BANGOR, Maine — He wasn’t there to play any music, but Australian Todd Meyne was getting the rock star treatment nonetheless as a Monster Stunt Team BMX cyclist performing at the day-long Carnival of Madness rock concert Sunday.
“This is great. This is the farthest north I’ve ever been in the states,” said Meyne, a 19-year-old from Perth. “I’m glad it’s not as hot. It’s 100 degrees and about 90 percent humidity in Greenville [N.C.]. Back in Perth we hang out at the beach all day and ride at night, but there’s no beach to go to in Greenville.”
How does a teen from an island nation wind up in Bangor in September at a 12-hour rock concert that attracted about 5,000 fans?
“Ninety percent of it is who you know,” said Monster Stunt Team manager Joe Scarborough, a 10-year veteran and at 28, the youngest manager of the four regional stunt teams operated by Creative Sports out of Los Angeles. “You kind of have to know someone to get onto one of these teams.”
While Meyne is the youngest member of the four-man team — which performed three 20-minute exhibitions during the concert while handing out T-shirts, posters, shirts and hats Sunday afternoon — he doesn’t lack experience. He has been a BMX stunt cyclist for 10 years, the last four professionally.
“I live in Australia for four months a year with my family. The contest season starts up around March for BMX and goes through October,” Meyne said. “BMX isn’t big in Australia, so we come over to America, where it’s more advanced and there are better opportunities. I do the Dew Tour and shows for Monster Energy.”
He also has competed in the annual X Games aired on ESPN.
The team was brought up from North Carolina — the other four regional teams are based in Texas, Utah and California — at the request of Maine Distributors, official distributor for Monster Energy Drinks in Bangor and the company providing beer and wine for Waterfront Concerts shows this year.
Meyne joined Brandon Christie and Joe Nelson of Boston to dazzle the crowd with their aerial jumps and stunts.
Fortunately, the expected late weekend rains never materialized. The weather was warm and humid most of Sunday.
“We just like to come out here, hang out, and see places we’ve never been before. I’ve only been here once before when I was 16 and that was on a drive through on the way to Canada,” said Scarborough.
Despite his young age, Meyne said his family is quite supportive of his “career choice.”
“My dad and I are like best friends. He’s cool. He just left here [U.S.] two weeks ago. He’s been behind me ever since I started riding my bike,” Meyne said. “My mother passed away a few years ago and it’s just me, my dad and my 22-year-old brother.”
Meyne first got into it almost by accident.
“Really, I was riding by the skate park one day on my mountain bike and I saw this dude do this big jump with his bike,” he said. “So I got up there on my mountain bike. I love being able to get up in the air.”
Meyne said the worst part of the pro BMX tour is the injuries and wear and tear on his body.
“I get hurt. Getting hurt is the worst part, being on the couch while these guys are performing,” he said. “I’ve had a broken leg, a broken ankle, and a separated shoulder besides all the sprains and stuff.”
The best part? The travel.
“Meeting people and the travel. I get to see all kinds of different parts of the world,” he said. “Everyone’s awesome to be around.”
Especially the female fans.
“That’s also a good bit. They ask what I do and I say, ‘ride a BMX bike.’ They like that,” Meyne said with a big smile.
While Scarborough is the old man of the group at 28, stunt cyclists have a surprising shelf life.
“Dan Hubbard, our boss, has been doing it for about 25 years,” said Scarborough. “I’m the youngest team manager. All the others are in their mid-30s at least.”
And Meyne?
“I’ll keep doing it as long as I’m able,” he said with a grin. “There’s one guy who’s 40 and no one can beat him. He’s won the X Games the last five years.”
The Carnival of Madness show featured 23 bands, 18 of them local, and included headliners Theory of a Deadman plus Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic.
Alter Bridge, featuring former members of Christian rock band Creed, was well-received by appreciative fans. After the band’s spirited set, Theory started promptly at 9:10 p.m. The quartet from British Columbia took the stage after a lead-in song titled “Blame Canada.”
Fifty-seven minutes and 12 songs later, Theory left the stage, but not before playing such fan favorites as “Got it Made,” “Not Meant to Be,” “Santa Monica” and “All or Nothing” and anthem hits “So Happy,” “Hate My Life,” “Lowlife,” “Bitch Came Back” and “Bad Girlfriend” — which received a raucous reaction as the last song played.