Skateboard video of the month - Hand poked in Montreal

22 April 2016

We have to admit it Montreal is an amazing city. From the crazy nightlife to lively city life, there’s never a dull moment. The only downside is obviously winter... therefore, our local athletes are often multidisciplinary. In the summertime they skate or ride their BMX and during winter they focus on snowboarding or skiing. Still, just like the die-hard skaters out there we’re all polyvalent regardless of the season.

If you’ve skated around the city last summer, you may have crossed path with the Brixton team destroying a spot they were passing through. They’ve been spotted on top of Mount Royal enjoying the sun or in the Mile-End mediating by St-Viateur Bagel. Naturally, they had a mandatory pit stop at the legendary "Big O" and fervent Peace Park. It was a real in depth ride, where they’ve manage to execute over a 100 tricks throughout the city.

Brixton’s tour of the island was shot and compiled in the film "Hand Poked in Montreal". On March 10, the film premiered simultaneously in Montreal and Los Angeles. Most of the skaters who appeared in the video were in attendance at the L.A. premiere to show their support. In Montreal, nearly 100 people showed up at the Bifteck bar on Boulevard St-Laurent; It was a real success.

Matt Bublitz, a photographer and filmmaker for Thrasher magazine, shot the film on Boulevard St-Laurent. His incredible editing work captures the details and actions in every moment. The resolution and old grain used to shot this movie keeps it straight to the point; this is definitely a work of passion. Additional content from Taylor Lewis and Jason Lee was also included in the final edit.

The Brixton brigade include Brad Cromer, Yaje Popson, Kevin Coakley, Riley Boland, Jordan Taylor, Zander Mitchell, Brian Delatorre, Christian Maalouf, Taylor Bingaman, Anthony Schultz and Dolan Stearns who are to thanks for giving us a fresh perspective on skating in our humble city.

Instead of reviewing for the hundredth time the same US spots, we have an opportunity to recognize our local convenience store or that metro station you walk to every morning. This video is a small event in itself but part of a new approach that makes plenty of sense. The whole video is very street; the gang owned the city and the wonderful local spots it can offer when you know where to look for them.

You know you’ve watched a successful video, when all you want to do by the end is go skating all night long.