Beauty and the Beast Girl/Anti Hero NorthWest American Tour

Now this is a clash on many levels, a tour with two of the most opposite feeling teams out there; Julian Stranger’s thrown together ragtag crew of Antihero’s and Crailtap’s flag ship team of Girls. That’s trouble in anyones book, I read about this happening and started thinking about the mismatches of styles. Malto and Hewitt? On tour together? Carroll and Stranger in charge? Its so unworkable, isn’t it? Gerwer in a van with Koston?! No wonder they had to do two edits of the tour……….

The Beauty edit had taken a leaf out of their tour-mates book with some hardcore park action. Notably pools getting hit hard instead of blocks, and over vert sessioned instead of steps, and that’s just for starters. Koston throws down his relaxed style, while McCrank reminds us that there is nothing he cant skate and Brian Anderson, well, is Brian Anderson! This is a tidy edit, im sure Spike Jonze had a hand in this. Burnside Projects is the standout park, seemed like both teams saved some energy for that spot, it got torn to shreds.

AntiHero hit right back with the grittier Beast edit, kicking off with some crunk from Dirt Nasty and fueling the section while the teams hit up America’s NorthWest. The vibe is more a fun session, than trying to out do each other. Lil’ Robbie Russo is the smallest on the tour, and blatantly set the pace for the veterans and in a time trial race around the smallest skatepark he pushes Howard and TNT to step up a few gears. Although personally it was impossible not to have a lump in my throat when John Cardiel finished the course, Russo is in good company there, cant wait to see how all these guys influence him, he already is showing some of JC’s fire.

There is a 3rd edit in the extras, which is aptly named “The Retard Edit” that Carroll put together. Frank Gerwer gets trashed and turns their camping vibe in to something confusing Lord of the Rings with the Blair Witch, sometimes the record button just shouldn’t be pressed, and that’s just for starters!

This is a great lil vid just showing what pro skaters do on their holidays, sorry, vacations, which is kicking it with their friends and just ripping away from the pressure of video deadlines. This is more “Tent City” than “Fully Flared” but mixing the two teams is definitely a positive thing. They all had fun and it will help the younger guys see another side of skating they wouldn’t normally get on their team tours. In contrast to the last Crailtap DVD, this one makes you want to skate rather than hang your head in shame and quit! At the same time, it shows the more hardcore side of skating where you can kick back and have some fun without the need to be bleeding on the flat bottom of some godforsaken South American pool. Check out the Beauty and the Beast on DVD and the limited boards shipping right about now to a skater owned shop near you, the vids rad.……

Philip Procter