We Spent 3 Days Ripping-in-ing With Young Henrys

Words/Photos by Dougal Gorman

It’s common knowledge that Young Henrys loves to party… But this was a party like no other.

Their Rip in Weekender was three jam-packed days of DJ’ing, skating, tattooing, partying and ripping-in-ing. Kicking off last Friday afternoon, old and new friends congregated at Manly’s famous watering hole, The Steyne, for day one of debaucherous fun. As if the stellar lineup of DJ’s wasn’t enough entertainment for one weekend, the Volcom skate team was out in full force destroying every inch of the freshly installed 3ft mini ramp.

Opening the night on decks were some of Sydney’s finest rockers, including Scabz and Crocodylus, who brought the heat with a variety of rock and pop classics. For those brave (or dumb) enough, Thanks Tattoo and Whistler Street Tattoo were dishing out badass skin stickers all weekend. There’s nothing like a few beers to convince you to get your first tattoo. Vibes were at an all-time high by the time DMA’s took to the decks for two hours of bangers to close out the night, getting the dancefloor packed out and dancing like there was no tomorrow.

Opening the night on decks were some of Sydney’s finest rockers, including Scabz and Crocodylus, who brought the heat with a variety of rock and pop classics. For those brave (or dumb) enough, Thanks Tattoo and Whistler Street Tattoo were dishing out badass skin stickers all weekend. There’s nothing like a few beers to convince you to get your first tattoo. Vibes were at an all-time high by the time DMA’s took to the decks for two hours of bangers to close out the night, getting the dancefloor packed out and dancing like there was no tomorrow.

A personal favourite DJ set of mine was from the masters of loops and laughs, The Regime, who freestyle’d their way through the afternoon. Unfortunately, the rain kicked in Saturday afternoon, but thanks to some helpful hands from the crowd, The Regime’s set continued underneath a white bed sheet roof. Of course, the rain meant no more skating… but ah well, because Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers bought the heat with a DJ set stacked with RnB/club classics.

After a serious dance session, the rain stopped and the crew towelled down the ramp. The session was officially back on! The Volcom team and friends really tore things apart that night and had the crowd going berserk. Stepping up next to the decks were DZ Deathrays, who got the skaters even more fired up playing Slayer, the Ramones and more. With all the madness going on, it was a miracle no one in the surrounding crowd copped a board to head (although there were some serious close calls). Closing out the night was everyone’s favourite person, Ruby Fields. It’s no surprise Rubes rocked up with a USB full of classics, including God and Fontaines D.C. Day two was over, finito.

But Rip In Weekender was not.

It wouldn’t be called ‘rip in’ weekend if there wasn’t a third day to mend a throbbing headache with more beers. On Sunday, the vibe was much more mellow with skating and DJ’ing taking a back seat. The energy, however, was still very high, thanks to a live recording of ‘the original and best surfing podcast in the universe’, Ain’t That Swell. Hosted by the Swellians themselves, Jed Smith and Vaughan Blakey are seasoned shit-talkers and had the crowd in stitches from the get-go. Lucky enough to join them on the show was Noa Deane, to talk about his film premiere Noz Vid, which followed the podcast. Also joining the podcast for the first time was Noa’s good mate, Harry Bryant.

Plenty of laughs and gnarly stories were shared before it was time to hit play for the first time ever on Noa’s new film. As Vaughan made very clear throughout the night, this film is one of the gnarliest things to come out this year, if not ever. I’m not the right person to dissect a surf film but all I’ll say is, it is SKITZ. Keep your eyes peeled for its official release soon.