Ear plugs were necessary in the arena filled with roaring, revving, racing engines, huge wheels, exhaust fumes and dirt you could feel in your eyes and taste in your mouth. Monster Jam came to Energy Solutions Arena on Feb. 12 and 13. If you’re not a fan of Monster Trucks, you didn’t miss much.
So, are you a fan of Martial Law, Bounty Hunter, After Burner or crowd favorite Grave Digger? How about lady fans for Madusa? Or do you support Monster Trakker, born in West Jordan, Utah? Those in the audience no doubt were devoted fans. When their favorite truck came out, they’d cheer. Children sported green and purple foam hats shaped as the Grave Digger truck. The upper and lower bowls were barely full, but with what little showed up for the matinee performance Saturday, it was still pretty noisy. Of course, that was probably due to the trucks. Though the arena was transformed into a dirt covered rink with eight, spray painted cars and a tall mounded hill, it didn’t seem like much was going on. There were a few races from your smaller trucks, which was pretty repetitive considering there was a semi-final and final that followed afterwards. The Monster Trucks had a few contests and races. That was monotonous, too. Most cheers were earned when engines were at deafenig volume or, on the dirt ramps, trucks got especially good height before crashing back down on the spray-painted cars. Here judges in the audience held up scores after every feat, usually somewhere between five and eight for every single driver.
After every competition, there was a break extending from three to ten minutes, along with the fifteen minute intermission around three, really drawing out the same, repetitive stuff.
The showcase of the motorcyclists, speeding off the high ramps and sporting daring tricks like “The Running Man”, “Superman” and even some full flips were pretty impressive. That, too, however, got a little boring.
The final minutes of the event were taken up by the freestyle contest, perhaps the most interesting display from the Monster Trucks. Monster Mutt, sporting the floppy ears and wagging tail sprouting from the back fender, spun into tight donut spraying dirt everywhere. Bounty Hunter was loud and energetic, soaring off ramps and bouncing onto the ruined cars, tearing them apart and scattering parts. However, after flipping over onto his hood after leaving a jump, earning a huge roar of approval from the arena, Grave Digger took the win in the freestyle competition.
If you have hearing problems, do not wish to have hearing problems or have respiratory problems, count on missing the next visit from Monster Jam. Considering most of the audience consisted of families with very young children, this isn’t the best idea for a date. Of course, if you’re into this, enjoy the energy, the noise and the commotion from the oversized trucks and the high-flying dare devils on motorcycles. Otherwise, this event is definitely an acquired taste and not a definite guarantee for fun.
For more information, visit monsterjam.com.