“One For Marcio” - Albee Layer’s Tribute To Mad Dog - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

29 Views
Tyler Larronde, Peahi cathedral. Credit: takeshelterprod

“One For Marcio” – Albee Layer’s Tribute To Mad Dog

Imagine treating 30ft Jaws like Backdoor.

cinema // Jan 22, 2023
Words by Ethan Davis
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Albee Layer occasionally washes off his war paint and reveals a warm and soft innard.  

He made the following heartfelt comment about the recent passing of Marcio ‘Mad Dog’ Friere:

At this point I’ve seen a lot in surfing, too many historic moments to count really. But there are a few that changed how I think about surfing and what’s possible. One of those moments was around 2009 back when we thought Jaws was a ‘tow wave’. It was Valentine’s Day and crowded with lots of questionable surfers – because anyone can get whipped into a big wave. I was thinking how this needs to change and as I thought that I saw this stocky Brazilian paddling a 10 foot board in the channel with no vest on. Pretty sure the papaya board? Then he went over to the left in the middle of all the jet ski mayhem and paddled a couple absolute bombs. He changed everything I thought was possible in surfing in an instant.”

Being introverted, I have a certain admiration for people who will openly express differences, particularly when there is little to be gained. It’s no secret that Albee’s trigger-happiness to call out BS where he sees it has found him on the wrong side of surf politicking, despite it often being genuinely thoughtful.

Fortunately, verbal assaults pale in comparison.

‘Just smile and wave’ advised the most senior Penguin in Madagascar to his peers attempting to avoid blowing up their escape plans from New York zoo. Most media-trained surfers swallowed some version of that guidance as it relates to blowing up contract opportunities, and it makes them predictably boring interviews. 

A learning in my two-year tenure at Stab has been: Don’t bother looking for cookies in tubs of vanilla.

With Albee you expect fireworks, and I like that. As someone who’s undeniably pushed the boundaries of aerial and paddle-in surfing, doesn’t he have a right to play umpire? His irreverence for respecting cultural norms in surfing is fucking comical. Who TF turns down an invite to the Eddie? Albee does. Why? Because Jaws gets good on the same swells as Waimea, and Jaws is objectively a better big wave.

“Unless [The Eddie] becomes really important to me, I don’t think I should be doing it, because of how important it is to so many other people,” Albee explained in the 2017 film Nervous Laughter. “It’s stupid to do something that your heart’s not in just because everyone else wants you to do it.”

He’ll likely never cop an invite again and he’s fine with that. That’s called making your bed and sleeping in it.

Anyways, I digress. This edit, his edit, from TakeShelterProductions, is incredible. Paddling Jaws ain’t pointing your rhino chaser to land and outrunning the wash anymore. It’s knifing drops on 10ft boards and bouncing through monster foamballs – and he’s spearheaded this approach.

Special mention to Stab Highway survivor and SEOTY entrant, Kai Paula too for having a proper crack in his first session out there.

Kai, realizing a new ability.

Taylor Paul, texted Albee to see what his plans are for Sunday, when the Eddie will run. 

“Is Jaws going to be good during The Eddie?” he asked.

“No,” he wrote. “It’s gonna suck. Tell everyone.”

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: Rip Curl Mobilises Its Teenage Army In ‘Dunno’

A 30-minute surf film by Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet.

Jul 14, 2025

There’s A New Number One Surfer In The World

And it feels so right.

Jul 13, 2025

Controversial Opinion: No One Needs To Yoga In Boardshorts

8 Trunks for the traditionalist.

Jul 13, 2025

Stab Edit Of The Year: Sam Piter Stars in ‘Rogue DNA’.

French blood, thick water.

Jul 13, 2025

Matty McG Skydives Into CT Heat, But Jordy’s Still The Main Event

A full day of heats at J-Bay, and only one shark warning.

Jul 12, 2025

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025
Advertisement