This past Friday I made my way down to Tacoma for their annual Monster Jam event. Yeah, I know, right? The event boasts that it is the most popular monster truck tour in the world, performing to over 4 million fans. While going in a bit of a skeptic I did come away feeling satisfied and entertained. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the iconic “Grave Digger” monster truck and includes some new competitors on the “monster truck scene” – Iron Man (who made the rounds in the dome with its namesake Black Sabbath song proudly playing in the background) and another truck peculiarly named Team Hot Wheels.
The monster trucks compete in two major events: side-by-side racing and freestyle competition. What was so impressive to me is these super expensive and massive trucks occasionally rollover and crash. It happened three times on Friday night and fortunately the drivers all escaped uninjured but the crowd just eats it up.
The night concludes with an all out demolition derby of about a dozen classic beater and muscle cars. The drivers violently smash into each other, tearing one another apart, for a full fifteen minutes, until the last car’s left standing. Occasionally the action stops for an engine fire but promptly begins after it’s promptly extinguished. Even the car that was on fire continues to compete.
I ended up staying for the whole event and after over two hours of dirt-flying, car-crushin’ action I actually came away impressed. The engine noise is earsplitting so be sure to bring ear plugs. If you are looking for more info or tickets to Sunday’s show, visit http://www.monsterjam.com.
