Aaron Fechter has an awesome job. Fechter was one of the original engineers/designers of Rock-afire Explosion, designed by Creative Engineering, Inc. These were the folks responsible for those mighty, mechanical, probably bionic animatronic stage animals that performed for such fine dinner theater establishments as Chuck-E-Cheese and Showbiz Pizza. I was all about Showbiz. Actually, I still am.
Fast forward to 2008, and enter a young maverick engineer named Chris Thrash (who happens to have a very excellent last name). “Chris was a childhood fan of my show,” Fechter said in an email to me. “I gave Chris and a few other fans a price of pennies on the dollar to buy a complete setup for their homes in the interest of liquidating inventory that was taking up space, and also, to give a little back to the fan community.”
So Thrash resurrected Billy Bob, Beach Bear, and friends, and re-choreographed these cosmic creations to perform quite triumphant renditions of today’s best bump n’ grind. At first, Fechter was a bit shocked and dismayed to see what this transaction turned into. However, Thrash and Fechter have since reached a “verbal agreement” on all the copyright and trademarks involved, as Fechter appreciated the renewed interest in his original creation through Thrash’s extremely bizarre and amusing antics. Now, both gentlemen collaborate on Rock-afire Explosion 2.0, and you can even send in requests for bids.
The Rock-afire Explosion is comin’ back, evidently. Concerning the retooled performances, Fechter hopes “that each [video] brings something new to the table for the public to enjoy so that, hopefully, the public’s fascination with the Rock-afire on YouTube will bridge to an actual television show someday for the Rock-afire.” That would rule. And there’s a documentary coming out this fall about the history, trials, and tribulations of animatronics.
So, about Usher’s “Love in This Club” found below…
Head. Trip.
The sun with the face that shouts “heeey!” in the background around the 2:05 mark is, like, the most epic thing I’ve ever seen. Amazing.
They totally need to take this show on the road!
I think there’s big plans for Rock-afire Explosion. The Arcade Fire’s “Tunnels” is next in queue, evidently. I really want to eat pizza now.