Lifecycles puts the rubber to the...Trail
By Tyler Austin Bradley
Local pridesters, get your pedalling legs ready, prep your beastly downhill bike for one more Autumnal descent, and get the sitter lined up now to avoid disappointment: Lifecycles touches down at The Royal Theatre in Trail Sunday, October 17th.
Short of organizing an anticipatory victory ride from Rossland to Trail (anyone interested?), I’m thinking there ought to have at least been a parade or ticker tape event of some sort. Since covering the Whistler premiere of the film several weeks ago, I’ve witnessed Derek Frankowski, Ryan Gibb, Andre Nutini and the rest of the supporting cast and crew make inroads and waves in the mountain bike industry with a buzz that has swelled into a roar, the most recent breaker drowning out the industry bro-brah scene down in Las Vegas as part of the Interbike Tradeshow and schmooze-fest.
Housed in the same theatre that has hosted the MTV Music Awards and a bevy of other collagen-enhanced showstoppers, the film swept over the collected industry insiders with a tsunami-like effect (one of the best parts was watching reps and big-wigs that had taken a pass on becoming sponsors for Lifecycles cry into their beer at the after party, an event of equally swish proportions).
“Vegas was crazy,” Frankowski recalls.
Several technical glitches complicated what should have been a relatively seamless set-up, the team finally able to get a visual onscreen a mere hour prior to show time. Heart-attack inducing? Oh yeah.
“I think it was five years of pent-up energy and anxiety that really came to a head,” notes Vegas attendee and Lifecyles contributor Scotty Carlson. “There were butterflies aplenty, (Derek and Ryan) had both forgotten to eat, (and) weren’t even sure if they could eat.”
Nothing a good, cold shower couldn’t cure. The Vegas show went off without a hitch, the boys were instantly elevated to industry hero status, and the rest has been a whirlwind (transition from tsunami to whirlwind sound-effects) of activity since; Banff Mountain Film Festival has officially selected Lifecycles for its roster, pre-orders and sales have been shaping up, and, as always, local support has been terrific.
In recognition of the local appetite for all things gear-oil and chain-lube related, then, Lifecycles and The Royal Theatre have teamed up to not just premiere the film Oct. 17th, but to present a limited engagement run that will play through to the 21st. That’s five nights of Lifecycles showings with show times at 7 PM nightly.
“It’s going to be a huge hit,” states Lisa “The Holy Grail” McGrail, the Royal’s resident programming impresario. Fresh on the heels of an incredibly successful 3D film festival, The Royal continues to line up crowd pleasers with the five-night Lifecycles blitz. And, unlike the ulcer inflating Vegas-set-up-experience, the Royal HD projector and system is dialled. And you can get popcorn!
If able, this humble(?!) reporter recommends trying to get to the ONPG (Opening Night Premiere Gala) on Sunday to rub elbows with cast and crew. Mike Hopkins, fresh from Red Bull Rampage, is rumoured to be in attendance, as are a truckload of other familiar faces and personalities that helped make it all come together. Come on out to hurl well-timed irony-laden sentiments at the boys as we desperately try to mask our swollen pride in their efforts and accomplishments: “You suck Frankowski! (then mutter to yourself, “I’m so jealous!”)”
Revolution has advance tickets to the premiere available for $10.00, and–unlike with a Miners’ Hall event–there will be no sneaking into The Royal. There are just under 400 seats, and you won’t be able to sit in the aisles- just buy a ticket, cheapo.
Be there, or be square. And you know how well square wheels roll. Not so good .
