Feld chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld says Nuclear Cowboyz is a daring move on several levels.
“This may be the edgiest thing we’ve ever done,’’ Feld said during a break from rehearsals earlier this month at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. “It’s for sure the riskiest by virtue of what these riders do every single day, but it’s the greatest escape that you could ever have. I think it is the right thing for the right time in this economy in America.’’
Todd Jendro, Feld Motor Sports’ senior director of operations, conjured up the concept because he thought the “freestyle motocross program had become a bit stagnant.’’ The production is an end-of-the-world extravaganza starring motocross veterans such as Nate Adams and Jeremy “Twitch’’ Stenberg.
The cast of popular freestyle motocross riders is joined by freestyle ATV maestro Derek Guetter and a troop of backup dancers, fire breathers, and Kiva “Grindergirl’’ Kahl, a performance artist who thrashes a handheld grinder against her “Xena: Warrior Princess’’-like armor, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
The show centers on the battle between two motorcycle gangs - Adams’s Soldiers of Havoc and Stenberg’s Metal Mulisha. With motorbike ramps fashioned to look like decaying buildings and video monitors broadcasting doomsday imagery, the show’s smoky setting is more reminiscent of “Mad Max’’ than the X-Games.
“It’s crushed cars, buildings that are on fire, ramps, and different things,’’ Jendro said. “These guys are not used to riding in these types of elements. We’re incorporating pyrotechnics, sound, lighting, and all these things into this afterworld that’s going to make this not just freestyle motocross but a theatrical presentation of freestyle motocross.’’
