I imagine the quintessential skateboarding “Euro Trip” to be interpreted as the exact inverse of when European squads take their own voyages to the U.S. and wreak havoc on America’s most prized skate spots – it’s a form of diplomacy really. Think of it as a streets ambassador program or maybe a model U.N., on beer and lots and lots of fearless adrenaline. That’s what the American squad that makes up Welcome Skateboards offered Europe on their recent “The Eurogenous Zone” tour.
The pink obsessed skateboard company’s trip video offers 18 minutes of bad assery that hits the Netherlands, Germany, and England. The young squad of talent includes cats like Dakota Hunt, Daniel Vargas, Ryan Townley, and more. Anyone that ever had any shade or side comments to direct towards the Welcome company for their “weird-shaped” boards or peculiar aesthetics can pretty much eat those words and wash them down with a big glass regret, because these cats are the real deal. The video adeptly blends hardcore riding on all kinds of serious terrain with a light-hearted feel that just makes you want to grab a board and finance your own search and destroy skate missions.
Skateboarding is cyclical and always antagonistic by nature. That means that all rules can, should and will be broken. It also means that odd-shaped boards are nothing more than a return to the yesteryear of the culture, when pros experimented with different cuts and proportions to their wood to test skating’s boundaries. It was about trying new things, evolving, and challenging the status quo. I’m not saying that Welcome does it for sheer kicks, but there seems to be a very intriguing method to their supposed madness. Yeah, the boards and artwork may not be everyone’s cup of visual tea, but man, these dudes doing their own thing, and doing it well.
Apart from the skating and image, it’s hard to hate a full-length video packed with the funky whirling of tunes like Madonna’s “Into The Groove”, Hi-Town DJs “Ding-A-Ling”, and Echo and The Bunnymen’s “Hole In The Holy”. That playlist alone can give us a sort of sharp look into the psyche of Welcome and it’s “why so serious? Yes, we’re serious” appeal.
