Stepping into the United Center and the craziness of the event was surreal.  I was instantly overwhelmed with how amazing this show was going to be. There were people everywhere; the noisy hum from all the conversations going on around me added to my excitement.

Once I sat down, I was able to look around and take in the moment. The first thing that caught my eye was the large red and blue ‘Nitro Circus Live’ sign overtaking the entirety of the ramp that sat in the center of the arena. This was the first time Nitro Circus had come to Chicago, and as much as I loved this group, I never pictured myself being able to see “Nitro Circus Live” ever, so it was pretty cool to have received tickets from GoMoxie.org and Voyager for the October 21st show.

Nitro Circus is a group of 45 members that perform death defying tricks on BMX bikes, FMX (dirt) bikes, scooters, and inline skates. But they also do tricks on other objects, even jumping off the ramp into a bathtub before.

This group started out in the backyard of Travis Pastrana, who just wanted to do a bunch of fun and stupid things with his friends.  There were no inline skaters or scooters doing jumping of any kind in that backyard.  They had been videotaping themselves and were sending the videos to a TV station.  It then turned into a mini TV series which was later bought by MTV and turned into an ongoing TV series.

It was a pretty fun night, and quite memorable.  This whole group kind of signifies that you should never give up just because society says you can’t.  And they like to show that through their tricks.

One of the tricks they like to do is take three members from the audience and put them on an FMX bike along with a member of the crew to do a back-flip. Hopefully, they land. The crowd was fortunate to see the trick work out well.  Unfortunately one of the guys didn’t hold on tight enough when they landed and he fell on his bum.  But hey, they stuck the landing.

Halfway through, they had a portion called “Rest of World vs. USA”.  Now, most of the crew is from other countries like Australia and Germany, but there are some from the United States.  They like to have a competition between the categories.  They took the ROW team and had them try to beat the USA team with the best tricks they can do. There were three rounds:  Back-flips, dolphin moves, and supermen tricks were being done left and right.  It wasn’t good enough to beat the US.  We showed true American spirit and beat the ROW team, crowning us champions.

One trick done that is truly inspirational is with the FMX bike they customized for one of the crew members. Aaron Fotherinham paralyzed himself in a motor bike accident last year and has been in a wheelchair since then, but that hasn’t stopped him from doing what he loves:  Riding his FMX bike. They were able to alter his bike so it changes gears on the handlebars instead of him having to use his feet. They have worked on this for a long time and he was finally able to use it. He is breaking the barriers that block his way:  Doing back-flips on his FMX bike for people around the world, inspiring children and adults.

Nitro Circus is an inspiration to all. They show that you should never give up on your dreams just because there are things in your way saying you can’t. Just because you are in wheelchair doesn’t mean that you have to stop doing the things that you love. It means that you should knock them down and rise above.  They talk about how you should never give up just because society says you can’t.  Nitro Circus is something everyone should give a shot. The shocking fact that these people put their lives at risk for fun and because society told them they shouldn’t, is revolutionary and inspiring.