Blind is one of those companies who, through the years, have evolved into something different than when it started with Video Days. Gone are the days of style lines from Jason Lee, Gonz, and Guy Mariano -- kids of today know of the company from What If, The Blind Reaper, and Jake Duncombe. Not that there's anything better or worse than each era, it's just a different ballgame. But serving as a follow-up to What If?, their 2006 release, there were some high expectations from some people for this vid.
We're going to go out and just say it flat out: James Craig might have the best part in this video. After having a few less than forgiving knee injuries, James really came through in his part. From the point he casually tells a BMXer in his way at a skate park to "Watch out, buddy" mid line and immediately finishes it off with a kickflip noseblunt, you know his part is going to be sick. His noseblunt to switch back tail was a highlight for sure, and although another injury prevented him from having an "ender" ender, James still killed it. If he had one or two more bangers, he'd have best part in the video for sure.
Felipe Ortiz comes through with an interesting part -- interesting because the song sounds like it should be on TRL or something. Not totally hating on the song choice, but it was a bit of a surprise when it came on. Nonetheless, Felipe is the token rail dude on the team, and boy, does he come through. Looking like he could've probably done some of this stuff with his eyes closed, he finishes his part up with a tre flip nosegrind down a handrail -- so his song choice is pretty much forgotten.
Grant Patterson goes big and tech at the same time. He still has that gangster swagger that we've become accustomed to, but it's not out of control in this video: big stairs and drops, pretty much all landed perfectly.
As keeping with the reoccurring theme of having some of the best talent around when it comes to technical maneuvers, in walks, er, skates Danny Cerezini. We've been keeping tabs on Danny via video clips and photos, and he definitely came through with the goods here. Too many individual tricks to even remember, but it definitely had us saying "Who, that was sick!" after pretty much every trick.
In case you needed to see it again, yes, Jake Brown's fall at the X Games is in this, and yes, it's still just as harsh looking as the first 83 times. Jake is still at the forefront of vertical skating, doing ridiculous manuals (yes, manuals) into vert ramps, and tech lip tricks, and he's still pushing the limits of what can be done on a vert ramp. He fittingly shares a part with Rob Lorifice, who rips several pools and cement parks throughout the part. It's a pretty entertaining section overall.
Jake Duncombe, who a lot of you are probably waiting to see new footy of, comes through with the goods and doesn't disappoint. Skating to a fun song and wearing Hawaiian shirts and slip-ons for most of his part, you can tell he has fun on his skateboard and is probably a blast to skate with. Jake skates anything and everything and will most definitely make you want to turn your TV off and go skate after watching. Although a more "epic" part was expected, Jake is a fun dude, so this was definitely more fitting for him.
All in all, this was a solid effort from the Blind crew. No fancy editing or cartoons, this video gets straight to the point. Although the music choice is sometimes reminiscent of your dad's favorite radio station, it's no big deal -- it'll probably grow on you.