the red bulletin december 2015 - za
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R30 INCL VAT (R4.20) DECEMBER 2015
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOUSkateboarding w ith the Adams famil y
NO DIG,NO RIDEBM X pioneer Way ne Reiche
A mazing images,
Incredible stories
2015BEST OF
NEED FOR
SPEEDK E A N U R E E V E S b u i l d s a b i ke
l i ke n o o t h e r
BEYOND THE ORDINARY
SOUTH AFRICA
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D E A L E R E N Q U I R I E S : 0 2 1 7 0 9 0 0 8 4 - A V A I L A B L E A T S T O C K I S T S N A T I O N W I D E
©2015 Vans Inc.
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HOW DO YOU OWN THE DANCEFLOOR?
RED BULL GIVES YOU WIIINGS.
PETE
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WELCOME In this month’s The Red Bulletin, reading really is believing as we’ve packed the mag with unexpected stories. First, Hollywood star-turned-mechanic Keanu Reeves takes us out on the motorbike he’s built from scratch, then we meet Moses and Allan Adams, the brothers who are dominating the South African street skateboarding scene. We also hang out with BMX pioneer Wayne Reiche, and follow trialbiker Tom Öhler as he goes in search of photo opportunities in Guatemala. And as we approach the end of the year, we bring you the Best of 2015, a chance to relive the most memorable and incredible moments from the past 12 months. We hope you enjoy the issue.
BEST OF 2015The year’s amazing moments,including Robbie Maddison’s ridethrough the waves of the Pacific
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“I’ve ridden abike at 217kph.
It was prettyinteresting”
KEANU REEVES, PAGE 38
THE WORLD OF RED BULL
THE RED BULLETIN 09
SKATE EXPECTATIONSFor Moses and Allan Adams,skateboarding is a family business,and these brothers are taking over
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16 BEST OF 2015 The most memorable moments from the past 12 months, captured on camera
FEATURES
38 Keanu ReevesHow the movie star and his mechanic pal created their dream bike
48 Moses and Allan AdamsOn the street with South African skateboarding’s talented siblings
58 Take 5: Tom ÖhlerThe Austrian trialbiker riding trails for charity in deepest Guatemala
64 This month’s heroesHumanitarian Kilian Kleinschmidt, BMX pioneer Wayne Reiche, rapper Little Simz and punk icon John Lydon
70 Webster HallAlmost 130 years on, this legendary NY club still draws the biggest names
ACTION!
77 SEE IT. GET IT. DO IT. The best travel, gadgets, films, music, games, wheels and events. Plus how to survive a jump from a moving car
92 LEVEL UP! The future of gaming98 MAGIC MOMENT A giant leap of faith
66DIGGING FOR GLORYWhen it comes to creating BMX trails, Cape Town rider Wayne Reiche is not afraid to get his hands dirty
92GAMING: THE NEXT LEVELSigns are that 2016 will be a great year for gamers. We give you a rundown on the tech and the titles to watch out for
STREET RACERLive out your Márquez fantasies with the Honda RC213V-S, the Spaniard’s title-winning bike retooled for the road
86
NEW YORK STATE OF MINDQ: what do Al Capone and Skrillex have in common? A: Webster Hall, an iconic venue on the NY nightclub scene
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DECEMBER 2015
10 THE RED BULLETIN
CONTRIBUTORS INSIDE THIS ISSUENOVEMBER 2015
WHO’S ON BOARD
AMI KAPILEVICH“Occasionally you meet people who are driven by something special,” says the Cape Town-based writer. “They are the ones who truly inspire. Wayne Reiche is one of those.” Read about the BMX provocateur on page 66.
TOM EASTEast has been a games writer for 17 years, working for magazines such as GamesMaster and Official Nintendo Magazine before becoming games and eSports editor at redbull.com. Read his 2016 gaming guide on page 92.
When he’s not driving around looking for waves or cruising the Cape Peninsula on his motorbike, Dylan Muhlenberg, who wrote about the skateboarding Adams family for The Red Bulletin (page 48), is editor of The Way of Us, Superbalist’s new online content offering. Working in an office with a bunch of ‘90s babies can be difficult, but not as difficult as trying to interview someone who won’t speak. “My persistence paid off though,” says Muhlenberg, “and after spending an entire day driving around with Allan Adams from spot to spot, he eventually opened up enough where he commented on the weather twice, coughed a bunch more times and even answered some of my questions.”
Writer Dylan Muhlenberg (centre) with Allan (left) and Moses Adams
Hanging out with the Adams family
The Red Bulletin is available in 10 countries. This is the cover of this month’s Swiss edition, featuring fireman, pilot and chef René Schudel.
Read more: redbulletin.com
THE RED BULLETIN AROUND THE WORLD
IN FOCUSBEHIND THE LENS
Reeves proved this to be true during a complicated one-day photo shoot – two locations hours away from each other, repeated costume changes – as he collaborated with lensman Peter Yang (above) to get the best shot. See the results on page 38.
Easy rider: Reeves on his own motorcycle at an abandoned US military base
Keanu Reeves is known as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood
12 THE RED BULLETIN
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SHE’S BACK!Alpine Skiing World Championships, Beaver CreekFebruary 3, 2015: Lindsey Vonn raises her arms with joy as she crosses the finish line in Beaver Creek. But her celebration was about more than winning bronze in the Super-G – this was a personal triumph after the hardest comeback of her career. Two years after suffering serious injury in Schladming, the queen of skiing racked up a season record of eight wins and a new world record for the greatest number of victories (67) in the women’s World Cup.
The biggest hits. The best events. The greatest photos
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RIDING THE WAVEPipe Dream, Tahiti It has to be the stunt of the year: Robbie Maddison surfing the monster waves of the Pacific… on his dirt bike. The video became a worldwide hit in August. “I’d never had such a strong sense that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Maddo, after being swallowed up by the ocean several times. “I really did think that this might be the end of my life.”robbiemaddison.com
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AIRSHOWRed Bull BC One Taiwan Cypher, Taipei Chen Chen is getting closer to his dream of learning to fly. Here, it looks as if he’s about to soar over the crowd, and during one dance move, the Taiwanese B-Boy hovered horizontally above the ground before landing safely. Red Bull BC One Taiwan Cypher saw some of Asia’s best breakdancers battle it out one-on-one. Tune in to watch the World Final live from Rome later this month.Red Bull BC One World Final, November 14, Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome. Live from 9.15pm (CET) on Red Bull TV and redbullbcone.com
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WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKEIIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, Prague
In ice hockey, when gloves and sticks are strewn about, it often means fists are flying. But this shot tells a very different story. It shows the rink at the O2 Arena in
Prague on May 17, just minutes after the World Championship final between Canada and Russia, and this is the aftermath of Team Canada’s victory celebrations.
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FOOTBALL SUPERMANEspanyol vs Barcelona, La LigaThis year marked a high point in the career of footballer Neymar. Having clearly put the disaster of the 2014 World Cup behind him, the Brazilian and his team, Barcelona, managed a league and cup double in Spain, as well as winning the Champions League.
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CLOUD NINERed Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Copenhagen
Gary Hunt is a phenomenon. On June 20, the Englishman won the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series for the fifth time with this dive from the roof of the Copenhagen Opera House. This was his fourth win in as many competitions.
If you can take a shot like this, apply to Red Bull Illume 2016.redbullillume.com
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RAIN OF JOYSuper Bowl XLIX, Glendale, Arizona
On February 1, the New England Patriots won the NFL Super Bowl for the first time in 10 years. Here, Patriots defender Chandler Jones enjoys the
confetti shower after beating previous title-holders the Seattle Seahawks.
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NIAGARA, NO FALLSFirst ascent of the frozen falls, US/Canada border
In January, Canadian Will Gadd became the first ice-climber to scale Niagara’s frozen Horseshoe Falls. Armed only with crampons and an ice pick, Gadd
conquered the 45m-high wall of ice, which varied in thickness from 3m in some places to just 3cm in others. More than 150 tonnes of freezing water
gushed past Gadd’s shoulders at 100kph, and he was hypothermic by the time he reached the top. He still managed a smile at his supersized feat, though.
redbull.com/en/adventure/stories
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FASTER BY A HEADMen’s 100m final, IAAF World Championships, BeijingThe man out in front is Usain Bolt – who else? Vilified by some in the press for a supposed loss of form, the fastest man of all time proved with this run on August 23 that they needn’t have worried. The Jamaican won World Championship gold with a time of 9.79 seconds.
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WATCH THE BEST OF THE 2015/2016 FOOTBALL SEASON LIVE IN HD ON SUPERSPORT
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1. TAHITIJune, French edition World championship hopeful Michel Bourez explains why jiu- jitsu makes him a better surfer.
2. ANTARCTICAJanuary, US edition Photographer Tero Repo takes snowboarders to Antarctica and brings us these amazing, exclusive photos of them riding icebergs.
3. ZERMATT May, Swiss edition We accompany Air Zermatt, the world’s top mountain rescue team, on life-and-death missions.
4. LOS ANGELES April, Mexican edition Three years after Awolnation’s single Sail went platinum, frontman Aaron Bruno gives his first interview on the subject of new album Run.
5. CALIFORNIASeptember, South African editionWe present an action-packed portrait of the rodeo clowns – men who
may look ridiculous but are, in fact, true heroes.
6. SICILY March, German edition A journey through time: Formula One star Daniel Ricciardo in a 1972 Alfa Romeo T33, retracing the Targa Florio’s tyre marks.
7. ALASKA February, UK edition In deepest Alaska, there are rock
AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE RED BULLETINFrom sub-zero antics in Antarctica to top-secret missions in the heat of the Philippines jungle, from the world’s highest mountains to the vast expanses of its deserts, The Red Bulletin travels to remote locations to interview the fearless people going further and faster than anyone else
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faces that no one had ever skied. Until Jon DeVore came flying in…
8. THE PHILIPPINES July, New Zealand edition Pete Bethune pursues animal smugglers in the jungle and on the high seas. The Red Bulletin tailed him.
9. LAS VEGAS August, Brazilian editionSwallowing dust and guzzling sand: a report from the legendary Mint 400 desert off-road race.
10. LOS ANGELES October, Austrian edition We put Everest star Jason Clarke in an 860hp truck and discuss the merits of fame versus adventure.
11. MADAGASCAR November, South Korean editionPhotographer Alan van Gysen goes to Madagascar with a group of top surfers to seek out undiscovered surfing spots.
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1. Kiteboarder Brandon Scheid relies on turtle power. 2. Freestyle kayaker Dane Jackson invents the paddle tripod. 3. NFL star Reggie Bush dreams of stadium terra firma underfoot
4. Kayaker Rafa Ortiz fights the effluent from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. 5. Biker Andi Tillmann shoots from the hip. 6. Surfer Chuck Patter son is the king of the world
HERO SELFIESSome of our favourite sports stars sent us their selfies. They’re more spectacular than Kim Kardashian’s backside and more action-packed than the latest James Bond movieFor more sports-star selfies, go to redbull.com
36 THE RED BULLETIN
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T H I S I S N O TA K E - O F F IT’S A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME LANDING
„ I T ‘ S T H E T H R I L L O F T H E C H A S E . “
BEYOND THE ORDINARY
SOUTH AFRICA
R30 INCL VAT (R4.20) DECEMBER 2015
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOUSkateboarding w ith the Adams famil y
NO DIG,NO RIDEBM X pioneer Way ne Reiche
A mazing images,
incredible stories
2015BEST OF
NEED FOR
SPEEDK E A N U R E E V E S b u i l d s a b i ke
l i ke n o o t h e r
Words: ANN DONAHUEPhotography:PETER YANG
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K E A N U R E E V ES WA N T E D A C U STO M M OTO R CYC L E . G A R D H O L L I N G E R WAS A B I K E B U I L D E R LO O K I N G FO R A R E VO LU T I O N A RY P R OJ ECT. I T TO O K 1 0 Y E A RS O F PA I N STA K I N G C O L L A B O R AT I O N TO R E L E AS E A ST E E L A N D CA R B O N - F I B R E B U L L E T TO T H E P U B L I C
A N G E LSA R C H
Yo u h e a r it co m i n g , a t h r o at y r u m b l e i n t h e d i st a n ce t h a t r eve r b e rate s a g a i n st th e r u n d o w n wa r e h o u s e s l i n i n g t h e st r e et . I t ’s a m oto r cyc l e i n t h e key of b a d a ss, a g r o w l
t h at i s b ot h i m p r e ss i ve i n i ts ow n r i g ht a n d b e ca u se i t r eve a l s t h at t h e r i d e r r e a l l y d o e s n’t ca r e a b o u t h o w s e n s it i ve yo u r ca r a l a r m i s. D r e ss e d a l l i n b l a c k , h e ste e rs of f t h e st r e et a n d m a n o e u v res t h e b i ke t h r o u g h o p e n d o u b l e d o o rs i n to t h e l o b b y of a b u i l d i n g .
To be fair, it’s a building he owns, so he’s well within his rights to ride a bike past the reception desk any time he wants to. It’s a movie star-style entrance, and it all makes perfect sense when Keanu Reeves takes off his helmet and cheerfully says, “Ciao!”
The motorcycle Reeves, 51, is riding is a KRGT-1 made by Arch Motorcycle Company. It’s his own bike – and not in the “he bought it” sense, but in the “he built it” sense. He’s the co-founder of Arch with veteran motorcycle customiser Gard Hollinger, and the two have just started selling the bike to the public.
In a world oversaturated with celebrity branding – oh look, here’s another movie star vouching for another wallet-emptying product – the cynical impulse is to doubt the sincerity of the enterprise. But the reality is surprisingly, almost jarringly, authentic. Reeves is a motorcycle obsessive, and it’s the type of love that is familiar to anyone who on the outside is going through the banal motions of functional adulthood, but on the inside is actually daydreaming about getting back to what gives them joy.
Arch is the culmination of a fascination with motorcycles that started in Reeves’ childhood – and really took off when he was in his 20s. “When I was 22, I was filming in Munich at this place called Bavariafilmplatz,” he says. “This young girl had a Kawasaki Enduro and I asked her if she would show me how to ride a bike. I rode it around the lot, and when I got back to Los Angeles I got an Enduro.”
Work in progress: Keanu Reeves
looks over a KRGT-1 that’s
almost ready for delivery. Orders
are processed individually and
each bike costs $78,000
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F O R D ECA D E S, M O T O R CYC L E S H AV E B E E N K E A N U R E E V E S ’ O B S E S S I O N A N D R E S P I T E . I T WA S T I M E T O B U I L D H I S OW N
Above: Reeves’ business partner, Gard Hollinger, is
poised for takeoff on a runway at the
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California. Right: A stripped-
down KRGT-1
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“THE BIKE WANTED TO BE IN THIS WORLD. I FEEL VERY LUCKY TO BE SITTING ON IT”
Since then, Reeves’ interest has avalanched: when Reeves isn’t filming, he’s riding. He’s taken motorcycle trips with friends through Big Sur in California, through Northern Australia and along the Route Napoleon in France. When Reeves travels away from Los Angeles to shoot a film, he buys a used motorcycle to ride to the set. When the film is finished, he sells the motorcycle. (Well, sometimes he sells it. “I’ve had four or five bikes from that – well, maybe six or seven,” he says. When pressed – only six or seven? Not eight or nine? – he demurs. “No, no, no it’s not like that. Well, yes it is.”)
“When I did a picture called My Own Private Idaho, I asked director Gus Van Sant, ‘So, what bike am I riding?’” Reeves recalls. “And he pulled up a ’71 Norton Commando that was canary yellow. The props guy said ‘Do you know how to…?’ and I was like: ‘I’m good, man. I got this. This actually is home.’”
While founding Arch wouldn’t be a financial risk to Reeves – his movies have grossed almost $2 billion in total during his career – there was always the risk that his passion could become a total grinding drag when it became a business. Those daydreams of dedicating a major part of your life to your hobby
rarely include nuts and bolts visions of the scalability of manufactured parts and safety regulations. The what ifs are endless – and yes, even movie stars can have doubts – what if the bike is pretty, but is terrible to ride? What if it’s great on the road, but looks like a tank? Worse still, what if the bike just doesn’t work and the project goes in the dustbin that’s already full of toys created by celebrity dilettantes?
‘The reality is that you have to be willing to fail a lot to succeed,” says Hollinger. “You just have to keep going and keep going and keep going.”
When all was said and done, it took almost 10 years for the KRGT-1 to go from concept to sale, a decade of back-and-forth between two perfectionist bike enthusiasts. The bike is all about the thrill of riding, but it’s also an emblem of the resilience required during collaborative work.
“When I’ve been riding it, I’ve had a couple of people yell, ‘That is the most amazing motorcycle I’ve ever seen!’ which is fun,” says Reeves. “There was something about it that – and this is my expression – that the bike wanted to be in the world. I feel very lucky to be sitting on this machine.”
T H E R E D B U L L E T I N : How did you guys meet?K E A N U R E E V ES: I had a 2005 Harley Dyna Wide Glide and I was looking to customise it. I’d done some brochure customising, so that was rookie mistake 101, and then I went to rookie mistake 102, which was when I was introduced to Gard I asked him for a sissy bar [a passenger backrest], and he said, “I don’t do that.” And then I said, “What do you do?” and he graciously showed me around his shop. Maybe a little reluctantly?G A R D H O L L I N G E R : I’ll just let him tell the story. He always makes it sound like I interrogated him.R E E V ES: You did. You were a salty dog, man. A salty motorcycle veteran. Gard has a company called LA County Choprods and he’d been customising motorcycles for more than 20 years.H O L L I N G E R : It was one of those things that once you decide you’re going to do it your way, you are going to do it your way even if you starve. I said no to a lot of work. It wasn’t even personal. Of course, when Keanu had an appreciation of that, it was…R E E V ES A N D H O L L I N G E R , S I M U LTA N EO U S LY: What do you want to do?R E E V ES: Originally, I said I wanted a bike to go on trips, that could handle well, that had a V-Twin engine and would have saddlebags. And he looked at me again like [shakes his head sadly] and then there was a little more interrogation. H O L L I N G E R : I put in a lot of effort to get to what he originally asked for, but we’d get to these points where the connection
Test Rider No 1: the feedback given
by Keanu Reeves goes directly into the development
of the bike
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between the function and the form wasn’t happening. He was always great about saying: “No, don’t change the form! We’ll change the function a bit.”How long did the back and forth take?R E E V ES : The prototype started to get built in 2007. Once it arrived, we both rode it and thought it was pretty special. The way the ergonomics, the handling worked, I’d never ridden a bike like that. H O L L I N G E R : And then I did the typical Hollinger thing.R E E V ES : Which one?H O L L I N G E R : Where I go, “Let’s just finish this one bike. We can talk about making more later, maybe.”R E E V ES : That’s the thing. It’s a shared passion with a push-pull of process. Gard does all the building and making a dream a reality, so it’s easy for me to say, “Here’s a dream!” H O L L I N G E R : It’s a challenge to make a production motorcycle, but that’s part of the attraction. There are so many more considerations and restraints than building a one-off. Safety things: where do you position the lights? All of that is way more challenging than building one work of art.It’s like that Maserati joke, it’s beautiful to drive to your mechanic’s garage.H O L L I N G E R : We wanted that same feeling, but have it be reliable. R E E V ES : We wanted to offer something unique, not only aesthetically, but also about the pleasure of riding.And as Test Rider No 1, what was your feedback?R E E V ES : I’m Test Rider No 2. Gard is Test Rider No.1.H O L L I N G E R : Truth be told, he rides it more.R E E V ES : It’s a way I can participate. I’m not a mechanic, I don’t have any engineering experience. I have a little bit of seat time, so I can talk about that, how the bike feels. I gave some feedback on the seat. The first time I said: “I think the bike should have signals.” I don’t think Gard had ever built a bike with signals. H O L L I N G E R : He’s being modest. He always has a lot of feedback. I think he has to temper his wishlist a bit, because he doesn’t want to overwhelm me. His thoughtfulness and passion for riding was a huge part to what caused me to commit to do the project. I’ve ridden my whole life, and when we talked about the riding experience, I was struck and impressed by how in tune he was. Man, all the years I’ve been riding, I’ve been taking it for granted.
The price tag for the bike packs a punch at $78,000, but the reviews from the automotive press have been very positive. How does that make you feel?R E E V ES: It’s part of the reason to do it. It’s what you hope for, what you aim for. It’s not like any other motorcycle. You’re on a sweeping turn, at an extreme lean angle and you’re comfortable – there’s no machine like that bike that does that. Between the two of you, you have more than half a century of riding experience. What’s going through your mind when you’re going fast?R E E V ES: I’ve only gone over 200kph a couple of times. I had a Suzuki GSX-R750, so that touched that a few times. I did it on a two-lane New York state highway. I did 217kph. It was pretty interesting.Were you scared or was it exhilarating?R E E V ES: For me, those two go together. H O L L I N G E R : You know when you get scared because that’s when you back off. I think fast is relative. Fast for the conditions can be 65-80kph, and you can feel like you’re near the edge.Is riding a respite for you from the Hollywood lifestyle?R E E V ES: For me, it’s integrated into how you live your day. When I get on the bike, it’s a place to think. [To Hollinger] I mean, you probably do that. You just ride and think. Or not?H O L L I N G E R : I feel that was something Keanu gave back to me. It had just become kind of rote for me. You know, if you’re a cobbler, the last thing you want to see is a pair of shoes. That was nice to get back. Now if I don’t have to drive a car, I won’t.What’s been the best motorcycle ride you’ve taken?H O L L I N G E R : The next one.R E E V ES: If it’s Arch connected, it was when we were in Austin, Texas, for Formula One – it was the first time Gard and I had gone out on the bikes. I kept asking people ‘Where can we ride?’ Someone said Marble Falls [north-west of the city], and we found ourselves on these two-lane roads going 160kph. I was laughing in my helmet because they were so perfect for the bike. It was cool to be taking a ride with Gard after so many years of developing the bike. It was the birth. We were bringing it out into the world and doing what we’d hoped to do, which was going for a ride on this amazing machine.archmotorcycle.com
Main picture: according to Reeves, the KRGT-1 is unlike any other motorcycle. Inset: the dream team of Reeves and Hollinger
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M O SE S A DA M S IS A RGUA B LY T H E B E S T S T R EE T SK AT ER IN SOU T H A F R ICA . N OW H E ’S H EL PIN G
YOU NG ER B ROT H ER A L L A N B ECOM E E V EN B E T T ER . TH E R ED B U LLETI N ROL L S W I T H T H E A DA M S FA M ILY
W o r d s : D y l a n M u h l e n b e r gP h o t o g r a p h y : T y r o n e B r a d l e y
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BIG BROTHER
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oses and Allan Adams are playing rock-paper-scissors. They’re deciding who will go first in a game of SKATE, where one skater performs a trick and the other has to land the same move. If the second skater fails to pull it off, he’s given a letter, starting with S. If the first skater fails to land his trick, but the second guy does, the order reverses. The game continues until one of them has missed five tricks, spelling out the word ‘SKATE’.
Switch heelflip. 360 heelflip. Frontside 50-50. Old school no comply. Nollie back 180 late kickflip. It takes half an hour before the game is over.
It’s pretty amazing to watch, and it makes The Red Bulletin wonder which trick they’re least consistent at.
Moses looks at younger brother Allan and says, “You.”
Allan gazes down at his Adidas sneakers and replies, “Me?”
Moses: “Yes, you!”“Back heel,” mumbles Allan.“No, man,” says Moses. “He said,
‘Least consistent.’”Allan shrugs his shoulders. “See,” says Moses. “He’s got
everything.”The Adams brothers haven’t read
any manuals on sibling rivalry, but each instinctively knows that selfishness won’t help him become great, whether he’s teaching the best or learning how to be the best himself. Collaboration, on the other hand…
Moses’s real name is Gavin, but the nickname stuck after his older brother’s friends christened him when he was 10.
“My brother Gary worked at Boogaloos Skate Park, and his friends there named me Moses because of how I was
M oses (lef t): “ I ’ M S TOK ED
F OR A L L A N. H IS SUCCE S SE S
A R E M IN E, TOO”
progressing,” he says. “I’d get their crusty old boards – no nose or whatever – when they were done with them. By watching and skating with them, I learned new tricks and began doing stuff I didn’t even know the names of.”
Back then, Moses was so shy that he’d skate behind the ramps instead of using the park. Having grown into himself, he’s now a fairly gregarious guy and it’s Allan who is the quiet one. Moses reckons it’s just a phase. “When I started skating, I was mute,” he laughs.
Justus Kotze, who skated on the same team as Moses back in the day, confirms this: “He was super-quiet. Kept to himself. He just didn’t have much to say. But when Moses started skating, you’d quickly see that he didn’t really need to say anything. He’d get to a spot and just kill it.”
After skating the Civic Centre in the Cape Town CBD, we meet for lunch at Clarke’s, where Moses rattles off stories about skating with Lil’ Wayne and Justin Bieber during a visit to the US. A dude with dreadlocks comes over and requests a photo with Moses. Skulking close by, looking sheepish, is a waitress who Moses says he denied at the last Pit Party after she made a lunge at him. Allan, meanwhile, has his face in his phone.
It’s easy to tell Moses and Allan are brothers: same low centre of gravity, same tight curls tucked under caps, same patchy facial hair. But that’s where it ends. Moses shows up for our shoot with a wheelie bag full of clothing and box-fresh shoes; Allan has only what he’s wearing. When Moses warms up with a mix of Pilates and yoga moves, Allan stands with hands shoved petulantly into his pockets, toeing his board.
“It’s important to stay fit,” says Moses.
50 THE RED BULLETIN
THE RED BULLETIN 51
M oses: “ PEOPL E SAY T H AT T H E Y CA N S EE W E ’ R E B RO T H ER S W H EN W E SK AT E. B U T I AC T UA L LY T H I N K A L L A N IS B E T T ER T H A N M E ”
52 THE RED BULLETIN
After popping a few ollies next to the rail to check his height, Moses fails a few times before nailing a smooth smith grind. The small crowd that has gathered hoots and claps, and Allan and Justus tap their skateboards appreciatively on the tarmac.
“I wish I could pop like that,” murmurs Allan.
“Don’t be lui,” says Moses. “Come, Allan. Work those legs.”
Allan takes his wallet and cellphone out of his pockets and stashes them, along with his hoodie, in some bushes. He listens to his brother’s rapid-fire instructions and says something to Moses.
“Don’t worry about your ankle,” replies Moses. “I’m not worried about your ankle.”
Like a good student, Allan attempts the rail until he falls, chips the nose of his board and then throws it to the ground in frustration.
“You angry now?” asks Moses. It comes out like a statement.
“Yes,” answers Allan.“Why? You didn’t pay for that board.
If you paid for it, you could get angry. Go try again.”
Without as much as rolling his eyes, sucking his teeth or clicking his tongue, Allan returns to the rail and gives it a few more shots.
“Growing up, Allan had these shoes that were bigger than him,” says Moses, “but he was just like, ‘I don’t care! I want to skate!’ He would put in other insoles and take my old boards, and he progressed so quick. Allan was lucky like that. I looked up to Gary, but I had nothing: no boards, no hardware. So the times I couldn’t skate, I’d rollerblade or ride a bike or play soccer.”
It’s clear that Allan has great respect for Moses and understands that what he says comes from a good place. But doesn’t it ever get to him, skating in the shadow of a famous older brother? Don’t the two of them ever bash heads?
Moses answers. “Me and him? We’ve
“I wake up early. Eat my muesli and yoghurt. Do my push-ups every day. Do a bit of boxing training. Run my dog. Otherwise you’re going to get injured.”
The Red Bulletin: And what about you, Allan? Do you have the same approach?
Allan: [Silence.] The Red Bulletin: Would you consider
yourself an athlete?Allan: [More silence.]So, what are your goals? [Silence
again.] Do you enjoy competing? [More silence.] Why do you skate?
“I want to show people what I can do,” Allan finally whispers, without making eye contact. “I want to blow minds.”
We make plans to meet up at a handrail in Claremont. The Red Bulletin insists on riding with Allan
in the hope that the 18-year-old will eventually open up. Allan coughs seven times and comments on the weather twice.
“I bring them to big-boy spots,” says Justus. “Put your jump legs on, boys.”
Moses always has one white earphone in his ear – “rap music” is all he’ll divulge.
Allan displays the skills that helped him take third place in the South African Street Skateboarding category at this year’s Kimberley Diamond Cup. He enjoyed even greater success as a member of Team AKAM, who came top in the Rider Cup Championships
THE RED BULLETIN 53
never fought. Me and my older brother? Yes! Every time I got a new package, he got itchy fingers. I fly-kicked him once after he threw Allan with a bucket of water. Allan had his new gear on and we were supposed to go shoot. I was at the back, cleaning my dog’s yard, and I actually jumped over my mom and fly-kicked Gary in the neck. When he fell, he scorpioned. You know, when you bail like that and your legs come up? I told him what he did was wrong. Yoh, my dog came and stood in front of me, like, ‘Grrrr…’ Gary actually started crying.”
Allan laughs at the memory. “It’s true!”
We move on to a block of flats in Muizenberg that’s all facebrick and sub-letting. Moses changes his
shoes and shirt, popping tags, and tells Allan to test the stairs with an ollie. But Allan waits for his brother to go first, after which he pops a heelflip down the stairs with ease. A man leans out of his window and says that we need to pay him to skate here.
“Do you own this whole block?” asks Moses.
The guy answers in the affirmative. “No, you just gave it away,” scoffs
Moses. “You wouldn’t be living here if you did. Allan, ignore this ou. We’ll go when you land your trick.”
The Red Bulletin: Your brother really supports you, huh?
Allan mumbles. The Red Bulletin: And you really hate
this interview thing…Allan’s eyes light up more than his face
does. “To be honest, yes, I hate it,” he admits. “I’d rather do something than just talk about it. I just want to skate.”
Allan sticks his trick. It has so many subtle nuances, changes of direction, flips and rotations that it’s hard to identify, but judging by the reaction from Justus, Moses and the ragtag crew of locals who have gathered to watch, it’s pretty dope.
“People say that they can see we’re
A lla n (lef t):“ I T H EL P S H AV ING MOSE S H ER E. H E A M P S M E U P. M A K E S M E WA N T TO K EEP O N GOING”
54 THE RED BULLETIN
Moses and Allan are a formidable duo in the
skateboarding world. At this year’s Red Bull
Unlocked in Cape Town, the brothers stood side by side on the winners’
podium after Moses took his third successive title
and Allan was second
THE RED BULLETIN 55
brothers when we skate,” says Moses. “But I actually think he’s better than me. He’s six years younger and has progressed faster. I wasn’t this good when I was his age. I always knew that Allan was going to be better than me. I’m stoked for him. His successes are mine, too.”
“The brothers are very close, and the competitive aspect will always be there,” says Riaan van Biljoen, who heads up the National Skateboarding Association. “We’ve seen this before with the Wiehahn brothers [Christi and Inus]. While they push each other to progress, there’s an awesome amount of support for one another. Allan has a real opportunity with a brother like Moses. He’ll push Allan’s skating in the right direction and make him a success.”
This becomes apparent at the next spot, an abandoned tennis court in Kalk Bay that sits right on the water. There’s a little white gate with a sign that says ‘Private Property’ but it opens easily. What’s not so easy is Allan’s next trick: he has to skate across the road, ollie onto the pavement, and then, one second later, launch himself off the stairs and into a kickflip, dropping about 2m to the concrete below.
Push, ollie, kickflip, fly, fall… and so the afternoon goes, watching Allan do this, then pick himself up off the ground, dust himself off and walk gingerly back up the stairs. His limp is becoming more pronounced, his shirt and pants are covered in dirt and dust. The palm of his hand is bleeding.
“Come on, Allan,” shouts Moses. “Show it!”
Allan lands and rides 30cm before
a wheel digs into the dirt and he’s catapulted off his board. He spends a few seconds on the ground, then pulls himself together and tries again.
Moses keeps cheering on his brother as Allan throws himself down the stairs. “Next one, Allan! Who wants a bet? A hundred bucks. Come, people, gimme your money!”
When Allan finally lands his trick, even the old folks in the guesthouse across the road clap and cheer. Justus yanks Allan off his board and swings him around in an exuberant embrace. Moses and Allan share a look and the younger brother’s face splits into a huge smile.
“I wasn’t going to stop until I’d landed it,” Allan says later, of his own accord. “Those others didn’t count. You need to ride away properly. It helps having Moses here. He amps me up. Makes me want to keep on going. Thank God I got it… finally.”
Allan doesn’t skate the last spot and is happy to sit on a step and watch cellphone footage of his trick over and over again. Moses tells The Red Bulletin that he’s proud of his brother, then turns to Allan. He stares at his face and then uses his eyes to indicate Allan’s ankle.
Allan shakes his head and ruefully rubs his Achilles tendon.
“Ice bucket,” says Moses. Allan nods. Moses pushes off to do some wall
rides with Justus. Allan, carrying his board and still replaying the trick, walks softly on behind them.Watch the Adams brothers’ skateboardingroad-trip around South Africa:redbull.co.za/grassrootstour
Moses does a 360 flip over the Muizenberg railway line while Allan looks on. Allan’s in his element when he’s watching, learning and practising. “To be honest, I’d rather do something than just talk about it,” says Allan. “I just want to skate”
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TAKE 5: A STORY IN FIVE PICTURES
W O R D S : A R E K P I A T E K P H O T O G R A P H Y : S T E F A N V O I T L
T O M Ö H L E R E X P L O R E S T H E H I G H L A N D S O F G UAT E M A L A O N H I S B I K E – F O R T H E A M A Z I N G P H O T O O P S A N D F O R A GOO D CAU S E
RIDERS FOR LIFE
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1ON THE TR AILFor Tom Öhler, charity means heading off on two wheels to deepest Guatemala to take action photos, which are then sold to buy bikes for the local schoolchildren. “It helps poor kids go to school,” says the Austrian trialbiking legend. “That’s what spurred us on. We even rode some of the trails for the first time. The adventure began on the Volcán de Agua, where an American had recently put down an MTB trail. The new route was tricky: soft, dusty and, in places, full of foliage that hid the holes.”
2CUCHUMATANES“This is a mountain range in the heart of Guatemala. For three days, we rode through forests and over cliffs, plateaus and hidden trails only used by farmers and their mules. Some of the paths were so well-trodden, they were great for really bombing it and jumping on.”
3ANTIGUA“This small town in the
highlands of Guatemala was our base. Pictured
is a camioneta de pollos [or ‘chicken bus’], the
standard way of getting around. The name comes from when farmers used to take their chickens to
market on the roof of the bus. A trip costs about 20
cents. That might sound like nothing, but many locals can’t afford it.”
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4CABINAS“Riding down undeveloped routes took a lot of energy and we were lucky with the tyres. We spent the night in the standard minimalist accommodation here, known as cabinas: a large room with simple beds and blankets that can accommodate up to 20 people. There was no heating, no running water and sometimes no electricity. Candles and headlamps came in handy – at least it meant we could work out how far we’d climbed.”
THE LAND OF TREES
“Guatemala’s amazing landscape reminded me a bit of Scotland
and made up for all our trials and tribulations. Most of the time, we
were about 3,000m above sea level, but, oddly, trees still grow here. Perhaps that’s why the Mayans named the area Cuauhtemallan
(‘place of many trees’). This picture was taken in the most
perfect sunlight. I was doing a tightrope stunt, balancing on a
tree that had grown out of the ground horizontally. The tree kept
bobbing up and down, so getting the photo took a few attempts.”
For more information, visit:wheelsforlife.org
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camp in the evening to go back to the hotel, but I stayed behind. I wanted to find out exactly where the violence was coming from. So I walked about the camp and asked around until I discovered who the ringleaders were. That doesn’t sound like a very academic approach.Most aid workers prepare meticulously for their deployments, but I never read reports. They prejudice you. I always want to get my information first-hand, and the best way to do that is through chit-chat.
But you still had to find your bearings in Zaatari among 100,000 strangers. How do you get to grips with such a complex situation?You have to create little islands of trust amid the chaos. After three days, I was brought before a man named Abu Hussein. He told me his men controlled the camp and that he’d already thought about having me beaten up. But we continued talking through the night. After that,
Sudan, Yugoslavia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia… German- born humanitarian expert Kilian Kleinschmidt has been organising
care for refugees in the world’s most conflict-affected zones for more than 20 years. In his role as camp leader for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he has brought Google managers into tent cities and negotiated with Pakistani rebels over the fate of hostages. Kleinschmidt’s motto is that you can learn something from everyone.
the red bulletin: In 2013, the UN sent you to Zaatari in Jordan to set up a camp for Syrian refugees – the second largest refugee camp in the world. More than 100,000 people lived in Zaatari at the time, and whole streets were controlled by the local mafia. Violent demonstrations were a regular occurrence. What was the first thing you did when you arrived?kilian kleinschmidt: I went for a walk on my own. Most of the staff left the
we met on a regular basis. I got to know more and more people living in the camp and sought their input. The refugees wanted their individuality back, so we began to run Zaatari like a city. We brought in cashless payments. A traffic expert from Amsterdam helped us with street planning. And the demonstrations died down. Speaking to the mafia boss was the first step towards making that happen.You’ve worked in the some of the world’s most conflict-hit zones for more than 20 years. Is there a general rule for solving problems? Forget about those perfect plans. Most people spend too
much time thinking about solutions because they’re afraid of mistakes. They form working groups, but valuable time is being wasted in the meantime. We have to accept that the imperfect can also be a solution and make quick decisions. You can learn from flawed solutions. No one benefits when a bad status quo is allowed to drag on.Two years ago, you set up an agency that connects poor people and war victims
with start-ups and computer experts. Isn’t that rather an unusual combination?My approach is that I can create synergies with anyone in the world. I learnt that in Zaatari. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, can provide help, but so can a Jordanian postman – the former because he has the power, the latter because he has the contacts. If you use all sorts of people’s know-how to solve problems, you achieve amazing results.Is there an example that has particularly touched you?There was a guy in Zaatari who had had both of his eyes shot out by a sniper. So we asked our specialists for advice. A nerd from the
US sent the design details for an ultrasonic echolocation device with haptic feedback. The wearer straps the device onto their fist and it helps them judge distance using vibrations – a bit like the parking sensors on a car. We printed one on a 3D printer for €25. The blind man has been able to move independently ever since.Andreas Rottenschlager
KILIAN KLEINSCHMIDT The humanitarian expert has organised refugee camps and improved the lives of war victims. For this man, no problem is too big
“FORGET THOSE PERFECT PLANS”
“YOU CAN CREATE SYNERGIES WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD. IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT’S JOHN KERRY OR A JORDANIAN POSTMAN”
Humanitarian expert Kilian Kleinschmidt,
53: “You have to create little islands of trust amid the chaos”
instagram.com/waynegtl
As his hands grew more calloused and his jumps got higher, other riders would stop to watch. Pretty soon, Reiche was being inducted into the Cape Town BMX scene. Stalwarts such as Garth Carnell and Johan Coetzee lent him grainy VHS copies of classic BMX movies and introduced him to the core group: Nigel Morta, Francois April and Buddy Chellan.
Morta and April were responsible for building Cape Town’s longest-standing spot – Camo’s – by hand. When Reiche saw what they had
built and watched them busting huge moves at Camo’s, he knew he had found his calling.
By now, Reiche’s spot – Gum Trails, named after the gum trees overhead and also the gumboots that someone had left there – was evolving. Rhythm sections and larger ramps took shape. As strangers arrived to play at Reiche’s spot, a sense of proprietorship grew within him: after all, his sweat was
When Wayne Reiche and his family moved to Cape Town, they settled close to Majik Forest,
a popular mountain biking location near the vineyards of Durbanville. One day, in a field next to his house, Reiche came across another rider, who was using a lump of grass to launch himself into the air. It looked like fun, so he introduced himself to the rider, Gerhard Hoffman.
The pair became friends and would meet and ride trails, but they always returned to the jump, pushing each other to go higher. But then they reached the point where they needed a better bike – and a bigger dirt mound. The bike was easy: they clubbed together to buy a Patterson. But you won’t find dirt mounds on Gumtree. So Reiche picked up a spade.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” says Reiche. “I just started digging holes. I felt a need to progress, although I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time.”
Reiche soon discovered he wasn’t alone on this journey.
practically a binding agent in the soil there.
“There comes a point where too much advantage starts to get taken,” says Reiche. “So you get saltier. You learn to tell people straight. Anyone involved with digging will know what I mean. You’re there from sunrise to sunset, digging constantly. You know how much work it takes. But you will always get guys who haven’t picked up a spade in their lives taking advantage.”
With lots of improvement comes lots of crashing: knock-outs; short-term memory loss; smashed ankles; fractures of the wrist, coccyx, thumb, big toe, tibia and fibula; severed ligaments; pins, plates and
knee surgery; and bleeding on the brain that affected his balance for two months.
“You’re going to fall. You’re not going to get better without falling. It’s up to you how far you want to take it. You can crash and get hurt and realise this isn’t for you, or you could get hurt and be out for a couple of months, but your desire gets even bigger. Pain is temporary, and it allows you to develop a higher threshold. These days, a pedal slap on
the shin doesn’t keep me out for as long as it used to.”
Reiche’s philosophy is simple: you get out what you put in. Riding a bike is a perfect metaphor – in order to move forward, you need to pedal. The harder you pedal, the faster you go. The same applies to digging: the more hours you put in, the better the ramp will become, the longer it will last, the safer it will be, and the more confident you’ll feel about pushing yourself to improve.
“Building is about putting in the time and the sweat, but I feel like it’s getting rarer,” says Reiche. “As a society, we’ve become addicted to the quick fix,
instant gratification. These days, street is where it’s at. Every kid is riding street – grinding, doing super-hard stuff. But dirt… maybe it’s considered an old man’s thing nowadays, but there’s something pure about it. That’s where BMX started. And there are always going to be guys who are hiding in the woods. Having fun. Keeping it real.”Ami Kapilevich
WAYNE REICHE The Cape Town rider is a pioneer of the South African BMX scene, but it took years of hard physical labour to earn his stripes
“YOU CAN’T IMPROVE WITHOUT FALLING”
“DIRT IS MAYBE CONSIDERED AN OLD MAN’S THING, BUT THERE’S SOMETHING PURE ABOUT IT. IT’S WHERE BMX STARTED”
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Down and dirty: Reiche has worked tirelessly on his BMX trails. “You’re there from sunrise to sunset. Building is about putting in the time and the sweat”
Wordsmith Little Simz, 21: “An opportunity is never the last chance. It’s just a sign you’re on the right path”
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John Lydon: “My ideology is to live my life as long as possible”
What The World Needs Now… is out now; pilofficial.comA Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons is out now; redbull.com/littlesimz
The red bulletin: Lots of big record companies were keen to release your debut album, A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons,
but, in the end, you turned down their offers and did it yourself. Why?little simz: The music labels didn’t get it. They treated me like I was young and naïve. They tried to take advantage of me. Not in a creepy way, but I’m too passionate about my music to let someone else handle it if they don’t share my vision. Why is independence so important to you?We’re all part of the big system – that’s just how we go through life. Music is my escape from that. So, for me, the most important thing is to have control over my thoughts and the feelings I express in my songs.So, true success can only be found on your own terms?Definitely! The problem is that sometimes we don’t realise what we want. For instance, if you’re watching TV and you’re seeing the same things over and over again, subconsciously your mind is taking it all in – the way you should look, act, dress – and you start to conform to that. That’s my biggest fear: having a mind that just adapts to whatever I see. I can’t stress enough how important it is to think your thoughts, to wear the things you want to wear, and to go your own way. Everything else is bulls--t.
Where do you find the self-confidence to say no to the label executives flashing their chequebooks at you?It’s how my mum raised me. She would say to me, “It’s so easy to say yes, but never be afraid to say no.” If you work hard enough and you’re good at what you do, an opportunity is never the last chance. It’s just a sign that you’re on the right path. Don’t rush into anything. What does success mean to you personally?What matters to me is the fact that I can talk about whatever I want without a label executive telling me, “This is what’s happening.” I’m not worried about sales – at the end of the day, this is my first album and I don’t feel pressure to go platinum, because I’m in it for longevity. I’m the only person who gets to put any pressure on me.Your exceptional flow and rhyme skills have won you praise from hip-hop heavyweights, including Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z. How do you rap so fast?It’s something that I’ve practised for years and years. It’s important to be quick and clear at the same time, so you can hear literally every word. When I was younger, I’d train my clarity by putting a pen in my mouth when I rapped.How does that help?Because you have something that stops you from slurring. That technique helped me with my breathing, too. Florian Obkircher
“NEVER BE AFRAID TO SAY NO”LITTLE SIMZ The talented young London rapper, already being lauded by legends such as Jay-Z, explains why independence is the key to success
Calling John Lydon by his birth name still seems too prim and proper, especially as the 59-year-old ex-Sex Pistol – currently touring the US and Canada with his band PiL to promote their 10th studio album – continues to rage against the machine… the red bulletin: The new album, What The World Needs Now…, was released on your own label. Is that thrilling?john lydon: It’s taken decades, but I’m officially unrelated to the s--tstem. Isn’t that the most wonderful phrase? I’m not alone, but I keep it pure. We’re all working to eliminate the s--tstem. How can others battle the s--tstem?Stand up. Be counted. But don’t attach yourself to a lie or a trendy belief. Research everything. And then, when you’re ready to commit, go ahead, laddie, because I’ll be there backing you.As punk’s elder statesman, do you have any life advice?We’re lucky to have a life. I love being alive. My peers are all dying around me – I suppose they’ve never got to grips with the life they’ve got. If I can make music for 100 years, that’s success. OK, I’ll settle for 70 years. Don’t want to be greedy. Ann Donahue
“STAND UP AND BE COUNTED”JOHN LYDON The music icon and punk legend tells us how he’s still fighting the “s--tstem”
Bring the noise: Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, mid-guitar solo at Webster Hall
Dazzling: Saturday’s Gotham is the highlight of the week on NY’s club scene
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A L C A P O N E S U P P L I E D B O O Z E F O R T H E PA R T I E S . S K R I L L E X ’ S B A S S L I N E S B U R S T T H E WAT E R P I P E S . T H I S I S W E B S T E R H A L L , T H E L E G E N D A R Y N E W Y O R K N I G H T C L U B T H AT H A S B E E N R E I N V E N T I N G I T S E L F F O R 1 3 0 Y E A R SW O R D S : A N D R E A S R O T T E N S C H L A G E R
Temple of sound: Webster Hall’s Grand Ballroom hosts 1,500 clubbers
Addicted to bass: the electronic dance scene comes together at Girls & Boys
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Hoop dreams: a dancer in the
Grand Ballroom
Happy returns: some clubbers have been
regulars for 20 years
From the gallery of Webster Hall’s Grand Ballroom at 3am, you get the perfect view of the epicentre of New York nightlife. The gallery, an open hallway 5m above the clubbing throng, vibrates when the DJ turns up the bass. Below, 1,500 people of every ethnicity dance to electronic beats in a ballroom that dates back to 1886. This is the beating heart of Manhattan.
In the 1920s, New York’s Bohemian set came here to drink, defying Prohibition laws that forbade the sale of alcohol. A 20-year- old Bob Dylan made his first recording in the Grand Ballroom in 1962 when the club
was being used as a studio. Then, in 2010, a skinny guy named Skrillex dazzled the venue with his dubstep tracks – and his basslines ended up bursting the water pipes behind the bar. Two years later, he won three Grammys.
Webster Hall has remained a hub of the New York club scene for almost 130 years thanks to successive owners’ ability to recognise and promote new trends. The venue’s resident expert is its current owner, 65-year-old Lon Ballinger, a nightlife guru with a gentle voice.
the red bulletin: We’re going to start this interview with a thought experiment. Are you ready?lon ballinger: Fire away…If you had a time machine, which Webster Hall party from the past 130 years would you visit?Jesus, there are far too many. (Thinks.) If I had to choose a single night, I’d want to look in on a burlesque show
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Freedom, ecstasy, tolerance: Webster Hall exudes the spirit of the city
Avenue queue: the entrance at 125 East
11th Street in New York’s East Village
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from 1910. Some of the oldest photographs of Webster Hall date from that period. The pictures show young people dancing in the Grand Ballroom in white costumes. The kids wanted to express their creativity, and our club granted them their wish.We had expected you to say 1923, so that you could meet one of your predecessors as club boss, the notorious Al Capone…Al Capone controlled the liquor supply in New York during Prohibition, but I don’t know if he actually ever did own Webster Hall. What we do know is that the club became a hotspot for illegal parties – a speakeasy where people drank cocktails in secret. Even Franklin D Roosevelt, who went on to become President, partied at our venue. Politicians turned a blind eye to what was going on here. Why?Because nightlife fulfils an important social function: people need a place to go wild. Working all the time just makes people unhappy.
In 1980, Webster Hall became home to The Ritz, which established itself as New York’s quintessential rock club. People went mad when Guns N’ Roses played a concert here… Rock stars love the club to this day because we embody the spirit of New York. Everyone is welcome, regardless of the colour of their skin. People respect each other. When I saw David Bowie in the club not long back...David Bowie parties at your club?He comes here to watch new bands play. Bowie discovered Arcade Fire at their concert here [in 2005]. Years later, he sang on their album. It’s not only indie bands such as Arcade Fire who perform at the club – death metal acts and electronic music DJs come here, too. Sometimes on the same day. Do you think that’s an unusual mix?No, because we’re creating a line-up for the Spotify generation. The kids respect different music genres, and the mix we have keeps us relevant. Last year, there were 143,000 tweets sent from
Webster Hall’s clientele like to dress up – currently they’re wearing fake-fur rave hats
Drinks and smoke at Gotham
1886 Cigar maker Charles Goldstein commissions the building as a hall for hire, for “balls, receptions, Hebrew weddings…”
1920sNew York’s bohemian set parties at decadent masked balls. The press brand Webster Hall “The Devil’s Playhouse”. Despite the introduction of Prohibition, the drinks continue to flow at the venue. Gangster Al Capone provides the alcohol.
1953 RCA Records buys Webster Hall and opens a recording studio, where Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley cut genre-defining tracks, including the latter’s Hound Dog.
1962 An icon’s first recording: Bob Dylan plays the harmonica on Harry Belafonte’s song Midnight Special.
1980 Rock club The Ritz opens at Webster Hall. You can watch its most famous live gig – by Guns N’ Roses in 1988 – on YouTube.
1992 The Ballinger brothers, four nightlife gurus from Canada, buy the venue and put on weekly hip-hop events.
2008-2015 International DJ stars Deadmau5 and Skrillex get their breakthrough at the Girls & Boys night.
2016 Webster Hall’s 130th birthday. “We’re planning a street music festival,” says the club’s owner, Lon Ballinger.
1 3 0 Y E A R S O F P A R T Y I N GA W E B S T E R H A L L T I M E L I N E
Al Capone supplied the booze in the days of Prohibition
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events at Webster Hall – that’s more than from any other concert venue in the US. But you have to find new artists to assert your place in the market, and all that in a musical metropolis like New York. How do you go about recognising a new trend?By not trying to be a trendsetter. Seriously?Yes. Successful people are always two steps behind the trendsetters, because not every new idea is a good one.The bookers at Webster Hall are obviously expert at recognising a good idea when they see one. Your weekly Girls & Boys club night, which has been running since 2008, has been the launch pad for a whole string of current superstar DJs: Skrillex, Deadmau5…The guy with the huge mouse mask on his head! I still remember that very well. We paid him $700 for the gig. By the latest estimate, Deadmau5 now earns $15 million a year…That’s our job: helping young acts. Sometimes the gamble pays off and
they come back as stars. We had The Black Keys playing here, and Kings of Leon. When they performed at the club the first time, neither band had as many fans as they do now. But we thought they were an interesting bunch of guys, so we gave them a chance.OK, so let’s get back into the time machine again and look to the future. What do you think nightlife will be like 20 years from now?Maybe there will be interactive video screens hanging up in clubs by then, or we’ll be using new social media apps. But actually I don’t think all this technology is that important.Why?Because really clubs are about something else. Men and women want to meet, have fun and see what happens. That’s the core of nightlife. And that is never ever going to change.websterhall.com
Hot beats: resident DJ Subset playing at BASSment Saturdays, Webster Hall’s weekly Saturday party
Top: Diplo on the decks. Bottom: Hallowe’en at Webster Hall
“ D AV I D B O W I E WAT C H E S
N E W B A N D S P L AY H E R E ”
75THE RED BULLETIN 75
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See it. Get it. Do it.
If you’re looking for the most impressive and untouched natural ski runs on the planet, chances are you’re not going to reach them via a ski lift. To really gain some altitude, climb into a helicopter – it’s your ticket to breathtaking, relatively unexplored deep-snow utopias such as the Columbia Mountains in southern Canada.
POWDER TRIPTake a chopper to the world’s freshest ski runs
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THE INSIDER“AMBITIOUS SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS SHOULD BOOK INTO THE GALENA LODGE,” ACCORDING TO CRI MAIERHOFER. “THE AREA AROUND THERE IS STEEP AND VARIED AND DOTTED WITH LITTLE CRESTS AND CRAGS THAT YOU CAN JUMP OVER”
Kelowna
Columbia Mountains, Canada
Want to take on some of the world’s best runs? Head to: cmhski.com
You’ll experience some of the best downhills of your life, swooping over open glacier fields and then
slaloming down steep forest gullies, up to your waist in fresh, powdery snow. Thanks to the helicopter transfers, you can easily cover 10,000m in one day. The only limit is your level of fitness, as the helicopters can take off in any weather, delivering skiers and snowboarders to the summit – which is, somewhat unnervingly, often not much wider than the chopper itself.
The conditions provided by Mother Nature could hardly be better. The Columbia Mountains experience snowfall of 15m and upwards each season, and the ideal form of the landscape means you can choose between a playful or serious skiing
line. As a bonus, the risks here are far lower than at other deep-snow resorts because cliffs and large slopes prone to avalanches are a rarity. “This is the place to come for the best week’s skiing of your life, regardless of the weather,” says Cri Maierhofer, a former professional snowboarder who now works for specialist tour operator CMH Heli-Skiing.
The atmosphere at the lodges is another reason to stump up €9,000 or more for a week of powder. Despite all the wonderful luxuries on offer – whirlpool baths, sauna, massages, multi-course dinner menus – the whole thing remains relaxed and informal. The millionaire – and there are quite a few of those here – sits next to the guy who does the dishes and talks shop with the pilots and guides about what they’ve done that day. And the best thing of all? There’s zero mobile reception, meaning absolutely all the focus is on finding the ride of your life.
Rotor glory: fresh snow beckons
Cri Maierhofer’s powder selfie
Heli-skiing opens up a whole new world of powdery, untouched runs
CANADAMore to explore
AC T I O N
Drift racerCruise through the snow with a 60hp
engine between your legs on a snowmobile clinic. A dip in a hot spring is included
and the tour finishes with a meaty
mountainside BBQ.riderevelstoke.ca
Dog goneSwap the helicopter
for a more old-school mode of transport.
Take a husky sled ride and glide over the
snow and ice with a pack of canny canines.
You even get to play with them at the end.
revelstokedogsled adventures.ca
Ski demonStill hankering for more piste
action? Continue the adventure at
Revelstoke Mountain Resort: more than 1,700m from top
to bottom, with 65 named runs and areas
to choose from.revelstokemountain
resort.com
T R AV E L
Oakley LatchNamed after the clip hinge that allows the wearer
to “latch” the shades onto his T-shirt, it’s the new fashion/skate crossover statement from the
leading sports eyewear company. oakley.com
THE RED BULLETIN 79
AC T I O N
Sphero BB-8Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s loveable new droid is brought to
life with this equally loveable app-controlled replica. The robot, which moves via ‘gyroscopic propulsion’, is guided by your smartphone and
can even learn and respond to your voice. sphero.com
LG RollyExpecting a shiny new tablet from Santa? This ultra-portable Bluetooth keyboard is the ideal
companion, rolling (as the name suggests) into a compact cylinder for easy transport. lg.com
BenQ treVolo speakersThis nifty wireless sound system packs a punch thanks to two electrostatic, flat-panel speakers.
The bonus? The ‘wings’ can be folded back on the main unit for added portability. benq.com
Polaroid SnapEven in the Age of Instagram, there’s nothing quite
like the real thing. The Snap is Polaroid’s most compact digital camera yet and can instantly print full-colour, 2x3in photos. polaroid.com
TomTom BanditWant to capture the action from your festive ski trip without the boring bits? This action camera live-syncs with an app and self-edits a ready-to-
social reel of your highlights. tomtom.com
Skulpt AimIf you’re already prepping your New Year gym regime, this innovative tool will help track your gains to a tee – providing detailed stats for 24 different muscles around the body. skulpt.me
G E A R
Sort-of like the real thing, the Sphero
BB-8 has the ability to record and playback
holographic video messages through an
augmented-reality app
STOCKING STUFFERS
Gadgets to put at the top of your
Christmas wishlist
80 THE RED BULLETIN
AC T I O N
WATCHES Edited by Gisbert L Brunner
Smartwatches are big business. In 2014, around 6.8 million of the tech-heavy timepieces were sold worldwide; by the end of 2015, that number is predicted to have more than doubled.
But what if you want the modern features of a smartwatch without ditching the superior styling of a classic chronograph? Look no further than the Edifice EQB-510DC from Casio – a hybrid wristwatch whose smart functions are hidden under its sleek, black exterior. The watch communicates with Android or iOS smartphones via Bluetooth 4.0 and the Casio Watch+ app, and is aimed particularly at business travellers and globetrotters. By pairing devices, the clock will automatically align the dial to the local time in more than 300 cities around the world. There are also advanced alarm and stopwatch functions, as well as a handy phone finder. If you’re not into the Dark Knight look, check out the stainless-steel version (EQB-510D) or the black-and-rose gold Infiniti Red Bull Racing Special Edition (EQB-510RBM). edifice-watches.com
G E A R
The Edifice’s fluorescent pointers allow you to read the watch in difficult low-light situations. In brighter conditions, the ‘tough solar’ system converts even faint light into ample energy.
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Classic style meets modern technology
CASIO Edifice EQB-510DC
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Frédérique Constant Horological SmartwatchAnalogue elegance pairs with smart tech via a Bluetooth/smartphone connection. Features include activity and sleep tracking, and there’s a two-year battery life. frederiqueconstant.com
Apple Watch Hermès EditionApple has teamed up with Parisian fashion brand Hermès to offer a luxury version of its
bestselling wearable – complete with a hand-stitched leather strap and a custom, Apple-designed digital face. apple.com
Bulgari Diagono Magnesium ConceptBulgari and digital security specialists WISeKey have created the “first luxury wrist vault”. Utilising Near Field Connection (NFC) technology and a high-security smartphone app, it can pay for goods, start your car or open doors. bulgari.wis.watch
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CONSOLE YOURSELF
Big news from the gaming world
this month
GAME Just Cause 3
Take on Rico Rodriguez’s mission to release his country from
a cruel despot in the latest instalment in the Just Cause series. It’s free-roaming action with a battery of
guns, vehicles and gadgets across 640km of Mediterranean island.
Available from December 1 on PS4, Xbox One and PC. justcause.com
EVENT eSports World Championships
Gamers from around the world, including South Africa, will travel to Seoul, South Korea in December for
the 7th eSports World Championships. Titles included are League Of Legends, StarCraft II and Hearthstone. ie-sf.org
GAME Tom Clancy’s
Rainbow Six SiegeInspired by counter-terrorist
operations across the globe, this new game from Ubisoft promises an intense, team-based, close-quarters combat experience. Available from December 1 on PS4, Xbox One and
PC. rainbow6.ubi.com
OLD FRIENDSThree Star Wars staples we’ll be welcoming back
ChewbaccaHan Solo’s fuzzy Wookiee companion – dubbed a “walking carpet” by Leia.
LightsabersAnd there’s a new look: Kylo Ren’s crossguard blade has already caused a stir online.
C-3PO and R2-D2 The odd-couple droids are the only characters to appear
in all seven Star Wars films.
AC T I O N
New baddie Kylo Ren: two parts
Darth Vader, one part Slipknot
R2-D2 and C-3PO take offence to the
BB-8 comment
FILM
STRIKING BACKAs the new Star Wars movie hits cinemas, here’s the low-down on this year’s biggest release
C U LT U R E
So, there’s a new Star Wars instalment…Sure is. The Force Awakens is the sci-fi saga’s official ‘Episode VII’ and the first Star Wars movie since original creator George Lucas sold his production company, Lucasfilm, to Disney in 2012. What’s it all about, then?It’s the start of a brand new trilogy, following original heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher) as they help a new band of rebels fight the First Order – a military power risen from the ashes of the Galactic Empire.Who are the series’ newbies?Our new heroes are rookie Jedi Finn (John Boyega), headstrong ‘scavenger’ Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), the “best freaking pilot in the galaxy”. On the dark side, there’s the Darth Vader-like Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the sinister General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and super-trooper Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie).That’s a lot of new fancy-dress potential…Oh, and don’t forget BB-8. The Force Awakens’ spherical sidekick will become everyone’s new favourite space droid (see Gear, page 79).With George Lucas gone, who’s in charge?Director JJ Abrams – the man who revived Star Trek. “To get to play in this playground is an absolute honour,” he says. “We’re working hard to make a movie that feels as emotional and authentic and exciting as possible.”Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in South Africa on Dec 18. starwars.com
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THE PLAYLIST HURTSWhen their friends got into a brawl outside a Manchester club in 2005, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson wisely decided not to join in and discussed music instead. Four years later, as synth-pop duo Hurts, they gained more than 21 million YouTube views with the self-made video for their song Wonderful Life, and their debut album, Happiness, sold two million copies globally. Following the release of their bigger and brighter-sounding third album, Surrender, Hurts reveal the songs that have most influenced them. informationhurts.com
th: “If I had to narrow it down to one all-time favourite, it would be this song by Prince, the greatest living musician. What’s so incredible about Purple Rain is that when you listen to the song in full, it just gets better and better. It starts out with these brilliant chords, then the chorus
gets you excited, then it goes up and up. In the end, you just can’t resist singing along: ‘Whoo-ooh-ooh-ooh!’”
Prince Purple Rain
th: “There’s a simplicity to Pharrell’s songwriting and an intricate approach to production that is completely unique to him. We’ve tried to replicate his technique many times, but it’s impossible. Frontin’ is a great early example of his sound. It’s catchy, it’s funky and, at
the same time, unmistakably Pharrell. He’s influenced the recent history of hip-hop like no other musician.”
aa: “For a long period, when I was into wowing women, Angel would be my go-to tune, because it’s so incredibly sexy. Also, it had quite an influence on the sound of our new record. We were aiming for the kind of intensity and darkness that this song emits. We always play it at our
concerts before we come on stage. Our sound guy puts it on to get everyone in the mood. It works every time.”
th: “This song has possibly the strongest lyrics ever: ‘Driving in your car, oh, please don’t drop me home, because it’s not my home, it’s their home…’ As a teenager in Manchester, The Smiths’ home town, I could relate to those words and they still give me goosebumps. What
I also love about The Smiths is that I didn’t know what music they were listening to, because they sounded so different.”
Massive Attack Angel
The Smiths There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Pharrell featuring Jay-ZFrontin’
Chris IsaakWicked Game
aa: “This song has been a big influence on us. We’ve stolen the chord progression about 16 times and no one has ever noticed. It also features one of the most beautifully recorded vocals you’ll ever hear. It sounds like Chris is whispering in your ear as he sings. To top it all,
Wicked Game ends with one of the most devastating lyrics ever: ‘Nobody loves no one.’ How dark is that?”
THE GADGETAumeo
Hong Kong-based start-up Aumeo Audio has designed the first gadget
that tailors sound specifically for the listener’s ear. When Aumeo is
connected to your music player, the matchbox-sized gadget
analyses your hearing with a series of simple
tests to personalise how music is played.
aumeoaudio.com
YES WE KANYE
At this year’s VMAs, Kanye West announced his plans to run for US President in
2020. Ambitious, perhaps, but he’s not the first musician to dream of leading his country.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
After a recital at the White House during WWI, the composer persuaded US President Woodrow
Wilson to support Polish independence. He
became his country’s Prime Minister in 1919.
Wyclef JeanThe Fugees rapper was
so serious about his 2010 bid to become President
of his home country, Haiti, he recorded an EP titled If I Were President: My Haitian Experience. In
the end, he was ruled ineligible as he hadn’t
spent enough time there.
Jello BiafraHaving unsuccessfully
run for Mayor of San Francisco in 1979, the punk veteran set his
eye on nomination as a Green Party presidential
candidate in 2000. The less controversial Ralph Nader got the
ticket instead.
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2 Rip CURL FLaSh BoMB Zip FReeRip Curl wetsuits continue to lead the world in quality and innovation, and are the standard others are measured by. Our technical innovations keep us ahead of the pack. Wetsuits are Rip Curl‘s signature product. They define the company and everything we do. After all, we‘ve been making them for more than 40 years. We are constantly driven to keep searching for the Ultimate in surfing products, so we can all keep doing what we love the most - more often... and that is Surf. The FlashBomb is Rip Curl‘s ultimate wetsuit - for the surfer who wants the best. No compromises. Constructed with the most advanced E4 neoprene, flash lining and superior seam-sealing technology - offering unparalleled comfort that also keeps you warmer for longer. R4 499.www.nixon.com
3 adidaS Men‘S teRRex Primaloft Synergy 80g/m2 Insulation is the warmest synthetic insulation material, warm even when wet & ext-remely compressible. The partial Cocona Lining ensures ultimate moisture management. The primaloft Insulated Stretch Inserts are for enhanced freedom of movement. Formotion is for ultimate performance and comfort while in motion & the adjustable hood is innovative. This insula-ted jacket features Primaloft sport in the main body zones and Primaloft synergy padded stretch inserts for ultimate freedom of movement. R2499.www.adidas.co.za/
4 tReK top FUeL The Top Fuel disappeared from the Trek line up in 2013 with the rise of the 29’r making way for the Superfly FS that has held the fort while the engineers in Waterloo worked their magic on one of the most successful Full Suspension Race Bikes in MTB history. Reintroduced for 2016 the Top Fuel is back and faster than ever. Featuring Trek’s proven ABP & Full Floater Technology and introducing Adjustable Geometry and Boost Hub spacing the Top Fuel is fast, smooth and precise. Faster full suspension has arrived. Prices range from R 39 999 – R 124 999. Model Shown is the 9.8 SL – RRP R 79 999.www.leatherman.co.za
5 Bandit aCtion CaMThe Bandit action camera by TomTom is a lightweight, aerodynamic, cable-less, waterproof action camera. This dynamic device, while simple to operate, records at 4K ultra HD and is integrated with G-force, speed, rotation and altitude sensors that capture highlights that can be integrated into your footage. The Bandit, companion App for your mobile device allows you to edit hours of footage in minutes and best of all, you simply shake your device to edit, then share instantaneously, on social media – No more hours & hours of editing. Accessories available. Available at Selected Retail Stores Nation Wide and Online. From R5799.www.tomtom.com/en_za/
6 oaKLey voLtage pReSCRiption eyeweaR Oakley has introduced an impressive new optical frame that fuses functionality, performance and style. Inspired by space, speed and electricity, Oakley Voltage offers a distinctive look of industrial design with built-in optical technology that is unique to Oakley. The eyewear boast key features such as no-slip Unobtainium earsocks and nosepads, a durable and lightweight frame, and a three-point fit ensuring maximum comfort. The Oakley Voltage is available in a range of sleek colourways as well as the famous Oakley Prescription in single and progressive vision. R1800.www.oakley.com
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RACING STRIPESThe VW Scirocco gets supercharged The GTS version of the Scirocco, the compact sport coupé unveiled by Volkswagen in 1982, has been given a power upgrade with a 2.0 TSI engine that delivers 217hp. The six-speed DSG transmission means 0-100kph is reached in 6.9 seconds, with a top speed of 246kph and combined fuel consumption of 6.4 litres/100km. The GTS is below the range-topping Scirocco R (252hp), but those are respectable numbers. Its exterior trim echoes the ’82 GTS stripe; its interior is red and black. The more versatile Golf GTI offers similar specs, but can’t match the Scirocco’s looks. Those in touch with their inner boy racer will be tempted. vw.co.za
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The Honda RC213V-S: as close
as you’ll get to being Márquez
Circuit racers will want the sports kit,
which cranks up the power to 212hp
In the hands of current champion Marc Márquez, Honda’s RC213V has become a mighty force in MotoGP. Now the Japanese manufacturer has decided to tap into the marketing potential of the young Spaniard’s double-championship success with a road-ready derivative of the bike that has propelled Márquez, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner to a glut of victories.
Changes in the new RC213V-S take into account both legal requirements (headlights, plates, catalytic converters) and the operational demands of running the machine without a full garage crew in a chase vehicle (starter motor, steel discs). Muddying the waters slightly, Honda is also releasing an optional closed-circuit kit for those who don’t want to stray so far from the bike’s racing roots. While the street version generates 156hp, the sports kit increases that to 212hp. Not quite the 235hp-plus of the MotoGP bike, but more than ample for the track-day enthusiast. honda.co.uk
OFF THE GRIDHonda’s MotoGP tech hits the streets
Alpinestars Tech-Air
Having cut its teeth on racetracks around the world, Alpinestars
Tech-Air airbag system is now available to everyone for both road and off-road
use with a range of compatible jackets.
alpinestars.com
MOTOR MERCH
The latest tech for on and off the
track
Vitesse AuDessus
wheelsThe bespoke American
carbon-fibre studio offers OEM-spec, one-
piece wheels for current Lamborghini, Ferrari,
McLaren, Bugatti, Bentley, Aston Martin,
Porsche, Mercedes and BMW models.
vitesseaudessus.com
Leica Ultravid 8x32 Edition
ZagatoCamera experts Leica
and car designer Zagato have teamed up to
produce these limited- edition aluminium
binoculars, which come with a swanky leather
case. leica-camera.com
December 12-13 Sevens heavenCape Town
This year, the South African leg of the Sevens World Series of rugby touches down at a new home, the Cape Town Stadium. The Blitzbokke will not only be chasing a third successive home triumph to build momentum for the 2016 Rio Olympics, but hoping to go one better after four second-placed finishes in the last five years in the Series overall. worldrugby.org/sevens-series
High stakes: tackling the Roof Of Africa
Water boys: The Kiffness
December 2-5 The mother of hard enduro Lesotho
AC T I O N
The Roof Of Africa, one of the world’s toughest hard enduro events, returns to the highest country in the world, with South African young gun Wade Young looking for his third victory in this iconic race. The stiffest competition has traditionally come from elite overseas riders such as Graham Jarvis or Chris Birch (pictured), but, in recent years, the rest of the SA contingent, led by Altus de Wet and Blake Gutzeit, have become real contenders in their own right. The course is not getting any easier: the days of long, mildly challenging stages are over; now it’s all about intense, physically demanding and technical routes. roofofafrica.info
E V E N TS
November 27-29 Wave onBreede River
River Republic is a new music festival from the Up The Creek team. Expect the usual sun, water, camping and crazy tunes – what’s different is the limited entry, with only 1,500 tickets available. The Kiffness, Grassy Spark, Stone Age Citizens, The Liminals and Toby2Shoes all feature. riverrepublic.co.za
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December 19 Paddle powerCape Peninsula
With a 35-year history and a 50km route around Cape Point (aka the Cape of Storms), the Cape Point Challenge is one of the most storied races in international surfskiing. The Challenge caps eight days of surfski racing and festivities at Fish Hoek Lifesaving Club, and will attract the best paddlers from around the country. capepointchallenge.co.za
Cape crusader: hardcore surfskiing
SAVE THE DATE
Three top events, from biting satire
to blazing saddles
Hitting the trail
The two-day Origin Of Trails mountain- bike race gets going in Stellenbosch, with
a choice of route options – short and long – that provide
some of the best trail riding in the Western Cape. twitter.com/
originoftrails
27November
Missing in action
Chester Missing – the most famous
puppet in South Africa – brings his handler,
comedian Conrad Koch, to Pretoria for
the first of two nights of hilarious, biting
political satire. Get your ticket now.
conradkoch.co.za
27November
Wheels of steel
The inaugural Alfie Cox Invitational hard enduro roars into life
on the KZN south coast with a super-tough but
spectator-friendly course for just 40 invited riders. The
smart money is on only five or so finishing.
redbull.co.za/alfiecox
14November
Interpret Durban started out as a T-shirt design contest back in 2010, but in the past five years it has morphed into a fully fledged, multidimensional creative challenge. The competition covers various genres, from illustration to videography, and if the prize money is serious – more than R100 000 is up for grabs – so is the prize-giving. All the submitted artwork will be on display at the awards function, and punters can look forward to a kick-ass bill of bands, live acts and DJs, who will provide the afterparty soundtrack as things get raucous. facebook.com/interpretDBN
December 5 Grand designsDurban
November 29 End of the roadYas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Lewis Hamilton looks as if he has the 2015 Formula One Drivers’ championship sewn up, but his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will still be aiming to crash the victory party. The season closer in Abu Dhabi will reveal all. formula1.com
November 27 Go with the flowJohannesburg
Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown is where the Maftown Heights party – the second biggest hip-hop fest on the continent – goes down. With the hottest Motswako acts and “friends of Motswako” all on one stage, satisfaction is guaranteed. twitter.com/maftownheights
November 12-15 Dirty driving
Deeside, Wales
Finishing the FIA World Rally Championship for
another year, the muddy forest stages of the
Wales Rally GB provide one of the series’ most
gruelling challenges. This year’s event celebrates the 20th anniversary of
legendary driver Colin McRae winning his first
championship, while GB’s new bright light, M-Sport team leader
Elfyn Evans, will be hoping to make good use
of his local knowledge to end his year in style.
walesrallygb.com
Mud men: the Wales Rally GB is gruelling
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2Pick your drop zone“The second thing you need to watch out for is surface. Landing into water would be ideal – if it’s deep enough and clear of objects then there will be nothing hard impacting against your body. Landing on grass or sand would be preferable to tarmac or concrete; harder surfaces allow no give and the impacts and damage to your body could be more severe.”
3Prepare for landing“Before you jump, grab whatever you can and use it to help cushion your fall and give you extra protection – extra clothing, jackets, cushions, floor mats… You could even try removing the rear seat and land with it as a pad. Open the car door as wide as you can, so it doesn’t obstruct your fall. If you hit it, you could bounce and be sent back towards the wheels.”
4Stay low and loose“When exiting the vehicle, keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up – this will make the impacts harder and can strain or tear muscles. The lower you can get to the ground the better, as the first impact is normally the worst. Try and face in the opposite direction to the travelling vehicle – this will allow you to roll backwards and stop your face from hitting the ground.”
5Hold your position“Keep your chin on your chest, elbows and knees tucked in and legs slightly bent. Both feet should leave the car at the same time or your legs will split. Don’t jump up high or out far – this makes the body position more unpredictable on first impact. Always try to land feet first and then on the centre of your back to ensure you get the safest landing.”
H OW TO
JUMP OUT OF A MOVING CAREvery action hero worth their salt has done it at some point – avoiding certain death by jumping out of a moving vehicle. But if you were escaping a sinister four-wheeled kidnapping, say, how would you make that leap of faith and live to tell the tale? “In any extreme situation we need to make a decision and react quickly,” says Andreas Petrides, one of the UK’s leading stunt performers and founder of the British Action Academy. “The key is not to panic – you have to take control and get yourself onto autopilot.” And with an extensive CV that includes Star Wars, Mission: Impossible and four James Bond movies, he’s certainly no stranger to performing death-defying, high-speed stunts himself. “You may be scared and you may get injured in the process,” he adds, “but if you follow these techniques, it should keep you from serious injury and save your life.” Don’t try this at home, kids. britishactionacademy.com
1Watch your speed“The first thing you need to think about is speed. Obviously the slower the vehicle is travelling, the better. You’ll have more control and the time it takes your body to decelerate is reduced, which will mean fewer impact points to your body from the ground. The faster you tumble, the more friction will be working against your body. Stay alert for any dips in speed.”
WHAT´S NEW IN NOVEMBER
LIVE
LIVE
ON DEMANDWATCH NOW
RED BULL BC ONE WORLD FINAL, ITALY Nov. 14, 10:15 pm
The legendary motocross race Red Bull Knock Out returns to the Schevingen beach in the Netherlands after a seven-year hiatus. Red Bull Knock Out will be the largest and toughest motocross beach race in the world. Amateur and pro motocross riders will fight each other as well as the elements of nature – the sea and the sand.
WALK IT HOME – THE WANTON BISHOPS“Walk It Home” is a music discovery journey of a blues-rock duo from Lebanon uncovering the cultural heart of the music they love. With music as their passport they head from Beirut to the bayou as they embark on a true road trip to discover local blues heroes, swamps, records, gigs and crawfish.
RED BULL KNOCK OUT 2015Nov. 29, 03:25 pm
Red Bull BC One is the most iconic one-on-one B-Boy competition in the world. Every year, thousands of dancers across the globe vie for a chance to compete in the World Finals. Sixteen B-Boys go head to head in all-out battles on the Red Bull BC One stage, but only one will be crowned the champion.
O F P L A Y
S T A T EWith 2016 set to be a huge year for gaming,
we tap into the digital revolution to select the most exciting games, tech and trends coming
your way over the next 12 months
LEGO Marvel’s AvengersFollowing tongue-in-cheek LEGO takes on Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Jurassic World, TT Games turns to the Avengers. Based on the films Avengers Assemble and Age Of Ultron, the game also has heroes from the comics. Platforms: All consoles and PC. ETA: Early 2016. ttgames.com
Star Wars fans need only to glance at the front cover of Battlefront to know that everything will be OK. A huge AT-AT towers over a Rebel fighter, while TIE fighters and X-Wings zoom through the Hoth sky. Then there’s the DICE logo. Like JJ Abrams directing the new Star Wars film, Force Awakens, you’re in safe hands with the Battlefield developers. This shooter for up to 40 players allows you to be either a Stormtrooper or a Rebel fighter, and takes
you to some of the most famous sights of the galaxy far, far away. Tatooine: tick! Hoth: tick! Endor: tick! And, to freshen things up, there’s the new, volcanic planet of Sullust. With the ability to control speeder bikes, X-Wings and the Millennium Falcon, it‘s a celebration of all things Star Wars. And with the right power-up, you can transform into Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or Boba Fett. Bonus! Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC. ETA: November. starwars.ea.com
Star Wars BattlefrontThe developers of Battlefield get it right again
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Tom Clancy’s The DivisionThere’s chaos on Black Friday, and it’s far more serious than shoppers scrapping over a massive telly in a department store. A virus has hit New York, and as part of the Strategic Homeland Division, you’re charged with fighting the threat of the disease and rooting out the conspirators who spread it. After recreating Chicago in Watch Dogs, Ubisoft have done a great job of building New York, and players will have fun exploring the abandoned open city. Platforms: PS4, Xbox One ETA: Spring 2016. tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com
Rise Of The Tomb RaiderIf the PS4 has Uncharted, Xbox One has the original treasure hunter in Lara Croft. Well, for one year at least. Rise Of The Tomb Raider is a timed exclusive, meaning Xbox owners will get first chance to continue the story of 2013’s excellent reboot (it will come to the PS4 in late 2016). Lara is in Siberia, searching for the ancient city of Kitezh and the secret of immortality, using her scavenging and survival skills to craft items and take out enemies. She actually gets to raid some tombs, too. Platform: Xbox One. ETA: November. tombraider.com
Mirror’s Edge CatalystMirror’s Edge was a cool PS3 game. Set in a futuristic city where parkour skills mattered more than shooting enemies, it provided a different angle on first-person action. Catalyst removes guns altogether as hero Faith Connors leaps around the city of Glass in a game that explores her origin story. Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC. ETA: Spring 2016. mirrorsedge.com
The new Apple TVCan the retooled Apple TV rival PS4 and Xbox One for living-room gaming? Well, it looks more likely to mirror the appeal of the Wii – offering family fun for those who love to play games, but wouldn’t get stuck into epic Destiny sessions every night. Popular mobile games like Crossy Road and Beat Sports featured at Apple’s unveiling, but there are big console hits coming too, including Rayman Adventures, Skylanders SuperChargers and Guitar Hero Live. ETA: Out now. apple.com
Final Fantasy XVFans of the game have had a long wait for a new console RPG. FFXV is the first one in the main series since 2010, and comes with an open world to explore, with a Kingdom Hearts-style battle system so you can switch weapons. Platforms: PS4, Xbox One. ETA: 2016. finalfantasyxv.com
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Nintendo NXNintendo is set to release new Zelda and Star Fox games in 2016, but all the speculation is about the company’s next console. What we know about the NX, due to be unveiled next year, is that it’s a brand new concept. There are also plans afoot to bring Nintendo’s games to smartphones. Mario on the iPhone? Now we’re talking! ETA: 2016. nintendo.com
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s EndFollowing on from the classic PS3 action series, Uncharted 4 sees former treasure hunter Nathan Drake coaxed out of retirement by the brother he believed was dead to discover the conspiracy behind a long-lost pirate colony and its loot. An early look at one of its high-speed chase sequences has already built up a considerable buzz, and if the rest of the game is as exciting, this might just be Nate’s greatest adventure yet. Platform: PS4. ETA: Spring 2016. playstation.com
2016: the year of Virtual RealityForget console wars – there’s a VR battle on the horizon
Virtual Reality has come a long way since Nintendo’s headache-inducing Virtual Boy, released 20 years ago. PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive promise to transport you to beautiful HD worlds with their headsets, placing you in the action.PS4 owners will be excited about PlayStation VR, out in the first half of 2016, with more than 10 compatible games promised at launch. Sony has already shown off robot shooter Rigs and, according to critics at the recent Tokyo Game Show, battling Titan in Final Fantasy XIV is more immersive than ever.Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both require a powerful PC. The former has partnered with Microsoft, meaning every unit will come with an Xbox One controller. It also boasts Oculus Touch controllers (sold separately) which, when used with the Toybox demo, show how far motion control has progressed since the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The sticks can also be used to control your spaceship as you hunt down enemies in EVE: Valkyrie, while exploring the Antarctic in Edge Of Nowhere gives you an idea of how creepy games will work in VR. HTC Vive – developed with Half-Life creators Valve for the Steam VR platform – allows you to walk around in the headset and fully explore virtual worlds. The promise of 170 VR-ready games in the Steam store will appeal to Valve’s huge community. And then there’s Gear VR, developed by Oculus for Samsung’s Galaxy devices. Is there anyone not getting involved? ETA: HTC Vive, December; PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift, spring 2016. playstation.com; oculus.com; htcvr.com
Crackdown 3With its superhuman agents and cel-shaded visuals, Crackdown has always been more OTT than Grand Theft Auto, but the third game in the crime-fighting sandbox series pushes the action to ever more ludicrous levels of destruction. The game is set in a hellish, futuristic city overrun by crime, and it gets even more dangerous in multiplayer mode as buildings are destroyed and skyscrapers topple into one another. Platform: Xbox One. ETA: 2016. xbox.com
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Radical rebootsClassic franchises come back
While some popular series mark their return with numbers (Fallout 4, Halo 5), others have ditched them, signifying a back-to-basics approach. After 20 games in two decades, EA took Need For Speed off the road last year, leaving Ghost Games to reboot the series, and the new game looks wonderful. Meanwhile, Doom’s new developer, Bethesda, stays true to the game’s gory roots with a Mars-set shooter. Then there’s Ratchet And Clank, which is more than a remake of the PS2 original, with Ratchet and his robot pal exploring new planets. ETA: Need For Speed, out now; Doom and Ratchet And Clank, spring 2016. needforspeed.com; bethsoft.com; playstation.com
Dark Souls 3Dark Souls returns in 2016
in another hellishly tough instalment – with the
medieval world bigger than ever, and the combat faster.
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One. ETA: Spring 2016.
darksouls3.com
Videogame moviesSome of 2016’s biggest films will be
based on hit games, and with credible directors and actors involved, people’s
perceptions of movies inspired by interactive entertainment could
change. First up, for the kids, we have Angry Birds, an animated adventure
from the creators of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Next is Warcraft,
from Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones, which tells the story of the origins of the conflict between the
orcs and humans. Finally, there’s Assassin’s Creed, an original story
that stars Michael Fassbender as the descendant of a 15th-century Spanish
assassin. ETA: Angry Birds, spring 2016; Warcraft, summer 2016; Assassin’s Creed, winter 2016. sonypictures.com; legendary.
com; foxmovies.com
LEGO Worlds vs Minecraft: Story ModeIf Minecraft is digital LEGO, LEGO Worlds is LEGO Minecraft, with a focus on creativity. Minecraft itself has a new puzzle-solving Story Mode. Platforms: All. ETA: LEGO Worlds, 2016; Minecraft: Story Mode, out now. telltalegames.com
Destiny: Year TwoDestiny: The Taken King kicked off year two of Destiny’s ‘10-year plan’ in some style. Fixing a few issues fans had with the original, Bungie’s third expansion features an improved story and fun new multiplayer modes. What’s next? Expect even more expansions next year. Platforms: PS4, Xbox One. ETA: 2016. destinythegame.com
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More HaloGet ready for shooting and strategy in two very different Halo experiences
Master Chief is missing. You could say he’s been AWOL for some time – two years have passed since the launch of the Xbox One and only now are we seeing an all-new Halo game – but given that Halo 5: Guardians is twice the size of its predecessor, we’ll let 343 Industries off. As players blast through huge levels set up for four-player co-op, the action switches between Master Chief’s Blue Team and Spartan Jameson Locke’s Fire Team Osiris, who are trying to track down MC and his crew. In the multiplayer Arena mode, due to be showcased at Halo’s first $1 million eSports tournament, four players can team up on one side, while the Warzone mode features massive 24-player battles. And that’s not all for Halo; in 2016, Microsoft will release Halo Wars 2, a sequel to the 2009 real-time strategy game. This one’s being developed by Creative Assembly, the team behind the Total War series. Platforms: Xbox One (both), PC (Halo Wars 2). ETA: Out now (Halo 5: Guardians); autumn 2016 (Halo Wars 2). halowaypoint.com
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New(ish) consolesWith the Xbox One and PS4 approaching their second anniversaries, don’t expect any new consoles from Sony and Microsoft in the next year. The former will entice more gamers with a new 1TB Darth Vader PS4, while Microsoft is releasing Xbox One Elite, which features a 1TB solid state hybrid drive and an Elite controller. ETA: Out now. playstation.com; xbox.com
UnravelAccording to game director Martin Sahlin, the red thread that Unravel’s hero, Yarny, is made of symbolises love. And it’s hard not to fall in love with the little guy, who looks as if he’s just stepped off the Pixar drawing board. Yarny uses his trail of thread to swing, climb and even fly on a kite across landscapes based on the countryside around Sahlin’s home in Sweden. Platform: PS4 ETA: Spring 2016. unravelgame.com
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FIFA 17You’ll probably still be hooked to FIFA 16 for the next 11 months. Once again, we have unrivalled presentation, but the action on the pitch has been tweaked to improve defending. Expect more improvements next year as EA continue their mission to create the most realistic football game ever.Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC. ETA: Autumn 2016. easports.com
No Man’s SkyFrom a tiny British indie studio comes the biggest game of all time
Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky isn’t only one of the most ambitious indie games ever created, it’s one of the most ambitious games ever created, full stop. Big and bold enough to show off alongside the blockbusters at Sony’s E3 show, this PS4 space adventure boasts a huge open universe with more than 18 quintillion lifesize planets to explore. Count ’em. Actually, don’t –
apparently, it would take 585 billion years to see them all. Thankfully, then, the aim in No Man’s Sky isn’t to visit every planet, but to reach the centre of the universe in your ship, which you can upgrade. There’s no narrative, as the game is all about exploration – discovering new life on planets and sharing it with the world, trading resources, and shooting. Decisions have consequences, though. Attack too many creatures or spacecraft, or mine too heavily, and the police will be after you. Platforms: PS4, PC. ETA: 2016. no-mans-sky.com
G A M E Z O N E
Street Fighter VThe first all-new Street Fighter game to arrive on PlayStation 4 will also be released on PC, and will feature cross-platform play between the two. New characters Necalli and Rashid join the likes of Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li in another unbeatable beat ’em up. Platforms: PS4, PC. ETA: Spring 2016. streetfighter.com
Steam MachinePS4 and Xbox One have
a new rival in the living room
Imagine a new games machine with over 980 titles available at launch, some of them
all-time classics. Say hello to the Steam Machine, which will change the way we play
PC titles. Valve’s hardware enables you to play great games from the Steam store on your telly using a controller with clickable
trackpads and buttons designed to appeal to console and PC gamers. And unlike consoles, you’ll be able to choose between boxes from
different companies, all compatible with Valve’s OS. For example, AlienWare’s effort
will entice gamers with its NVidia GeForce graphics and a bundle of games and in-game
content out of the box. ETA: December (AlienWare Alpha). alienware.co.uk
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THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, June 28, 2014When Jason Paul was a teenager, he used to play platform games to study the moves of his favourite pixelated heroes. These days, the German world-class freerunner can do a lot of those tricks even better than his digital role models. Pictured: a jump from an eight-storey car park. instagram.com/thejasonpaul
MAGIC MOMENT: MAKES YOU FLY
“I’ve always beenfascinated by video games. I wanted to be as agile as Super Mario”Freerunner Jason Paul, a real action hero
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