The crowd in the sports arena belts out a countdown: Trois! Deux! Un! Z & #233;ro! With a deafening roar, four garishly painted pickup trucks on massive wheels take off, tearing around a dirt track and marking the start of the first-ever Monster Jam truck show in Paris, the City of Light, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Monster cars, the ultimate in American Bubba entertainment, have come to the heart of cultural Europe, and Europeans — or at least their young sons — are embracing them. “This is amazing!” says Sandrine Amadon, an administrator with the Jacques Dessange hair-salon company, who is in the stands with her 6-year-old son, Hugo. “My son loves cars and trucks.”

The promoter of Monster Jam, Live Nation Inc., based in Beverly Hills, Calif., sees an opportunity to rev up in Europe at a time when company profits are weak. “The arena business is mature in the U.S.,” says Eric Cole, vice president of booking for Live Nation’s motor-sports division. “But there are new arenas in places like Hamburg, Prague and Helsinki. And most of these places are looking for good shows to book.”

The star of the show — a green-and-black truck dubbed Grave Digger — bounces over a row of old cars. Cheering children leap from their seats. As Charlie Pauken of Toledo, Ohio, descends from his cab, the announcer asks him to say a few words in French. After first declining with a shake of his head, the goateed Mr. Pauken yells, “Bon soir, Paris!” Then, as the crowd roars, he jumps on a crushed car and sprays it with a bottle of beer.

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