Rock-afire Explosion playing in Ireland

What an astounding surprise I had today when walking through a carnival by the sea here in Bray, Ireland. Set up in a trailer amidst a wagon circle of bouncy castles was the Rock-afire Explosion. I hadn't seen them since the late '80s in West Des Moines, Iowa, and had thought the closest I would ever get was the fine documentary made about them a couple years ago. Needless to say, this was a surprise of the highest order -- like something out of a Ray Bradbury story. Luckily I was armed with my camera and so I want to share the love with all of you. They live! I have seen it with mine own eyes! (listen for the drunk Irishman requesting "Greased Lightning" when they're playing -- priceless!)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• rock-afire explosion
• showbiz pizza
• billy bob
• fatz geronimo

[disneydanny2]

burdurhur, do you happen to know where the ShowBiz Pizza in W. Des Moines originally was? from what i have heard the location that exists today (now a Chuck E. Cheese of course) was not the original Des Moines location of ShowBiz

[burdurhur]

@disneydanny2 I do know! Showbiz was in the same location that Chuck E. Cheese took over, in a small strip just off I235. It was on the north side of the interstate, on the east side of 22nd Street. Whenever I'm home and drive by I wish it were still there. I think that Chuck E. Cheese moved a few storefronts down since then though. It was in that same exact strip, which has seen a lot of turnover for as long as I can remember.

[fanprograms]

This was such a wonderful surprise for me to! Of course, I knew my babies were touring Ireland but I had no idea how they looked or worked. I am so proud of that show and it brings back great memories for me too!

Aaron

[burdurhur]

@fanprograms

Mr. Fechter! I was hoping that you might see this and I'm so glad you did! Your work has inspired so many of us - but I want you to know that it continues to win new fans. You should've seen the crowd yesterday: forty or fifty Irish people shaking their tailfeathers, similing, clapping after songs. And these people had never seen the group before - it was entirely new to them. The band stretches beyond time and culture! Thank you for giving them to the world. They're amazing!

[danloicmuckmuck]

@fanprograms Really!!!!! I am your BIGGEST fan omg omg omg omg omg omg. there is also an other rock afire in England next to where i live in Gullivers Kingdom. BUT the characters have got a diffrent costumes on and have a completely diffrent characters.BUT MOST of them were the same like billy bob, looney bird, erl, the spider aiochio, the sun, the moon, choo choo, the owl and the frog.But the other characters such as mitzi, fatz,dook and rolf, are diffrent.CHECK IT OUT.

[theshadow013]

@NYisontop According to the wikipedia article, the museum in Pace burned down in 2010 and the robots were destroyed :(

[danloicmuckmuck]

look what the sign says at 0:38 FATS AND THE HILLBILLY BAND! why isnt it BILLY BOB AND THE HILL BILLY BEARS. but the only 3 bears out of the 11 characters and prop characters is BILLY BOB, BEACH BEAR and,CHOCHO!!!! IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE ROCK AFIRE TURNED INTO BEARS PROPERLY GO ON The Hard Luck Bears AKA The Rock-Afire Explosion @ Gullivers Kingdome.

[NYisontop]

For anyone looking for a Rock-afire Explosion experience, there are at least two in operation in the eastern US. There is a small museum in Pace, Florida called "Snap's Blast from the Past Museum", it's privately run but open to the public. Just make a reservation ahead of time. Even bigger is "Billy Bob's Super Wonderland" in Barboursville, West Virginia (near Huntington and the KY/OH border). This is as close as you're going to get to a modern Showbiz Pizza experience. The animatronic ba

[askjerry]

Youtube won't allow posting a URL here... but the guy still makes new shows and sells his stuff to collectors. (youtube)/user/fanprograms Change the (youtube) to the URL and it will get you there.

[PuppetAttack]

Wow. You may be the luckiest person in the world. I know you didn't personally do anything, but you just might be my hero for even being in this situation. This must have been so surreal for you. This video made me day. Thank you.

[NinMetro]

I LOVE THESE GUYS!!! Thank you so much for shareing this!! ^_^

[DrizzySOH]

ya poor mitzi well i love it when she moves her hands up and down its so cool

[DrizzySOH]

there scary i love chuck e cheese better

[Cybertosh]

8:01 Poor Mitzi!