HOW YOU QUEUIN’: THE ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION

I remember having a long online conversation with my friend Summer once about The Rock-afire Explosion, an audio-animatronic band at pizza chains. I thought maybe I had seen them because I remember having a birthday party at something like a Chuck E. Cheese but NOT Chuck E. Cheese when I was 2 in Saugus. I think it was circus themed though the internet has failed me at officially confirming it called Circus Pizza (and don’t think I didn’t try emailed the Saugus Chamber of Commerce). Anyways, a bunch of devoted fans of the long-gone Rock-afire Explosion created a documentary, aptly titled The Rock-afire Explosion, about their legacy and the cult-following that has blossomed thanks to the internet.

The Rock-afire Explosion had their hey-day in the 80s as the house band of chain restaurant Showbiz Pizza. When Showbiz Pizza began to experience financial woes, Rock-afire was disbanded and the inner core electronics were used to create the Chuck E. Cheese and his band of creepers. The end of Rock-afire Explosion was probably a blip on many childhood radars but certain fans never let go. The internet allowed a place for those fans to find each other, reprogram Rock-afires to perform to modern hits, and buying memorabilia. What kind of memorabilia? How about people buying entire Rock-afire Explosions for their home.

These are the ideas you come up with when your sole choice of beverage is Mountain Dew.

I jest because it’s fascinating to see how much this animatronic band has touched these lives. The fans of Rock-afire keep the memory alive, harking back to the simpler days of childhood where you’d try harder in school just to get tokens and some of the worst pizza.

I shouldn’t pass judgement on the pizza, perhaps it was good. Chuck E. Cheese though had miserable, repulsive pizza.

Along with the fan’s perspective, the audience learns more about the company that created Rock-afire, Creative Engineering headed by Aaron Fechter. I’m still confused how despite being basically out of business for 20 years he still has his warehouse. But his memories of the good ol’ days of 375 employees all working together to create these characters is interesting and the stories of the company and his dreams crumbling are depressing.

It’s also hilarious to hear that Michael Jackson once toured their workspace, but that’s less surprising than Fechter having a girlfriend half his age that used to work at Chuck E. Cheese and loved Rock-afire growing up.

Overall I enjoyed The Rock-afire Explosion, available on Netflix Instant and Hulu, and it made me remember when those audio-animatronic bands seemed so impressive. It’s almost sad that when we’re treated to a performance by a person’s at-home Rock-afire that all I could focus on was the clanking and slapping of the gears. I disagree with one participant’s statements that kids are over audio-animatronics because Disney still uses them and they are popular, but I guess it would be nice to see kids have more appreciation for The Country Bear Jamboree. The documentary is obviously made by fans intent on telling the story of a memory they won’t let go and when we see one interviewee ends up opening his own pizza place to put his Rock-afire back to work (my friend Summer also informed me Rock-afire still exists at Billy Bob’s Wonderland in Barboursville, WV) , we see maybe a new generation could find The Rock-afire Explosion.

Melissa watches an excessive amount of television and blogs about reality TV over at Mel Got Served. For more real-time snark, you can follow her on Twitter.