Mark Baker, frontside air at The Cage, Brighton, 1978. Photo: TLB.
If you have any interest in the origins or genesis of the U.K. skate scene, then you’re going to want to clear your diary for August 17th-20th (that's today until Sunday...) and make your merry way to the nation’s capital to join in with London Calling.
Dubbed as ‘a celebration of the 1970s skateboarders that laid the foundations for six decades of U.K. skateboarding’, London Calling is being organised by the legendary combination of Steve Douglas, Don Brown, Bod Boyle, Dan Adams Jürgen Blümlein and Iain Borden. From simply reading the names of those involved behind the scenes, you know this is going to be a gathering for the ages. Over the course of the long weekend, there will be a variety of skate sessions and meet ups taking place, a 70s skate forum, and the opening of an all new exhibition at Shoreditch’s Pure Evil Gallery, displaying a whole wealth of both seen and unseen photography, along with assembled artefacts, stories, video and more.
At present, the schedule is shaping up as follows:
Thursday 17/08
6-9pm - 70s exhibition opening night, Pure Evil Gallery, Shoreditch.
After Party ‘til 2am, with audio provided by Alex Turnbull.
Friday 18/08
10am–6pm – 70s exhibition open, Pure Evil Gallery, Shoreditch.
11:30am–3pm – 70s skate forum, UCL. Fully booked! The live feed can be found here.
5:30pm - Tony Alva meet and greet, Vans Store, Covent Garden.
Evening meet up – Crown and Anchor, Covent Garden. (AKA ‘The 411VM Pub’).
Saturday 19/08
10am–6pm – 70s exhibition open, Pure Evil Gallery, Shoreditch.
10am-2pm – Mini ramp and bowl session, BaySixty6.
2pm onwards – Southbank 10th anniversary reunion.
7pm – Devo: The Farewell Tour, Celebrating 50 Years, Eventim Apollo. Limited tickets available.
Sunday 20/08
11am–6pm – 70s exhibition open, Pure Evil Gallery, Shoreditch.
All day – Crystal Palace skatepark session.
In addition to what’s promising to be a heavy turnout of hugely influential 70s heads still residing in the U.K. and Europe, Jeremy Henderson and John Sablosky – both transplants from the American east and west coasts respectfully, who played crucial roles in the progression of U.K. skateboarding during its formative years – are both confirmed to be in attendance, with plane tickets and accommodation reportedly being booked as soon as the event was announced.
So if the 1970s is your era, or you’d simply like to gage an idea of what U.K. skateboarding looked and felt like in its earliest, critical incarnation, then keep up to date with developments via the London Calling Instagram - @london.calling.skateboardinguk – and we’ll be seeing you in London later today!
One final note: London Calling is being run on a strict ‘not for profit’ basis, with any monies left over after all costs covered being donated to The Ben Raemers Foundation.
Supported by: Vans, Independent, Slick Willies, Shiner, Power Dist, Nineteen76, with special thanks to The Skateboarder’s Companion, UCL and the Bartlett School of Architecture.
Printed in Issue 11 of The Skateboarder's Companion.