A Night They Will Never Forget by Brad Ewen

Right from the start, the MTV fenom Nitro Circus was a must watch in our home. The PVR hard drive was bursting at the seams with every episode locked deep within the vault. The boys watched time and time again to the point they knew every word the athlete would say, and they knew every word of the catching sound track. You know the one….

Last year, word was that Nitro Circus Live was coming to Canada with only an East Coast stop on the coveted world tour. The boys were sadly let down as it’s not realistic for a family of four to drive four hours to Vancouver, BC then jump on a plane and head east to watch a bunch of hoodlums launch themselves into oblivion and beyond.

Then the 2015 Nitro Circus tour schedule was announced with a Vancouver, BC date listed as TBA on Ticketmaster. The date was locked however the event was not announced. I immediately booked a hotel very close to the Rogers Center and hoped that we would not have to cancel. Then the day came on social media with an announcement that Nitro Circus Live was going to Vancouver on November 1 2015. Shut the front door!!! VIP Tickets were handled…

My oldest boy who is 12 was so jacked when I told him that Nitro was coming to Vancouver that I think he may have wet his pants a little. A massive Pastrana fan with many images and toys that litter his room (and still a bursting hard drive on the same PVR full of action sport porn), and of course the blurry cell phone image I took in Whistler a couple years back when the living Leggo came to take in Crankworx. Our family of four was on him like a fat kid on a Smartie, and dad takes to crappy cell phone image. That, to this day, still graces the iPhone home screen and iPods collectively.

Junior asked, “Dad can we go to Nitro Circus in Vancouver?” My reply was “I don’t think we can make it due to the fact it’s the day after Halloween and it’s a long way to travel, plus we would have to drive the Highway to Hell (TV fame), the dreaded Coquihalla Highway in winter conditions. So Junior, being totally deflated, soon forgets and his birthday fast approaches. He opens his birthday card and BOOM!! – Nitro Circus VIP Tickets. At this point I know he wet himself!!

Halloween week hits and the boys are more excited about Nitro Circus than going to get candy. We do the Halloween thing and shut it down early on a Saturday night (I took it for the team for sure as I was in bed by 10) to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the road trip to Vancouver the next morning. We hit the road shortly after 8am to get to the coast in a timely manner to ensure we hit 3ride, Canada’s premier online BMX supply. We built a half pipe in the shop for the winter so the kids could get their shred on after a day of skiing. We got an early check in at the hotel and unloaded the wife and Jr # 2 then went to get coffee. I pulled off a 20 minute nap (killer!!) then we geared up to be at Rogers Center for a 3pm VIP track walk and athlete introduction.

Everything was pro, from the graphic on the takeoff and landing ramps, and the athletes were very polite. It was super rad to be right on the floor checking out Nitro Circus Live in the flesh. The boys got to meet all the shredders but it was unfortunate we did not get to high five Pastrana as Jeff Williams had him doing some interviews with Global Television…lol

The show starts by utilizing the large TV screens and world class sound with many of the clips from our PVR hard drive or the Nitro Circus MTV footage. I knew we were in for a ride. It was nonstop action bumper to bumper with pyro flame throwers and manmade contraptions that are not meant to fly. Well, they did and they flew, let me tell you. I have seen many action sport events over the years and have been very fortunate to attend X Games, Rampage, Crankworx, Monster Cup in Vegas, and the list go on. However, what Travis has orchestrated with his little thing they call Nitro Circus is to capture a bit of all of that experience into this two and a half hour debauchery.

The range of emotion was truly incredible when sitting back and watching the genuine look on my kids’ faces when the top athletes in each field launched themselves like Lipizzan stallions on nitrous and steroids over these massive gaps, performing stunts that truly should not happen in a real world setting. The Nitro family is very tight; after each stunt they push themselves to perform better than the last time then the athletes get up to high five all their bros. Recently, Eric Roner passed away in a freakish skydiving accident and many of the athletes were wearing t-shirts with “RONER” printed on the back of the shoulders to pay homage to the legend. When they paid tribute to Erik, I’m certain there was not a dry eye in the sold out show. I know I had something I’m my eye.

The largest attended Nitro Circus Live Show on this 2015 tour, Vancouver was electric and the Nitro family did not disappoint. If and when the Nitro Circus Live tour comes back to Canada and close to your home town, be sure to load up the family station wagon with wood paneling and make your way down to the show. It is truly a spectacle you will soon not forget. Truly, at the end of the day, as a father you try to do things that your children will remember for the rest of their lives. Believe me, this show will be etched in their skulls for an eternity.

Nitro Circus Live, a must see!