SECRET WARS CARDIFF

CARDIFF 2 AMSTERDAM 1

2010-06-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

The more times we do Secret Wars the longer its takes me to repaint the boards white. I thought one pot of matt emulsion would easily cover six 8 by 4 mdf boards. Four coats later and still no joy, I had to run to hyper value which has decided to close with out any one telling me. Now on the wrong side of town I have to run back to the other end of Queen St and dive in pound stretcher before it shuts. Underneath buckets of magnolia I managed to find the last tub of white paint, result. Next time I am going all out on some Dulux Paint, 5 coats of paint, no chance.

Anyway I met Mr K Lenny and Sjokojon (sorry if your names spelt wrong) at Cardiff's infamous Blue Dragon hotel. Mr K found a pregnancy test under his bed which read positive, congrats to the lucky lady (what a place to find out your pregnant). The England match was in full swing so we relaxed in the hotel bar and endured England's humiliation whilst eating some free ham rolls kindly donated to us by the receptionist. After laughing at Alan Shearer's complete dismay we headed off to Buffalo Bar to see if the paint was dry and to sink some Ales.

The battle was not overly busy, blame Stevie Wonder, Glasto, England, Students. But it was nice to sit down and watch the art and not constantly be nudged out the way. Amsterdam off started strong. Their stripping sheep in the the red light district, a comical alternative to two often over used stereotypes came across really well. Cardiff started slowly, by the half way point they where trailing to Amsterdam but in the last 20 minutes a combination of bold strong lines pulled them through. The final piece depicted the Amsterdam team on a bad acid trip in Cardiff. Local legend Ninja drumming on a magic mushroom and a old Welsh Pagan Wizard pouring out a mushroom tea.

Another close battle with contrasting styles.

Its always good to see the Amsterdam boys Lets hope we see them in the next round.

CARDIFF 2 LONDON 1

2010-06-09T09:11:00.001-07:00

After a triumphant away win for Cardiff in London, it was time for what was to be the biggest grudge match of the tournament.

Buffalo bar was the venue for a second time running. With the Bank Holiday in full swing punters arrived early to get the party started. The London team rolled deep with there own private bus full of team members and fans alike. At 10.30 the venue was suitably rammed, our host Ruffstylzs called out the artists and the battle commenced. The Cardiff team came through with a good piece that depicted the London bus getting smashed up as it drove over the Seven bridge on its way to Wales. London drew a Welsh Rarebit being served up on a dinner table by a butler, about to be eaten by what looked like a hungry english man. The battle was very close, Cardiff's piece worked well as a whole, London produced an excellent collaboration, the rabbit was my personal favourite.

So to the judging. London won the first vote from Associated Minds head honcho Mayor. He liked the different styles on offer and the clean lines. Then for the crowd vote. This was too close for my liking, Cardiff just pulled through with 1.3 decibel lead. One all. The last vote went to Miguel Pirez a local producer and ex graff head. He called Cardiff.

Cardiff did well to win but London were very close to getting the away win they needed. Too close in my opinion. Over all it was a great nights entertainment. There were a lot of new comers who had missed the previous battle but had heard of the event via Facebook or through a friend. It seems each event is busier than the last and Secret Wars is spreading fast in South Wales.

LONDON vs CARDIFF

2010-04-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

London 1 - Cardiff 2

Our biggest battle yet and our best result if not the biggest upset in this years Secret Wars so far!

The Cardiff team caught the mega bus with little sleep and enjoyed shots of Corky's to get in the battle spirit. With the Welsh flag held high we arrived in London and headed over to Monorex HQ for beers on the roof terrace. After a hearty mixed Kebab (Terry's restaurant choice is always spot on) we prepared for the battle ( more beers and a good power nap). Just after 8pm our lively group of Welsh supporters met us in the Book Club and started to get hyped up for the competition ahead. Cardiff where up against a strong team including former Secret Wars Champ Tek One. As the battle get under way I decided to enjoy the Secret Wars VIP buffet to calm my nerves, and avoid the Champagne being sprayed on me by Cardiff head Matty Fresh.

Team London came with great piece full of strong clean lines and a nice depiction of Tom Jones with staples in his scalp. But Team Cardiff countered with a strong political theme showing Welsh Miners booting Maggie out of the mines with the slogan 'Coal not Dole' With the battle over the 1st judge voted London, then the crowd yelped extra loud for the Welsh leaving the last judge vote to the decide the winner. As turned his voting board to reveal CARDIFF the crowd went off. Another great nights entertainment, thanks to Terry and the Monorex crew for putting us up. See you all in Cardiff for the grudge match!

SUPPORT CARDIFF IN LONDON!

2010-04-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

SECRET WARS EURO LEAGUE LONDON VS CARDIFF 16TH APRIL @ THE BOOK CLUB (SHOREDITCH)

South Wales's team of the finest graff artists and illustrators travel to The Book Club to battle the London Secret Wars team. The Secret Wars Euro League has been under way for 2 months with battles against Hamburg and Amsterdam resulting in a group gridlock. Every one has won at home so Cardiff team need to gain an away point at the London Battle.

We need to round up all Welsh support to conquer the English on there own turf. This is a great opportunity to win one over the English and cause an upset in the group!

PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT, THE CROWD VOTE WILL WINTHE DAY!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=386501766110&ref=ts">

Amsterdam vs Cardiff

2010-03-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

A great battle, a great night out and a lot of fun had by our boys representing Cardiff in Amsterdam.

We managed to consume Heineken, weed and enjoy the sights of the red light district, all before we met our host Mr K (Joe) and took to the white walls of the Sid Lee gallery to battle. The venue was busy and we where showered with free booze tokens as the drawing began. Our boys (Chris Allen, Mcintyre and Rarebit came through with a really strong piece depicting the Amsterdam team getting attacked by Aliens on Secret Wars 3D. Amsterdam won the night with a strong group effort consisting of a robot ripping out the heart of a Dragon (It seems to be a running theme every time we battle we are faced with a daffodil, dragon or maybe Tom Jones) served up on a BBQ as the special of the day. Great attention to detail and full use of the board. Many thanks an congratulations to our dutch hosts.

Lekker!

A hearty breakfast

Battle Plan

Zaandam

2010-02-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

2010-02-25T11:00:00.001-08:00

Writing this blog with a sore head from excess £2 Stella bottles, still last nights battle went of with a bang. Big shouts go out to team Hamburg (Anus One + Crew!) they came out fighting with some really dope styles, including illustrations of the Cardiff team. But team Cardiff had all guns blazing from the start. With strong lines and 3 very intimidating circus characters all integrated to form a great piece that flowed well and won the day.

Many thanks to Ruffstylz, DJ Jaffa and Double C, plus Terry from Monorex for a Wetherspoons dinner!

Sponsors on the night, EDDING, REEBOK, FLIP VIDEO.

More photos to come!

2010-02-07T15:15:00.001-08:00

Introducing the Cardiff Squad!

Please take a quick look at the best artistic talent from South Wales competing in the 2010 euro League.

Chris Allen

Dom W

Antmann

Mcintyre

Magic

Rarebit

Let battle commence!

Secret Wars Euro qualifier video

2010-01-18T06:22:00.000-08:00

SECRET WARS EURO LEAGUE DRAW RESULTS

2010-01-08T13:25:00.001-08:00

Ok, the draw has taken place, dates are being booked, sponsors are ready, tickets are being booked and artists are hungry for blood. The Secret Wars Euro league is going to go off!!

Here are the 4 groups. Each team battles Home and Away, so make sure you support your home team and of course welcome the visitors and show them what your city is all about.

Group 1
Glasgow
Bristol
Malmo
Warsaw

Group 2
Bournemouth
Birmingham
Berlin
Lisbon

Group 3
Southampton
Dublin
Copenhagen
Paris

Group 4
Cardiff
London
Hamburg
Amsterdam

We’ll update everyone with dates and venue locations….in the meantime, spread the word and keep checking back to www.secretwars.co.uk for full updates

Secret Wars Cardiff Euro Qualifier

2009-12-10T06:06:00.000-08:00

Sundays Euro qualifier was held in a busy Buffalo bar. Fresh white walls awaited, Magic, Chris Allen, Dom, Rarebit, Mcintyre, and Ant Mann. Each artist brought their own individual style, Chris Allens sharp Clean lines sat well next to Mcintyre's dark Zombie apocalypse inspired piece. Magic And Rarebit showed off their bold graffiti style both going head to head with Christmas themes and cunning depictions of each other. Ant mans piece hit home with a mad scientist questioning the corpse of Euro Wars battle entrant exclaiming 'He just couldn't handle it'. it was nice to see Newport's very own Dom back in action drawing his trade mark cuddly monsters that seemed to be devouring what looked like him self. Thanks to Ruffstylz for hosting and to Mayor and Cardiff's hottest producer Ming for judging proceedings.

Big shouts to Edding for consistently sponsoring with the best pens on the market.

Roll on the Euro League !!!

SECRET WARS EURO QUALIFIER

2009-11-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Secret Wars is back bigger and badder than ever! On Sun the 6th Dec Cardiff's Buffalo Bar will play host to the South Wales Qualifier. This event is the selection event for next years Euro Champs. Successful artists will be part of a team that will travel across the UK and Europe to compete against all the teams in the Euro league. The stakes are high, paint will spill!

Find out more:

http://secretwarscardiff.blogspot.com/

http://www.secretwars.co.uk/

Hosted by RUFFSTYLZ

DJs

KILLER TOMATO
MANSFIELD GREEN
VETO

Judges

KILLER TOMATO (DMC)
MAJOR (Associated Minds)

To compete contact

Tom on 07830129712

or...

djkillertomato@hotmail.com

Sponsored locally by:

City Surf
Oner signs and Leisure
Starving Artists
Catapult Records
Associated Minds

CARDIFF TEAM HEAT - DECEMBER 6TH

2009-11-23T03:41:00.000-08:00

2009-06-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Just emptied the Cardiff Secret Wars Camera on to my Mac (long over due) and found the following snaps from the last few months battles at Cardiffs Undertone basement.

April Battle

This was probably our busiest event, and in terms of skill all artists really stepped up to the challenge. It was a real close call between Rarebit, Chris Allen and Magic and after much deliberation from the judges the crowd cheered local graff hero Rarebit to victory.

Big shouts to ruffstylz for consistantly holding down hosting duties, DJs Jaffa and Jamal for rocking the party.

Thanks again to Edding for supplying Pens

http://www.edding.com/

Magic

Rarebit

Jan / March Snaps

Welsh

Ant MANN

March Battle / Jan Snaps

In March defending champs Chris Allen and Magic Went head to head with new comer Jon Bunney having a shot at the title. Ruffstylz back on Mic duties the crowd was rocking until the early hours.

DJ Jaffa and Ruffstylz holding it down

Shadow Laws Ming Die Nasty

Bunney

Bunney and Chris Allen

Chris Allen

Cardiff January Battle.

2009-02-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Secret Wars, the fight club of the art world returns to Cardiff for its first instalment of 2009 .

Artists, Graffiti writers and illustrators assemble on a monthly basis in Undertone basement armed only with marker pens to battle it out for the title of Secret Wars champ.

Format is simple. Each artist is given a white wall 6ft by 4 ft and a hand full of maker pens (no aerosol allowed) the best drawing wins. As Dj Jaffa scratches his way through the finest hip hop beats the competition gets underway. With a 90 minute time limit the 7 competitors begin frantically sketching and tagging. Hosted by none other than Associated Minds finest (and World record freestyle holder) Ruffstylz keeps the crowd updated and hyped with regular time updates.

This months competitors included, Jon Bunney, Magic, Dom, Chris Allen, Rarebit and Ant Man, each has a different style which slowly unfolds as the clock ticks. As the walls gradually fill with ink there is no clear indication to who is winning. The standard is very high and each artist brings their own style to the competition, from Doms minimal line drawing monsters to Chris Allens intricate designs. The elemental of freestyle drawing is clearly present.

Before we know it the 90 minutes is up, Ruffstylz brings the judges to the front of the crowd. Each judge votes for their favourite and it’s left to the crowd to scream loudest for their winner. After much deliberation the crowd favourite Majic and his Japanese inspired piece are crowned winner. With the excitement over its on to the dance floor to Rave the rest of the night away to Focus and Lyons tight drum and bass.

Big thanks to Oner Signs, Cardifferent Clothing and Associated Minds for contributing prizes.

It has recently been announced that Secret Wars Cardiff will be running monthly, if you want to compete email undertonebasement@hotmail.com

The warm up night NYE!

2009-01-28T03:06:00.001-08:00

Cardiff Secret Wars is another new addittion to the ever expanding SW map!!

Below was a warm up night @ Undertone basement (11a - 12 Church st, Cardiff CF 10 1bg)
We invited to 6 local artists to come along and warm up their pens for the forcoming Cardiff cup competition...Below were the results!

Big up to DJ Killer Tomato for organising all this

Watch this space for more info on more Cardiff dates