Bosh! First blog post of 2024 and it is a banger and a half! Towards the end of last summer a varied crew of Etnies-wearing humans hit the road for a series of demos and filming missions hitting what us Brits would refer to as Eastern Europe, (hence the title).
Starting in Prague with one hell of a Stalin Square demo, Etnies Barge the Bloc harkens back to days of yesteryear where brands actually got off their phones and went to the fans. It's a welcome shift in the zeitgeist and one that Sole Technologies (the parent company of Etnies, Emerica and e's footwear) clearly seem to be embracing with aplomb. Bravo! Things kick off with a demo at Stalin Square which, as any ledge head with their brain switched on knows, is not a place to half step. If you're going there to put on a show then you better go in, which is exactly what happens here. Huge crowds, young women fucking up scary rails and a brace of truly incredible tech lines from the hugely underrated Nassim Lachhlab. Outstanding shit. As we're on the word 'outstanding' - special mention has to go out to Sour skateboards head Josef Skott Jatta who announces himself on the Etnies team by ollieing into one of the scariest kinked hubbas littering the lower level of Prague's Letna Park. Nuts.
The varied crew then move onto Poland which appears to host some of the best spots on the planet if this is anything to go by. Incredible architecture. Put Katowice on your skate spot tourism list ASAP basically. The library there makes MACBA look like an Aldi carpark. Recent Etnies recruit Fabiana Delfino gets involved too, trading ATV skills on all and sundry alongside rubber-legged (and 'rubber gutted') team mate Jake Wooten resulting in lots of sick skating. As I've yet to mention Teen Wolf - terroriser of stairs - AKA Chris Joslin, you'd be excused for assuming he was injured or something. In fact, I've neglected to mention him yet simply because, as ever, the sheer amount of ridiculously gnarly footage this guy can produce in any context is mind-boggling. Demos? Destroyed them mate. Seemingly unclearable chasms around the back on Polish libraries? Pop shoved it mate. Runs ups through actual weddings to bigspin flips down massive double sets? Easy peasy. If you're not already a Chris Joslin fan then you need to wake up and small the Ibuprofen gel. Insane.
Basically, this is very, very sick. Go watch it now. Big shout out to Kevin Parrott!
