Outset Presents: Tommy Daddono

Tommy "The Don" Daddono, in addition to running the best retailer in the game, has been working hard all year on filming clips for a video. He made this entire video while dealing with an ankle injury, which prevents him from completely flattening his back foot on the deck. Despite this keeping him below 100%, Tom was able to do some sick shit for this video. I'm always psyched to see my boy shredding, and this is easily his best video yet.



Also, follow this dude's Youtube channel if you haven't yet.

Dan Barrett Rides Cleveland

Dan recently spent some time out in Cleveland for Aztek, ripping up the parks and streets. Last two tricks were mindblowing, having been to that last spot before really gives you an extra appreciation for what Dan does there.

Welcome to Affinity: Anton Abramson

Anton Abrahamson aka "old abe," in addition to being the filmer for Concrete, has been making great strides as a rider himself, which have landed him on Affinity. His riding is always clean and solid, and this video is no different. The half cab back lip 270 got me psyched, but I would have been more psyched if I hadn't seen him do it on Instagram before. Come on Anton! But in all seriousness, congrats my guy!

Sugar Shane - Perfectionist

Sugar Shane - Perfectionist from Shane Malecha on Vimeo.

Chances are you probably don't know "Sugar" Shane Malecha. He's a bit of a local legend in Chicago now, as everyone knows and loves him and his zany personality. While he's never been sponsored, the dude has been getting real good riding with the crew in Chi and by taking advantage of the many parks and plazas. He filmed this video demonstrating his skills and I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of it. The only thing missing was one of his original rap songs to go along with it!

Jon Reyes Flat Edit 5

J-Rizzy dropped his latest flat edit yesterday, and this one really takes the cake as the best one yet. I don't even now the names to a lot of these but the one at 2:02 boggles my mind. Jon is one of the most dedicated riders to his craft, and for that, I applaud him.

Jake Sorensen | Slumped Grippers

Jake, how do you do that?? Mr. Sorensen has finally been rewarded for his hard work and otherworldly ability on a scooter with a signature Proto wheel, officially making him Pro. Boardslide gap over the rail, fakie 270 cab front board, that back lip whip...so many crazy tricks. He was cooookin on the ender. Too gnarly.

Hella Good Stuff DVD Review

Over the past couple years, the Bay Area Concrete Crew teamed up with Hella Grip with the goal of producing one of the finest DVD’s to ever drop in scootering, titled “Hella Good Stuff.” It was finished this summer, with a premiere after SD10. After a long delay, the video has finally made it onto DVD’s which are in stores now. . Hella Grip was nice enough to hook me up with a copy of the video, and so here I am giving a full review. 

The Riding

The level of riding in Hella Good Stuff varies, but at its highest points is top notch. The video starts off explosively, as the relatively unknown Pat Nguyen is featured for his first notable video part. Pat has unrivaled hops and an awesome style, making his part one of my favorites. Many of the riders in HGS, unlike Pat, are sponsored- Jake Sorenson and David Coe representing Proto, Anton Abramson for Aztek, Kevin Closson for Downside, so you can expect some gnarly tricks.. David brought some really awesome SF hillbomb lines (which always have been missing from Bay Area videos) in addition to his familiar handrail shredder style, Jake does things that shouldn’t be possible, and Kevin also conquers any handrail in his path. The more unknown guys like Danila Popov, Trevor Crowell, and Ryan Meyers shred hard too, definitely putting out respectable footage. The only thing I could complain about regarding the riding, is that a lot of these guys do a lot of the same kinds of handrail tricks, or even just a lot of rails in general, which would be sick if it was only a couple dudes hitting them but everyone seemed to be getting in on the action. So in other words, more diversity would have been cool.

The Filming

Filming for HGS was spearheaded by Anton, the main organizer of Concrete. Anton’s setup was primarily DSLR, with Hella Grip’s HVX providing backup. On the whole the filming was a lot better than what you see in most videos. As a filmer, I think that if the viewer doesn’t even notice the filming, then you’ve done a good job. All the while through the video I was focused on the riding, only a few times did I notice a poorly filmed clip. There was plenty of good b-roll filmed, which is something most scooter videos tend to lack. I think HD filming in scootering still has a long way to go but Anton did a great job documenting his friends scootering and I look forward to seeing his skill and direction improve.

The Editing

My favorite part about the editing for HGS were the intros. Before each rider’s part, there is a small skit to introduce the rider and show us viewers a little bit about who they are. So while these guys are definitely not actors, they were super fun to see, especically because this is something that hasn’t ever been done in scootering before. They could have been improved with a little more focus and direction, but for a bunch of kids who aren’t exactly actors, it was rad. Big props to these guys for going for it and executing even semi-successfully. Apart from the intros, the editing was more or less simply done. The music all fit well, although starting off with a Fuzz track didn’t get me too hyped. I didn’t know too many of the bands used, which is a good thing.

Overall

The measurement of what really makes a good video isn’t how crazy the riding is, or how well its filmed and edited, but rather how the video makes you feel. But even that can go different ways. Did this video make me want to go ride? No. Did it fill me with a sense of hype and give off good vibes? That it did. A big theme in this video was how these guys are truly all homies. The skits, the opening montage, there was even a part showing a few of the dudes walking across the stage at their graduations- what other crew is gonna show up for their boy’s graduation ceremony? If anything, this video makes you want to be a part of that kind of family, to go out and explore, ride, and eat cake with the crew. So, at five dollars, there is no reason you shouldn’t buy this DVD. That is more than a bargain, considering all the hard work these boys put into this, and how good it is. It’s available at all your favorite retailers, including the lovely Outset Select. 

Hella Good Stuff: David Coe

Yesterday David Coe's part from Hella Good Stuff was uploaded, to be available for only 24 hours. That leaves about 4 hours left at the time I'm writing this (sorry Anton), so I hope a few of you get to scope it. David's part starts off as we've come to expect, with tons of high speed, handrail bangers, but then he hits us with plenty of downhill, SF cruising clips, which were a highlight of the video for me. He concludes the video with one of the craziest gap to rails I've ever seen and then a trick on what's become, in my eyes, an iconic stairset/block spot. Support Hella Grip and Concrete Crew by copping a copy of  the DVD today!

Matt Mckeen | Lightbringer SCS

Matt McKeen has shone a brighter light on core scootering than perhaps any other rider. His reign as top street rider has never wavered since it was even a thing people talked about. Proto has decided to celebrate Matt's cerebral abilities on a scooter by giving him a signature SCS, and this is the video he filmed to promote it. I don't really need to talk about what he does here...just watch.