Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow N Fire – Auckland Review

When you think of Hot Wheels, your mind probably goes straight to the little cars sitting in a box somewhere, not a sold-out arena filled with roaring engines, flashing lights, and 40,000 people screaming at trucks. But that’s exactly what went down at Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow N Fire in Auckland last weekend.

I went on Saturday, and while the show was everything you’d expect, extremely loud, bright, and ruthlessly over the top, it didn’t quite go as planned. Because of the rain, the motocross segment was cancelled. The crowd was still hyped, but you could feel a bit of disappointment ripple when people realised.

Still, what followed made up for it in pure spectacle. Trucks like Mega Wrex, Tiger Shark, and the halfish-glowing Bone Shaker tore through the stage under strobes. As someone who came mostly to take photos (and not really knowing what to expect), it was chaos in the best possible way. Shooting under unpredictable lighting, I learned more about fast action photography in one night than I could in any workshop. The visual energy was constant, and the audience’s reactions made every frame feel alive.

While Saturday’s weather meant we missed out on some of the motocross stunts, word from Sunday’s show is that everything went ahead once the skies cleared, meaning the full lineup of bikes, flips, and coordinated jump sequences finally hit the stage.

Even without the bikes, though, the production quality was massive. The transitions were tight, the pacing fast, and the trucks themselves looked straight out of a movie. Families, teens, and even solo photographers like me were completely engaged from start to finish.

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live isn’t trying to be subtle or cultivated. It’s a show of noise, nostalgia, and neon chaos, and that’s exactly why it works.

8/10

View more of our photos shot here!