If you haven’t seen the 12:46 skate video “always whānau”, go watch it now. Posted by “Always Do What You Should Do”, the video contained heavy footage from big names in the local skate scene, such as Cato Dobbs and Theo Clarke (2022 NZ Skater of The Year). Always whānau was filmed in London by Shane Smith with additional filming by Josh Sosa, Harry Kidman, and Mac Christie, and edited by Shane.

The ride on grinds, wallrides, wallies, rotating manuals, and Levi Hinkley’s bonks (holy fuck that nose manual to nose blunt-bonk ?! was creative) place this vid very much in the new wave.

Bill Emmanouilidis brought the butter with a smooth fs nose bluntslide to open the vid and a curved ledge bs feeble grind for the gods. Bill (I think? 1:36) was possessed by Mark Suciu with a beautiful two-piece, contorting his body over the ledge. Jarrad Carlin showed the ancient Egyptians how to use a pyramid with a floating nollie inward heel, followed up by a 360 nollie flip shot in fisheye. Adam Delarue’s fs 360 wall ride was so tech the hand touch didn’t matter. Giz’s fs rock n roll slide brought the style to the transition clips, while Jarrad’s tech switch salad to fakie shredded up a bank. Theo Clarke took the video from gnarly to hesh by hitting a roof gap, then using the second roof as a manual pad. Cato slammed a sw bs flip on a security guard’s shoes making the coolest frame of the vid.

The lifeys really threw you onto London’s bricks with sun-kissed drinking and free Palestine graffiti. Definitely one of those skate vids that makes you want to message the homies, buy a box, and hit the streets. But is it gnar or nah?

Gnar:
Gap to bs wallride at 1:28
Purple socks
Cato’s front 1 off a kicker, up a stair gap, to fakie manny
Levi’s (8:48) ride on 50-50 to manny to bs tail
Tree wallie
Cato’s nollie bs 1 to fakie manual, fakie flip out
Issac Gale’s heelflip over a handrail ender
Nah:
Non-lesbians wearing a carabiner

Pink and green butterfly tee

No pop fakie bigspin

Verdict: Gnarr