Up Front
Sombrero Sonata
Hattitude Adjustmented the huge concrete headgear as a hook for sions at "The Hat" are far from lengthy: you can
Did aliens leave a gigantic sombrero as an inter
galactic beacon for space travellers, or is The Hat
the work of underpaid craftsmen who construct
Spot Check
hungry taco customers? Neither possibility mat
ters to Seattle skaters who barge the abandoned
structure and waste
the wavy walls. Ses-
see the cops coming from a mile away and be
ready to split at the slightest sign of trouble.
Phoenix
On the Road Park Benefit
The desert around Phoenix, AZ, is an oasis of golf courses, bike trails, man-made lakes,
pools, tennis courts and ball fields, but the city says it has no money to fund a skatepark
So a group of hungry plank pilots from the Valley of the Sun decided to get the dough them-
selves. The call went out for a benefit band bash and street meet at the Silver Dollar Club.
The show started early and skaters from all schools barged the course with reckless aban-
don. Stalefish to fakie, heelfips and serious ollies were all launched over the hip of two quar
ter pipes joined by a platform. Inside the club, old partners clinked glasses in toast to pools
past and future. All through the night, the course smoked as board bombers assaulted the
street sculptures with assorted mangled moves of mert
A bulging assortment of punks, drunks and youngsters (thirteen hundred in all) showed
and helped raise over $4600 for the cause. Mon-dingo hammered a heavy mix of angst
and melody, Cruel Daddy Doom & The Hemlocks threw down voodoo-infused rockabilly
blues, Don Dread & the Zion Knights led a mollow charge of soul and rastafarian rhythms,
The Silver Tongue Devils busted serious punk-bred rock and roll, and JFA finished the
night with a furious set that left even the bouncers sweating
"It was total craziness," said one skater. "Everybody was going off." The organizers of
Quito, Ecuador the event plan to have one more benefit before they go to the city with the cash and talk
Less than thirty miles from the Equator, in Quito, the capital of Ecuador,
kids having a good time is the least of people's worries. A public park
reminiscent of the great dinosaurs of the late seventies and early eighties
sits ready and waiting high up in the Andean mountains. It has four long
snake runs, two mini bowls, banks, limps, hips, dips and a full pipe that
spills into a giant bowl with a good ten feet of transition. There's no one
around except a couple of BMX kooks and skaters riding old Banzai
boards. No security, no watch-mom, no annual fees, no forms, no pads...
sounds like a dream? It would have to be a dream in North America, but
in South America it is a reality.
16TH
turkey. Their goal is to design a cement park with bowls, hips, curbs and spines that riders
of all kinds can enjoy Since the
skaters are raising the money
themselves, they want to make
sure they have a say in how the
park is built. "We've seen some
of the things the government is
doing and some of them aren't
100 good," said one. "We want
to have all the skaters help
decide on it, not just us."
Rock Lincoln
Mon-dinge and a host of hot bands helped knock the
stuffing out of skater's problems in Phoenix, Arizona.
U
PLAY WITH FIRE
JIM GAGNE
SPITFIRE
SAN FRAN
WHEELS
ISCO, CA