Hey, There’s A Fly In The Champagne

by The Editors on February 19, 2009

Feb09 28BThe Kelly Slater vs. Andy Irons documentary A Fly In The Champagne premiered tonight (February 19, 2009) at the Legendary La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, California during two packed-house showings.

Through back and forth interviews with Andy and Kelly, the film breaks down the story behind what many consider the greatest rivalry in modern surfing. In a story in the Sydney Morning Herald former ASP President Rabbit Bartholomew spoke of the rivalry and its effect on the entire tour: “Kelly came back but AI was killing it,” Bartholomew says. “The next three years, they just went hammer and tong. They took it to a whole other level and the rest of the tour went with them.”

Kelly wouldn’t disagree. “People don’t get pushed by nothing,” Slater says in the opening moments of the film. “Competitively in sports you get to see what people are made of when they really get pushed with their back to the wall.”

Hearing about what both surfers went through to put the other up against the wall and seeing how much they both hate losing had the audience laughing out loud. Even when Andy and Kelly went on the “bury the hatchet” surf trip together (which is the focus of the movie) they still ended up jocking each other for waves. But at least they were reportedly talking and hanging out together (not that we saw much of that in the film), and that was a big step forward in their relationship.

One thing we couldn’t help feeling bummed about as the movie ended was how much we’re going to miss Andy Irons on the WCT tour this year. Not that we have anything against Taj, Mick, Jordy, or Bede. We just enjoy the drama and emotion that Andy brings to surfing and selfishly hope that this year off will bring him back to the tour better than ever.

Click here for more information on the movie tour, here for a video interview featuring narrator Selema Masekela and Andy Irons, or follow the jump for a couple photos.
Feb09 41-1
AI In the Crossfire: TransWorld Surf Editor Chris Cote, Andy Irons, and Selema Masekela warming up the audience. Kelly Slater was supposed to be in the house as well, however he called in sick. Rumor is he’ll be at tomorrow’s Santa Barbara stop of the movie tour.

Feb09 24
The crew responsible for the film. Director Matt Beauchesne, Andy Irons, the film’s narrator Sal Masekela, and Transworld Surf Associate Publisher Charlie Anderson.

Feb09 51
Out front it was a battle of the buses.

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