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Live Nation, Inc. is a live events company based in Beverly Hills, California. Live Nation formed in 2005 by a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications. The present CEO of the company is Michael Rapino.
Mainly a concert promoter, Live Nation "signs" artist as a "record label", but predominantly takes the role of a promoter, rather than "owner of music". The deal with U2 and Madonna for example does not include copyright of the artists' future recordings. The 2007 deal signed with Jay-Z includes the rapper's future recordings. Other artists that recently signed with Live Nation include Nickelback and Shakira.<ref name="Swash">Jay-Z to sign deal with Live Nation Rosie Swash, The Guardian, April 3, 2008. Accessed July 2008</ref>Record labels need 'reinventing' BBC News, 14 July 2008. Accessed July 2008
Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld EntertainmentFeld Entertainment Acquires Live Nation Motor Sports. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) and takes place primarily in the United States. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the "intermission" entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.
A monster truck is an automobile, typically styled after pickup trucks, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension. They are used for competition and popular Sports Entertainment and in some cases they are featured alongside Motocross races, mud bogging, tractor pulls and car-eating robots. They are most popular in the United States.
Usually, a monster truck show involves the truck crushing smaller vehicles beneath its huge tires. These trucks can run up and over most man-made barriers, so they are equipped with remote shut-off switches, called the Remote Ignition Interuptor (RII), to help prevent an accident if the driver loses control at any time. At some events, only one truck is on the course at a time, while most feature two drivers racing each other on symmetrical tracks, with the losing driver eliminated in single-elimination tournament fashion.
In recent years, many monster truck competitions have ended with a "freestyle" event. Somewhat akin to figure skating with giant trucks, drivers are free to select their own course around the track and its obstacles. Drivers will often try 'Donuts', wheelstands and jumps during this segment. Additional items for the drivers to crush - usually including a motor home - are frequently placed on the track specifically for the freestyle event. Other obstacles sometimes placed on the track include school buses and small airplanes.
Instant Live is a service by Live Nation which provides for the distribution of digital live recordings of concerts and music events, available soon after a performance has ended. Music is recorded and mixed at the event, by personnel inside the company's portable recording vans.
The program was rolled out in clubs in Boston, Massachusetts in 2003, and has since expanded internationally. Live Nation once held a patent on a process for placing markers between songs during a live performance, giving them an effective monopoly on post-concert digital recording. The patent was subsequently rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office after the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted evidence of prior art to the USPTO.
To date Instant Live has done live recordings of almost 200 artists, including the Allman Brothers Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, Black Crowes, Yo-Yo Ma, and Peter Frampton.
:See also Gravedigger (disambiguation).
Grave Digger (often referred to as simply Digger) is the name of a team of monster trucks currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. There are several Grave Diggers being driven by different drivers to allow them to make appearances at more events, but their flagship driver is creator Dennis Anderson. Arguably the most popular truck currently running, Grave Digger is considered to be one of the most influential monster trucks of all time.
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Thunder Nationals is the name of a monster truck series run by the USHRA. The series primarily consists of monster truck racing and freestyle in indoor arenas. The events typically have only two parallel sets of cars on an empty concrete floor as a race track. The series was once independent but was combined with the USHRA in the middle of the 1990s. Traditionally, the series featured a core group of independent trucks, such as Virginia Giant, Black Stallion, and Eradicator; however, recent changes to make the events more like the flagship Monster Jam series have included the introduction of Monster Jam regulars, like Grave Digger and Maximum Destruction, to Thunder Nationals events.
The typical format of the T-Nats shows is a four contest event consisting of: *wheelie competition *straight line racing *donut contest *ending with free style, the favorite of the majority of casual fans.
A slap wheelie is a specific form of freestyle trick performed by monster trucks. The truck is jumped over an obstacle, the front wheels bounce off the ground when it lands (hence, the slap) and the driver lays into the gas pedal to use the torque of the engine to pull the truck into a wheelstand. While being a straight show of power, the trick is also considered a technical move because timing is critical in the application of power, or else the truck might be damaged or not go into a wheelstand. Some drivers who are famous for performing slap wheelies are Dan Runte (Bigfoot), Paul Shafer (Monster Patrol) and Kelvin Ramer (Natural High).
The Monster Jam World Finals is an annual monster truck event held in late March at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV. It is the championship event of the USHRA Monster Jam series. It consists of racing and freestyle segments, and the winner of each is considered the series champion in that division for the coming year. It is the highest profile monster truck event in the country and draws tremendous media attention as well as criticism from those who dislike its destructive reputation.
Originally only 16 trucks were invited to compete in the event, however 20 were selected in 2005, and since 2006, 24 have been invited annually. Trucks and drivers are selected based on their performances over the winter season, which runs from January into early March. When multiple drivers for the same team or truck are selected, they are typically placed into other trucks which travel with their primary vehicle (Grave Digger drivers Charlie Pauken, Chad Tingler, and Randy Brown have competed in the World Finals in Monster Mutt, Monster Mutt Dalmatian, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle respectively, and teammate Pablo Huffaker won the 2007 Freestyle Championship driving Captain's Curse). Truck selection has been controversial in the past as many of the trucks are owned by parent company Live Nation, with only a few privateer trucks regularly invited. Many more trucks are invited to be displayed during the "Pit Party" festivities in the days prior to the event.
The stature of the event leads to extremes in both competitions. The racing track starts in the parking lot behind the locker rooms of the stadium, and features a long straightaway with speeds reaching over 70 MPH. The freestyle track layout is typically the most extreme all season, with several large and unique obstacles, often producing a multitude of crashes. The scoring system is also modified for the event, with six judges and the lowest and highest scores dropped for a maximum possible score of 40 (not including tiebreakers), as opposed to three judges and a maximum score of 30 for the regular season.
Freestyle, in Monster Truck competition, is an event where the goal is to perform tricks and stunts with the truck in order to demonstrate driver skill and truck capability. Some freestyle events are judged competitions, while others are merely exhibitions.
Pro Arena Truck racing is a branch of off-road racing. Pro Arena Truck racing consists of modified trucks (and sometimes stock trucks for fun) going around a Motocross-style indoor arena course filled with different jumps, bumps and turns. Similar events held in outdoors settings are sometimes called Tuff Truck competitions.
The trucks are usually run one at a time, with the quickest time winning. Some promotions or event managers run the trucks two at a time for added spectacle.
Pro Arena Trucks are usually seen at Monster Truck events, and are rarely run as an independent event. Some Arena Trucks are owned and operated by Monster Truck teams. Arena Trucks are usually pickup trucks that have been upgraded to resist the rigors of arena track off-roading. By contrast, a modern Monster Truck is a large-scale methanol-fueled dune buggy with a fiberglass exterior designed to resemble a pickup truck.
Blue Thunder is a monster truck currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. It is sponsored by the truck division of Ford Motor Company and Live Nation. The truck has several similarities with the monster truck Bigfoot. Some fans have seen Blue Thunder as a replacement for Bigfoot in the Monster Jam series. The truck has been moderately successful and has won several major events. However, it has not yet won a championship. Blue Thunder is used by Ford Motor Company for promotional purposes along with competition.
The 2008 World Finals Odds are the 2008 edition of the Monster Jam World Finals odds by announcer Scott Douglass. The odds are what Scott Douglass thinks will happen at the Monster Jam World Finals each year.
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The Monster Trucks in Past World Finals is the field of trucks for the past nine Monster Jam World Finals events, which is the season finalle for the monster truck racing series Monster Jam.
The Monster Jam World Finals 2008 Qualifiers are:
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