My six-year-old daughter was not terribly pleased about going to Friday night's Monster Jam event in Charlotte, N.C. She's not a huge fan of loud noises and simply thought they were going to drive around in circles.
However, her attitude completely changed once we found our seats in the Time Warner Cable Arena and the Monster Jam trucks began their parade of power around the track.
The size of the trucks, the sound of their powerful motors and the tight confines of the arena floor -- where we saw an AHL Charlotte Checkers game played just days before -- were enough to captivate everyone in the arena, my daughter included.
The entire format was very fan-friendly, with the trucks competing in four different events throughout the night: a wheelie competition, obstacle course, donut competition, and freestyle challenge.
Each time the trucks roared up the dirt mound and leapt high into the air, fans young and old all cheered, clapped, and snapped pictures or video on their phones.
In addition to the monster truck action, Monster Jam also excels in making the entire on-site experience very social.
Fans are encouraged throughout the event to take pictures and share them to their personal social media accounts -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube -- using the hashtag #MonsterJam or #MyMonsterJam.
Between the action on the arena floor, fan pictures would appear on the arena's big screen, putting their pictures out there for the rest of the fans to see. This was a great way to create a social buzz around the event and get fans integrated with the action taking place on the track below.
The Time Warner Cable Arena scoreboard shows off fan tweets and Instagram posts during Friday's Monster Jam event in Charlotte, N.C.
The monster trucks weren't the only things providing entertainment, though. There were three men doing extreme pogoing -- that's extreme pogo stick tricks, freestyle motocross bikes doing huge flips, as well as off-road motorcycles with no seats doing freestyle tricks around the track.
The entire time, the Monster Jam crew kept the fans, especially the kids in attendance, entertained either with the amazing monster truck action or the intermission entertainment.
At the end of Friday night's events, Mohawk Warrior driver BJ Johnson cleaned house and won all four events hands down.
Yet a humble driver, Johnson gave his first trophy of the night to his crew chief, the only female crew chief in Monster Jam. For the rest of the event, the driver of Mohawk Warrior climbed into the crowd and handed his trophies out to fans sitting in the stands, all of them young kids.
When Mohawk Warrior's teammate, Metal Mulisha, flipped his truck doing his final freestyle run of the night, the entire arena -- my daughter included -- went absolutely wild.
Metal Mulisha just flipped and Abigail is loving it! #MonsterJam pic.twitter.com/a8uOVS1F2q
— Jay W. Pennell (@jaywpennell) January 10, 2015
Following the night's performance, all of the drivers took time to sign autographs for fans in the concourse.
All around, the entire Monster Jam experience far exceeded the expectations I -- and my daughter -- had going into the event. The fan-friendly, family atmosphere was quite enjoyable, and the on-track action was beyond what we had imagined going into the night.
If you can visit a Monster Jam event in your part of the country, I highly recommend grabbing the family and friends and taking part in the excitement. If not, be sure to catch all the action on FOX Sports 1 throughout the year.
Air Date Location Venue Start Time (ET/PT)
Sunday, Jan. 11 Houston, Texas NRG Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, Jan. 18 Atlanta, Ga. Georgia Dome 11:00 am/8:00 am
Sunday, Feb. 1 Tampa, Fla. Raymond James Stadium 11:00 am/8:00 am
Sunday, Feb.1 Indianapolis, IN. Lucas Oil Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, Feb. 8 St. Louis, Mo. Edward Jones Dome 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, Feb. 22 Recap/Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, Feb. 22 Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium 1:00 pm/10:00 am
Sunday, March 1 Arlington, Texas AT&T Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, March 8 Detroit, Mich. Ford Field 11:30 am/8:30 am
Sunday, March 22 Syracuse, N.Y. Carrier Dome 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, April 5 Recap & Highlights Monster Jam Stadium Tour 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, April 12 Inside Monster Jam 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, April 19 Inside Monster Jam 3:00 pm/12:00 pm
Sunday, April 26 Las Vegas, Nev. Sam Boyd Stadium 1:00 pm/10:00 am
Sunday, April 26 Las Vegas, Nev. Sam Boyd Stadium 2:00 pm/11:00 am
Sunday, May 10 Las Vegas, Nev. Sam Boyd Stadium 11:00 am/8:00 am
Sunday, May 10 Las Vegas, Nev. Sam Boyd Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, June 7 Santa Clara, Calif. Levi's Stadium 10:00 am/7:00 am
Sunday, June 14 Inside Monster Jam 6:00 pm/3:00 pm
Sunday, June 21 Inside Monster Jam 11:00 am/8:00 am
Sunday, June 28 Inside Monster Jam 9:00 am/6:00 am
Sunday, July 5 Inside Monster Jam 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, July 12 Inside Monster Jam 10:00 am/7:00 am
Sunday, July 19 East Rutherford, N.J. MetLife Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, July 26 Foxboro, Mass. Gillette Stadium 12:00 pm/9:00 am
Sunday, Aug. 2 Inside Monster Jam 12:00 pm/9:00 am
