Capital FMX!
Published: 15th November 2007
Author: Photo: Pete Cobbe
Crusty promos go mainstream…
The last time anyone in the office saw someone on a motorbike upside down by Tower Bridge it was during a particular drunken game of The Getaway on a PS2 but now mad Aussie Joel Balchin’s only gone and done it for real – and over a fleet of double-decker buses!
The crazy flipping flipper’s flipping crazy flip was part of a big promo push for the forthcoming Crusty Demons Unleash Hell Tour that’s due to rock up on British soil in the first couple of weeks of 2008.
With New Year dates in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Belfast, a whistle-stop series of jaw-dropping demos were arranged in all four cities with the aim of grabbing local and national media attention and driving ticket sales. So the day after his London date Joel was at it again – this time outside Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
While it’s easy to be a little blasé about what’s now become a staple trick for more or less every freestyle wannabe star, the choice of location – and the attention from the mainstream media – means that the sport is going to be shoved under the noses of people who’ve never even head of motocross, let alone freestyle, in homes up and down the country. And that sort of exposure is good for everyone with an interest in off-road riding.
The Crusty travelling shows have been a huge hit worldwide but this will be their first stop in Britain. Star billing in the Unleash Hell Tour goes to world #1 Nate Adams but he’s by no means the stand-alone star of a show which features seven of the world’s top 10 ranked riders including X-Games gold medallist Adam Jones, Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams and Robbie Maddison.
“This tour has been in planning for over two years and now we are ready,” reckons promoter Rush Sport’s Michael Porra. “It will be the first time all our riders have performed in Europe together and to assemble the world’s greatest riders to come to the UK and throw down their best in one place at one time will be incredible.”