Victoria Anthony spills an East Vancouver secret
Depending on where you stand— eight wheels optional—Victoria Anthony has either just done Vancouver a huge favour or she’s ruined things for everyone who loves Roller Boogie starring Linda Blair and owns not just one but two pairs of Moxi Lolly Roller Skates (one clementine orange and one pineapple yellow).
The West Coast teenager’s new video for “Kinda Into You” goes the economical route, with all the action taking place in one locale: a roller rink that combines the best of the ’70s (disco balls and retrothemed quad skates), ’80s (neon, neon, and more neon), and ’90s (hello kool thing silver-tinsel curtains).
As for the song, it’s thoroughly modern pop with just the right amount of sheen, Anthony sounding like someone whose all-time favourite mix tape starts with Pink’s “Get the Party Started” and ends with Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive”.
Vancouverites first got to know Anthony in 2018, when Pink plucked her out of the crowd, handed her the mic, and then watched as the 14-year-old nailed “Perfect” for the 18,000-strong crowd. In the days that followed a clip of the moment went viral, with the teenager using her first 15 minutes of fame to launch a singer career that’s brought us, today, to “Kinda Into You”.
Evidently the kind of artist who believes one should always do their own stunt
work, Anthony taught herself to skate in a week for the video, which was filmed at Rollerland in the Lower Mainland.
And what is Rollerland? (This operating on the assumption that you aren’t seriously thinking about springing for a pair of hotpink Moxi Rainbow Rider Roller Skates).
Um, depending on where you stand,
you’ll either be of the opinion that it’s a place that everyone in the city needs to know about immediately, or the last thing the local rollerskating community needs is someone letting the secret out. Because the more people know that Rollerland exists, the more crowded the place will be on every day with the word “day” in it. g