymond ripped, but Ethan? C’mon, man. Emmanuel Guzman is fuckin’ fast, and his trick selection is so diverse that it sometimes seems like you’re watching two different skaters. Eventually Trapasso puts this thing to bed, making the hardest tricks look too damn easy. You might have to scour YouTube’s low-quality library since the DVD was only available with the February issue of Thrasher. Regardless of how you get to see it, Prevent This Tragedy is a great eye-feaster. —Craig Williams
Piss’n in the Wind Lowcard Have you ever noticed that some of the most memorable moments in skate videos happen after the credits? Once the blast of trimmed perfection is complete and the annihilation-dust settles, a guard of sorts is lowered. We, the viewers, then get a chance to see more spontaneity, personality, and less-than-perfect moments that may have been forgotten on the editing room floor. This is the full reality of Lowcard mag’s Piss’n in the Wind – part promo, part bro-cam, all rad. Born from surplus photos laying around and raw initiative, SF’s Lowcard mag itself is one sick little ‘zine. Whether you’ve seen it or not may rely upon your local shop guy’s willingness to part with a copy. I suppose the same thing goes with this DVD – challenging to acquire, but doubly great once you do. Leaning heavy on personality, raw skills and unique terrain, this video actually does feel like a flick your buddy could’ve made. While there are some sectioned-off parts for specific skaters, the chaos-cred and slams remain a constant throughout. Much like the mag, there’s a unique mix of notable heads, local legends and Pabst-fuelled upstarts on the video’s roster; guys like Drehobl, Peabody, Baptista, Pensyl, Delatore, Ramondetta, and even H-Street alumni Ron Allen. Clocking in a just over 30 minutes, PIW [lowcardmag.com/pwteaser] fills the spot of pre-skate stoker just perfect. Grab a copy when and if you can. —Jimmy Miller
Machotaildrop Friendlyfire Productions “The higher you are, the purer the air. The purer the air, the greater the glory… And that, my boy, is our business: glory. With the right look and the right air nothing can stop you.” This is not what you would expect to hear from your TM at the board company you ride for, but at Machotaildrop Skateboards expect the unexpected as they are masters of “transforming the mundane into the magnificent”. Directors Corey Adams [coreyadams.ca] and Alex Craig have done it again, having earned the million-dollar prize budget to create the feature-length Machotaildrop when their short film Harvey Spannos won the 2006 Fuel TV Experiment. Machotaildrop offers the precise amount of fantasy, comedy, drama and skateboarding. Without getting too deep into the storyline, let me say that this film is a fantastic, unique and conceptual depiction of what life as a Pro skateboarder could be like. It’s full of breathtaking landscapes that span continents, along with motivating character development that involves love, jealousy and competition. The cast includes a who’s who in skateboard folklore: Rick McCrank, Frank Gerwer, Steve Olson, Fred Mortagne, and John Rattray. If you’re a fan of Canadian cinema or just a skate-nerd who needs to know it all, do whatever you can to see this film. “Champions of the skateboard say: ‘Machotaildrop is glorious!’” —Ben Stoddard
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S H OE V A U L TS
original shoe and thumbnail ads courtesy of made for skate natas reissue and first ad courtesy of sole technology
| madeforskate.com
ETNIES NATAS
the 2003 reissue
the original natas shoe words
Every sport from basketball to lawn bowling has at one point decided to adorn one of their prodigal son’s names upon a shoe in order to make it more marketable to the public. Skateboarding is no different. Nowadays it seems as though the promise of a Pro shoe is the only way to get skateboarders to sign with a footwear company. But in the earlier days of skateboarding, such a privilege was a rare and respected occurrence. Since all the shoes featured thus far in the Shoe Vaults series have been Pro models, it seems fitting that we take a look at the shoe that started it all – the ETNIES NATAS KAUPAS, which was the very first Pro model skateboarding shoe ever released. Founded in 1986 in France as “Etnics” by a company called Rautureau Apple, the brand was renamed Etnies due to legal reasons. Both a freestyle Pro and designer for the brand, Pierre André Sénizergues (now the CEO of Sole Technology) helped expand Etnies’ sales, marketing and distribution Stateside, eventually gaining full rights to the name. In 1987, the brand decided to follow the lead of mainstream sports companies and feature a professionally endorsed shoe from one of skateboarding’s best. And they didn’t need to look much further than the Santa Monica, CA-raised and Santa Monica Airlines-sponsored Natas Kaupas. Natas, along with Mark Gonzales, is frequently credited with the popularization and advancement of street skating. But perhaps choosing him wasn’t so obvious to Etnies at first. A recent “15 Things” article in Skateboarder magazine revealed that the brand originally offered the shoe opportunity to Euro Pro Claus Grabke, who turned it down. Subsequently, Natas joined the ranks of Chuck Taylor, Stan Smith, and Michael Jordan as a respected professional “athlete” with his own shoe. Speaking of Michael Jordan, the design of Natas’ Pro model hightop was inspired by both Jordan and a shoe from a French company called Ellesse. Released in four colourways initially – all black, all 94
first pro shoe ad
Dan Watson
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white, black/grey and the Jordan-esque black/red – the Natas shoe also featured a custom graphic bearing his name on the upper collar, right where the Air Jordan crest was located on the first MJ Nike. However, the colourways of the Natas model didn’t seem all that important since many skaters worldwide copied his tendencies to adorn the shoe with paint pen and spray paint. In construction, the rubber ollie guard is what set this shoe apart from the high-top basketball shoes that were popular to skate at the time. The Natas shoe had a great impact, solidifying Etnies’ presence in the skate shoe world, and it also influenced many shoes to follow. However, the biggest impact was obviously the legitimization of Pro shoes in skateboarding. The same year as the release of Natas’ shoe, Etnies also released a Pro shoe for Pierre André Sénizergues called the “Senix”. Signature models from other companies would follow, such as Vans’ “Caballero” in 1989. After that, Pro skate shoes remained dormant until the 1994 release of Sal Barbier’s Pro model [see Shoe Vaults in Issue 98], again by Etnies. After that, the Pro shoe became a standard for any skate footwear line to the point where today it’s not uncommon to see a shoe for a Pro you may have never heard on a brand that you’ve never seen before. But it all started with a company that had the vision to think outside the box and do it first. It’s hard to imagine anyone else besides Natas getting that first Pro shoe in ’88. One may even be tempted to think it was fate that caused Claus Grabke to pass up the opportunity so the shoe could bear the name of a skateboarding legend. In 2003, Etnies briefly reissued a modified form of the Natas model to commemorate a shoe that really changed the world of skate shoes from a skater that really changed the world of skateboarding. etnies.com/skate
BRIAN IS FEATURED IN THE ANDERSON SIGNATURE PANT. BLEDSOE BROPHY CARROLL HOWARD GONZALES KOSTON MALTO MARIANO PUIG SCHAAF TRUJILLO / FOR THE ENTIRE SPRING 2010 COLLECTION GO TO SUPRADISTRIBUTION.COM
Surfer Blood Sound Check
words
Jenny Charlesworth
photo
ian witlen
If chatting up your ex-girlfriend’s totally offlimits roommate isn’t enough payback for a relationship gone awry, think about taking a cue from Surfer Blood frontman, singerguitarist John Paul Pitt. The 23-year-old West Palm Beach, Florida resident wrote a song about his former gal called “Twin Peaks” which, if you’re familiar with David Lynch’s bizarre ’90s drama, basically puts her on par with a creepy dwarf in a red suit. To add insult to injury, the nasty number made its way onto the quintet’s debut album, Astro Coast, that’s now become a runaway hit. “I actually just got an email from her brother asking me if the song was about his sister,” says Pitt, on the line from the band’s Tallahassee tour stop. “We had gotten kind of estranged and I made the masochistic choice to go visit her up in Syracuse, where she was going to school,” he continues, all too happy to offer up the messy details behind the track. “We watched some Twin Peaks the first night, and the way it starts off very strong and then turns into this downward spiral, I thought that was a pretty nice parallel for how the entire weekend went.” Inspired by the likes of Pavement, the Pixies and Weezer, Surfer Blood wears their ’90s alt-rock badge with pride. Pitt and the gang may have only been in grade school when angst-filled teenagers were following River 96
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Cuomos’ lead and belting out the decadedefining hit “Say It Ain’t So”, but their take on the era is spot-on. An irresistible mix of hummable melodies and crunchy guitar riffs, Astro Coast is the perfect companion for sprawling road trips and the first days of summer. Filled with quirky embellishments, the album proves that west coast musicians aren’t the only ones with a handle on homespun surf rock. “Basically I spent any free moment I had working on the record for pretty much six months straight,” says Pitt, who turned his small apartment into a makeshift studio in early 2009 after sessions in a professional studio didn’t go as planned. “We were convinced we could do all the tracking in two days, which was really stupid,” he explains. “The record deserved some time and attention – it was in our best interest to take it over ourselves.” From Pitchfork to MNE, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to dispute that. It’s clear that Surfer Blood’s decision to go it alone with a discounted copy of Pro-Tools paid off. And while ascending the ranks to become indie champs is no easy task, maintaining their newfound star power is the real challenge, and Pitt knows it.
“It’s a little scary because I feel like us because we’re being talked about so much and not because of our music,” he says. “That’s one of our biggest fears: to be a band that releases one album then gets lost in the hype-cycle and never releases anything of value again.” The young lads aren’t about to give up their hipster stronghold without a fight, but if they should ever lose the affection of the incrowd, it seems there’s a Plan B to fall back on thanks to a recent misadventure. “We were driving in Mobile, Alabama, and we started to hydroplane and went off the road,” Pitt recounts. “When we were talking to the police afterwards, they were really enchanted with the idea that we were in a band and I heard the dispatch officer talking on the walkie-talkie saying, ‘Be sure to get one of their CDs because we’re looking for some bands to play at our Mardi Gras party’.” If Pitt was ever looking for a way to sneak creepy Twin Peaks imagery into a song that wasn’t about an ex-girlfriend, this would be it. Partying it up with a bunch of cops draped in Mardi Gras beads, in Alabama no less, would be an experience even Special Agent Dale Cooper would find unnerving. myspace.com/surferblood
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Photo by Jason Lee Parry
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Drop City was introduced to attract like–minded creative people to the comune artist community and collaboarte on special projects through COMUNE’S clothing brand. With participating artists including Hunter Longe, Jason Lee Parry, Noah and Nathan Rice, Shelby Menzel, Jimmy Fontaine and Gareth Stehr over time Drop City will continue to evolve its’ community, creative platform and influence. www.thecomune.com/blog/drop-city
COMUNE was formed from the idea that there will always be people out there who not only embrace the rawness and imperfections of every day life but use it to creatively push the boundaries of what’s possible in skateboarding, fashion, art, and music their own way, with complete disregard of the consequences.
C O P Y R I G H T © 2 0 1 0 P 9 4 9 . 5 7 4 . 9 1 4 2
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Our goal is to provide clothing that reflects this lifestyle of carefree idealism and to support the people that choose to live it.
www.thecomune.com
D I S T R I B U T E D
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W I C K W I N D E R
W W W . T H E C O M U N E . C O M C O M U N E @ W I C K W I N D E R . C O M A Spring 2010 collection by COMUNE.
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Photograph by Joe Hammeke
distributed by Ultimate
Dave Bloom WORDS. WALTER MANNING.
In the March 1995 issue of Thrasher, Mike Carroll was crowned SOTY, but buried within the pages was the first of what was to be many subsequent achievements for Nathan Matthews: “Envelope of the Month.” Much like how we learn skateboarding, Nathan is a self-taught artist forgoing formal education. He has undergone apprenticeships in the past, yet it has been his independent ingenuity that has pushed his work to the professional caliber that it is today. Nathan’s scope of creativity seems limitless: photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, website creations – nothing is beyond his handiwork. Commercial clients benefit from Nathan’s ability to perceive exactly what is needed for a project. In addition, his drive and determination to produce quality works has seen him excel throughout the years. The creative energy that penned that impressive envelope of 1994 relentlessly vibrates today. Undoubtedly his work will continue to resonate well into the future. Nathan is grateful to his Mom, Dad and brother Caleb; Glenn at Famous Skateboards; Eric at Model Skateboards; Dave at Red Dragon; Justin at Foosh; Max at Endeavor; Brad Hammerstron and all his friends for their encouragement and support.
Nathan MatthewS: Giant Human 1980-2010
for more on Nathan visit GIANTHUMAN.com
artist profile in concrete powder
– #76, 2005 4/18/05 3:56:10 PM
photos nick walter
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I first met Nathan 10 years ago when he moved to Edmonton from Williams Lake, BC to skate and pursue his artistic talents. Within a month of moving to Edmonton he was doing all the clothing and board graphics for Plush/Famous; that same year he put together our website. Not a bad start coming from Williams Lake. Nate’s design progression exploded from there, and he started his own board company, Eikon. Unsatisfied with that, he started Model Skateboards, which took off because he represented the team with his photography and a website he created. Then Whyte Wheels, his own wheel company, came along shortly after. By that point, Nate’s photos started to get published and people were contacting him non-stop for his design work – RDS, Endeavor snowboards, C1RCA, DC, Megadestroyer…his client list went on! Work and skateboarding blew up so fast for Nate that it was time to leave Eddy and head to Van. After a few years on the west coast with nothing but forward progression, Nate lost a long but very strong battle against cancer. Nathan Matthews is a Giant Human, and that name says it all: stylish skateboarder, talented artist and photographer, friend to all, and nothing but good times. Nathan had a way of making everyone he met love life. His door was open to anyone at all times, even if he was busy at the computer working, and he’d go skate at every available moment. Many others, including myself, will never skate a day without some kind of inspiration from Nathan – a Giant Human. —Glenn Suggitt
nmatthews.com pole jam / vancouver , 2008
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morgan smith
distributed by Ultimate
photo: Brian Caissie
switch three flip
The Rebates Series. Designed to go easy on your wallet and the environment. Made with a 100% recycled urethane core. See footage of Morganʼs switch three at: www.momentumskate.com
distributed by Ultimate
timebombtrading.com stickers@timebomb.bc.ca