Post by Admin on Sept 21, 2015 20:32:21 GMT
By Cullen Bird, Today staff
Monday, September 21, 2015 1:19:06 MDT AM
Deafening engines, massive jumps and the demolition of junker cars at the Monster X Tour Friday night brought Shell Place its first sold-out crowd since the stadium opened.
Monster truck and dirt bike stunt drivers alike put on a great spectacle for thousands of Fort McMurray residents who came to watch. The 1:30 p.m. matinee show on Saturday did not sell out, but still did “very well” in terms of ticket sales, said Annette Antoniak, CEO of the Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo.
Shell Place stadium had brought in tonnes of sandy earth and a couple dozen junker cars for the show. The earth was sculpted into a massive ramp, with scrap cars lining its sides.
Things were off to a rough start when the monster truck “California Kid” got stuck, twice, between the cars and the earthen ramp. The pitfall threatened to entrap the next truck, but its driver pushed through.
Afterwards the pace sped up, as drivers raced each other in pairs to launch themselves off the ramp and into fans’ hearts. Each driver made a point of crushing cars wherever they could, to great applause.
Drivers on the Monster X Tour are competing against each other for a $50,000 purse at the end of the tour. Each performance at each tour stop nets them points, the amount given differing based on their performance and audience feedback.
“The experience doesn’t quite matter as much as just the guy who’s going to go out there and do something crazy,” said Bill Payne, owner of Straight Up Racing, a monster truck outfit attached to the tour. “At the end of the night, people just want to see the guy who does something crazy, and is going to do backflips and cartwheel.”
The husband and wife driver team of “Rock Star” won the most applause, and therefore the competition for the first half of the show.
At intermission the fun continued when a passenger monster truck took on fans to spin around the arena.
Three stunt bike drivers provided some awe-inspiring sights as they made daring acrobatics 50 feet off the ground.
The second half of the show was freestyle, where each truck driver could show the audience their own personal mix of tricks and jumps. “Rock Star” won this competition once again, clearly aiming to please with a performance that had more flair than the other drivers.
The Monster X Tour’s next stop is Thunder Bay, Ontario.