Oddly enough to my feeble mind, I've seen no mention of this video on any of the major blogs I read. I'm sure pretty much everyone in the country is aware this video has officially dropped by now, but maybe not. If you didn't know, it premiered Monday in skate shops or other related viewing venues around the country. I'd like to relay my premiere experience, being as it really mortified my senses and destroyed my diminished faith in the current state of skateboarding while at the same time giving me immense hope for generations to come.
First of all, the start of the event was delayed a whole hour, presumably for a homie who was on his way from out of town, although I didn't ask. Everyone crammed into the little assembly of couches and second hand chairs in order to watch a projection of the film on a stretched screen which I believe is canvas or maybe even a really durable sheet. Who knows. Everyone was positive going into James Hardy's shreddin opening segment, but I could feel the enthusiasm dwindling during Donnely's part. Perelson naturally got some gasps, but once we hit Torgy's part things really went downhill. Apparently I missed the memo that the only thing people wanted to see in this video were perfectly filmed Ishod Wair and Dennis Busenitz segments. Who knew. Although I was naturally talking a little bit of shit about the absolute dominance spitfire shirts held over the wardrobe aspect, a fad down here currently, I was very pleased with what I was seeing. Now, whether it was on purpose or by accident, the two filming 'masterminds', used loosely, really blew it on their angles for the most part, diminishing the true nature of the spots pretty much throughout and flirting heavily with High-Def incompetency. Which apparently proved to be the breaking point for the younger crowd. Because of when I grew up, I have to admit I was having heavy flows of middle school nostalgia for when I first discovered skate videos and went through the backlogs of the VHS industry. Now I guess, people want
Ride the Sky,
Debacle, and
Fully Flared every time they open up a DVD. But as I said, I was very pleased with what I was viewing. I could tell the spots were fucking gnarly, and everyone was more or less holding to a ridiculously high and uniform standard of skating, making the parts hard to distinguish at first because of how hard everyone was ripping.
Now, alot of my favorite skaters to watch are on the Real team. Naturally Busenitz and Hardy are near the top of that list, with Justin Brock being a heavy favorite because of his North Carolina native status. I also like Dompierre, and Torgy was one I was highly anticipating as well. I knew next to nothing about Ishod Wair going into this, but he's on that list now for sure. Ramondetta was one I've never been too into, but I still respected his footage and let his part change my views on him completely. Then there's Schaaf, who's always awesome, Huf, who was one of my inspirations although it doesn't show in my skating, and Alex Perelson whose Volcom clip recently had lit the fire in my heart. Donnelly I didn't know much about other than he was supposed to shred, and same with Massimo. So I had high expections of this video, and in all honesty, I feel like they were surpassed. I've watched this shit six times in almost 48 hours.
But back to the premiere. Kids were talking shit when they realized this wasn't the kind of video they were expecting, to the tune of "did he walk to keep up with this line?" and "this guy sucks with his big feet" (referring to Huf) and probably the most surprising "the first guy that doesn't suck and he doesn't even have a full part" when referring to Kyle Walker. Another dude even motioned the thumbs down when I glanced back at him. That's right guys, your words are on the internet. You little haters. So after the perceived reason for the delayed start time said "fuck this" and went to smoke a cigarette, I was able to recover from the shockwaves of hate that had encapsulated my immediate personal space. By the end of the video, after laughing either to myself or out loud throughout Busenitz's skate-everything-and-do-more-tricks-than-required-to-make-a-cool-clip part because of his wonderful little tacked-on flatground and front 180s, I was the first in a very short line to buy it and walked away happy but aggravated.
How, you might ask, could someone hate this video "because it has the most ass-shots I've ever seen" to quote the night again? Who cares? This shit was raw. 20 bucks for a rad book filled with Morford photos and the DVD with about forty minutes of bonus footage is a miracle. AND some of the money goes to the Johnny Romano Foundation. But I vented on the way home, in more or less shock that kids could actually hate a video enough to leave even before Busenitz and Ramondetta came on the screen. Or better yet, how could they hate a video with Public Enemy, switch flip the LOVE fountain, and a billion super talented dudes in it? Just didn't equate. I know the obvious answer is they want the super polished productions of lately, which has in many ways made me doubt the professionalism and HD format we had decided to use regarding the skatepolitik video, but damn. Definitely didn't see that coming. The messageboards have of course been a-fire with discussion of Real, oddly enough to the tune of massive support, even to the point of condemning those grime snakes that are searching for a free download link. Don't even think of coming to me, I've been in touch with DLX reps the past couple days passing on links I find. I will be understanding in the pirating of berrics productions and berrics productions only.
But to think of pirating this video is bullshit. In some ways the reactions of the younger generation made me like this video even more. This video makes me appreciate the act of skating itself, fuck the presentation. This is how it used to be done. You get the trick on film and you use it regardless, not throw away tons of usable stuff because the filmer sucks or there was a slight tremble in your line filming. People that can't appreciate that are gonna fade their way into life's many depressing nooks and crannies, and wallow in their own lack of success eventually anyways. Can't save them. Yes, right now their mass control over the internet skate world and the local parks is a proven yet annoying fact of day-to-day life, but there will come a time, probably very soon, where that will end. When skateboarding stops being the job all the post-millenium birthed kids aspire to as a viable career. When people stop giving a fuck about making their trendy bigspin and back tail trick selections look perfect with their vulcanized bland colored shoes and their tall socks and cut off shorts. Not that there's anything wrong with that style, but everyone's doing it. Basically, I feel like this video either will be a measuring stick for true skate lovers, or a common ground that eventually unifies the lifers with the maggots. I'm cool with both, I'd love skating to be less inclusive and slimmed down once more, but everyone already in the mix staying there is fine too.
Basically this video is a surprising return to older, less fancy presentation methods and vibes. Buy this shit. It's easy on the wallet, good for the soul, and this is a video everyone should own. Straight murderous skating the whole way through. These boys are the true future.
