June 9th, 2013 by Stinkhead
Click below for a ton of awesome photos from the June 8, 2013 Monster Jam Path of Destruction at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore MD.!
This past Saturday at M&T Bank (Raven’s) Stadium in Baltimore we witnessed the Monster Jam: Path of Destruction, and it came through like a wrecking ball. Max-D was the big winner at the end of the night, but we saw truck loads of amazing stunts and tricks. It was hard choosing who to cheer for, as we had so many favorites present. My son and I really like Monster Mutt Dalmation and Iron Man, but Grave Digger and Max-D are also big favorites.
Each time, we make a point to hit the Party in the Pits. It was cool getting up close to check out new truck Zombie. The centerpiece entertainment were the BMX stunt drivers. At one point they had a guy doing backflips on a pogo stick, while the high-flying bikers were soaring 30 feet in the air above him, while a motorcylce dangerously weaved around the ramps on the ground. It was all pretty impressive. My son liked watching the RC action at the Traxxis track, where they feature accurate replicas of your favorite Monster Jam trucks that you can drive. We got our picture taken with several of our favorite trucks. The only disappointment was Grave Digger’s “land” booting us with 15 minutes to spare until closing. Ah well.
They had plenty of entertainment going between the end of the Pit Party and the start of the main event. They had quad races, modified Jeep races, and of course the cheerleaders. Several times during the show, a monster truck, full of cheerleaders would drive around and shoot t-shirts into the crowd. Seriously? Is there anything cooler than this?
One of the cool surprises that night was a special Baltimore truck. It had photos of things around Baltimore, and bay crabs printed on it and it did a handful of stunts. It would have been cool if they had a dude dressed like Omar from the HBO program The Wire driving the thing. But the coolest thing the Baltimore truck got to do was smash the RV. There is nothing better to pulverize at a Monster Jam show than the RV. Here is a pic of it being turned to a vapor. Ay-yo!.
The next big surprise was the new-for-2013 truck, Zombie, taking down that van stack. They had a van, with two cars precariously balanced on top. It was like the ultimate game of Jenga getting it set up. It almost looked like the fork lift was going to bring the whole thing down the first time he tried to shimmy out the arms, but it stayed. That is until Zombie came and pounced on. My son said this was awesome.
We also really liked Iron Man‘s new paintjob to match Iron Man 3. Iron Man has been one of our favorites for years, and I liked the new deco. I’m wondering if he’ll get a new Hot Wheels truck to match. Speaking of Hot Wheels, we also enjoyed the Hot Wheels booth at the Pit Party, where they could try out new sets and race their trucks. Well, my son liked it… now he has provided a whole list of new playsets I need to get him.
Grave Digger was on hand of course, but he seemed to take a secondary role against Max-D. Last year was Digger’s 30th anniversary, and they made a big deal about that then, this was Max-D’s 10th anniversary, so he was getting a bit more limelight. I really enjoyed watching Dennis Anderson, driving Grave Digger, racing against his sons in Son-uva-Digger and Grave Digger the Legend. You know they’re all on the same “team” but it’s fun watching them compete, knowing they’ll be happy either way, but they really want to win. I can only dream of a life where I race my son in monster trucks in front of thousands of fans with fireballs going off…
This was our third Monster Jam at Raven’s Stadium, and we had a blast. My son enjoyed bringing his Hot Wheels Monster Jam trucks, and played with those while watching the show. I was surprised he stayed up late enough to watch the whole thing, but when you have fireballs, exploding RVs, monster backflips, and (maybe in a few years) cheerleaders launching t-shirts into the crowd, it’s hard to close your eyes.
Swing by MonsterJam.com to see when they’re coming to your town, and check out my bone-crushing photos below.
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