What happens when you know that something exists, but you can't find evidence of it online?

The 1998 Deluxe tour video Gnarcotica is a prime example of this increasingly rare phenomenon. The only trace of the video we could find was an 8 minute section on Vimeo. This was odd to us because not only did we know the 18-minute video existed (how could you forget the porn tape packaging?), but at least one of the Village Psychic staff was present for a demo featured in the video.

Quim Cardona is from New Jersey, yet seeing him wearing a shirt from a shop in Milwaukee called Sky High makes plenty of sense. Nollie hardflip.

We knew we had to track the video down. As you could guess, Gnarcotica contains some very strong skateboarding. In it are some heavy aerial maneuvers from Julien Stranger and John Cardiel, as well as several buttery backside tailslides on transition from Ryan Wilburn. It also contains some shredding from a very young Dustin Dollin, who was riding for the then-Deluxe-distributed Stereo, as well as a teenage TNT airing over everything in sight.

Talent aside, Gnarcotica is a good look back to what's now a different time. A time when the middle of the country was littered with questionably built indoor skateparks. A time when there were still amazing street spots that only got skated once every 3 years when pros came through town. A time when the unlikely assemblage of Quim Cardona, Dustin Dollin and John Cardiel could be found crossing the country together in a van. A time when the music of AFI and The Swinging Utters could be used in a skate video.

Cardiel showing up and airing over your entire hometown skatepark was probably the highlight of many a kid's summer in 1998.

We were lucky enough to come across a copy of the VHS tape via The Secret Tape. Ready to re-release the video to the world, we had the tape digitized and were prepared to amaze everyone with a gem lost to the thrift store shelves.

Teenage pre-stuntman era Dollin was a stylish-ass dude. Kickflip to fake.

That is, until it was brought to our attention that video in it's entirety was recently linked to on Skate.ly, and has been on YouTube (albeit without it's full title, therefore evading our searches) since 2011.

Which goes to show that literally everything can be found on the internet.

Thanks to The Secret Tape, a solid resource for hard-to-find skate VHS tapes.

Gnarcotica, Or Why You Can't Hide From The Internet