When you think of Monster Jam freestyles more than likely the images that come to mind are of the biggest, most spectacular action ever. Trucks flying 30 plus feet in the air, leaps that cover the better part of a football field, spectacular high speed, and high energy runs that sometimes end with wild rollovers and unbelievable crashes. Obviously that describes some of the amazing things we’ve seen over the years in freestyle battles inside domes and stadiums all over the globe.
We’ve seen the incredible over the years, no doubt about that, and freestyle is the event that keeps delivering. Every year Monster Jam’s best are able to raise the bar, to deliver performances that in many cases are able to top the best from previous years. In those stadiums it seems that it’s always about higher, farther, what can these machines and drivers pull off next? There’s no questioning how impressive the best stadium freestyles have been, and continue to be.
But there’s another style of freestyle performance that in many ways is even more mind-blowing than what we’re used to seeing on Speed and in these mega events live. I’m referring to the amazing things that the sport’s best can pull off in the tightest of quarters, freestyle shows in smaller arenas that like their big stadium brothers bring thousands of fans to their feet cheering and marveling at what these drivers and trucks can do.
I’ve had the pleasure of working a couple of exciting arena events over the past month, the new Freestyle Mania show in Mobile, AL, and the Monster Jam Summer Heat event in Sunrise, FL. The Mobile Civic Center and the BankAtlantic Center are by no means the smallest arena floors on circuit, both facilities, I would say, are pretty standard as far as floor space in an arena is concerned. On both of these floors the freestyle action was phenomenal, the Alabama and Florida fans were absolutely rocking, all of which got me marveling even more over what these superstars can accomplish in arena freestyle competition despite the limited space available.
Over the years we’ve been privileged to witness crowd pleasing performances in arenas all over the globe, and several drivers have made a specialty out of delivering big time moves for the fans in smaller settings at Thunder National, Monster Jam, and Summer Heat shows. Drivers like Mike Vaters in Black Stallion, Diehl Wilson in Virginia Giant, Bruce Haney in Bad News, Jim Bendzick in Rolling Thunder, and there are so many more I could name here, all of whom figured out ways to in some way defy the laws of nature. To take a ten foot tall, twelve foot long, 10,000 pound truck and maneuver it around a floor large enough just for a hockey rink or basketball court, and fly through the air, crushing cars, nailing stunning moves that have thrilled millions, now for decades.
To me there is a real art form to delivering a great freestyle in an arena setting, and I’ve been amazed by so many of the performances that there are too many to list here. As noted above we’ve seen some talented shoes master the ability to rock the house in arenas, but I’m also amazed when I see drivers who spend most of the winter full throttle on the big stadium tour then able to adapt their game and be just as spectacular when they get the chance to participate in an arena event.
The Mobile and Sunrise shows are a case in point. Most notably a group of former World Freestyle Champions: Pablo Huffaker, Adam Anderson, Lupe Soza, and Madusa, along with some drivers known for the spectacular in stadium freestyles like Randy Brown and George Balhan, all showed that they can thrill crowds as well in the tighter confines. Again, the art of the arena freestyle. The ability to go from hammer the throttle all out to get the biggest air and most spectacular stadium moves and switching to the creativity and control it takes to create a high energy performance with less obstacles to attack and less room to maneuver with.
Brown’s final performance in Sunrise last Saturday night is the example I’ll use here, although I could pick several to marvel at. Randy brought Grave Digger on to the floor in a state where that truck is so popular knowing he had to deliver big time, because Balhan in Escalade, Madusa, and others had set the bar high. Using the term we like to use on the Speed TV shows, Brown “announced his presence”, roaring out of his pit stall and nailing the first obstacle as the Bad to the Bone music had just started. Watching Grave Digger fly around that building you forgot that Brown was working with less than half the space that he had in his Florida stadium stops earlier this year. To me nothing bogs down a freestyle performance more than having to stop, put the truck in reverse because you’ve run out of room, back up, and then continue. But it happens and it’s easy to see why with a truck that so big in a limited space situation. Brown’s run, however, had none of that, which I think is amazing. The ability to plan and control that huge machine to the level that he was able to keep up constant momentum, seemingly an effortless flow from move to move was just amazing. Again, to me it’s kind of an art form, creating the spectacular despite the challenges.
When you see the best in arena freestyle the highlights seem magnified because you, as a fan, are closer to the action, it’s so much louder and vivid than if you are in the upper deck of a major stadium. Don’t get me wrong. The fans memories are vivid of Chad Tingler, Dawn Creten, and Adam Anderson’s leaps over the triple bus stack at the 2008 World Finals even if they had seats in the top row of Sam Boyd Stadium. I’m just saying that so many fans in Mobile have just as vivid memories seeing Double –A fly Taz through his ragged edge performance at Mobile’s Freestyle Mania.
There are so many times and so many reasons for us to be amazed by the performances of the sport’s superstars and what they can do to thrill fans worldwide, but seeing what they can do in arena freestyles has always been, and remains to this day, an aspect of the game that often leaves me truly in awe.
