Last weekend a childhood dream was realised. I finally got to see the Monster Trucks of Monster Jam, live in action in the country I call home, the UAE. For many this will make no sense, but it has been one of those things I have always wanted to see.
Raptor on adventure in the Wadi’s of Oman
Since a kid, I have had a fascination with American Trucks and powerful V8 engines. My dream car is a 1969 Dodge Charger and for the last 2 years I have been lucky enough to drive
my dream truck around the UAE and Oman – F150 SVT Raptor, arguably the best stock off roading truck there is. Some say it’s a bit of a monster truck in itself, perhaps true of a road going truck. But a different league to the trucks of Monster Jam
I also need to add that these Monster trucks are an institution in the US. They regularly draw crowds of tens of thousands of people to packed out stadiums in America and have been providing family entertainment for years. I am 34 years old and remember as a child watching the likes of Gravedigger and Blue Thunder crushing cars and getting, quite frankly, ridiculous air time off the jumps. These guys have been going for a long time (albeit with different drivers over the years) and to get to see them in the flesh really was a tick on my bucket list
We got down to Zayed Sports City a little late and we had missed the Pit Party (gutted) so didn’t get a chance to get up close to the trucks and drivers, but I was surprised and happy to see how many people were at the event. There were hundreds of people pouring out of the centre of the stadium and loads more outside the stadium waiting to get into their seats. Usually a queue would have me complaining, but it was great to see so much support for the event. It was of course no where near the kind of crowds the drivers are used to in the US, but I hope they saw enough of an interest to maybe bring the show back again sometime in the near future. Perhaps build a bigger ‘area’ for them to show off as this one, seemed just a little small so the trucks couldn’t go ‘all out’.
That being said, we were treated to the head to head races as well as everyone’s favourite, the freestyle section. Maximum Destruction – one of the key draws for the Monster truck aficionados out there, had some issues in it’s first round and pulled out of the races, and his mechanics pulled off a miracle to get him out for the freestyle section even if he wasn’t at full capacity. As with many things here, there is a lack of understanding of what’s going on, so you didn’t get the crowd reactions to the intimidatory actions of the trucks to each other. And there was unfortunately the scenario at the end of the show, where people were more concerned about getting out and dodging traffic than acknowledging the drivers as they did their lap of honour, walking the stadium to wave at fans.
All in all it was a great show, the sound is just INCREDIBLE – 1500hp beasts with no silencers just straight downpipes from the manifold! Check out the video, turn up the volume and enjoy my personal favourite – Grave Digger – putting on what turned out to be a winning freestyle performance!
To Flash Events I say thank you very much for bringing the show to the UAE and I hope there was enough interest and financial proof to bring the Monster Trucks back again sometime soon. If for no other reason that I want to get to the Pit Party next time round 🙂