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Starlight Drive Invasion 2002 - Sunday

Sunday things kicked off earlier with the Dixie Fried Car Show, organized by The Road Kings.
Oh, the cars.

Chad Proctor's super Buick.	The beast is so long it looks like it reaches all the way to the screen.
This massive Chevy van had the sides cut out to make a near perfect drive in vehicle.	Look at the tits on this beauty!

One after another pulled into the lot and each made it harder to decide which I'd select if I could have my pick of the lot. Eventually I had to go with the (bitchin') convertible Camaro. But there was something for every taste. I was bummed I didn't get to add my car to the lineup but some things just aren't meant to be.
Someone's Thunderbird, or replica, makes a great drive in shot.

Self portrati in chrome.

There were even a few two-wheelers.

A sweet little Metro.
Some folks opted to let this guy do some custom painting right there at the show.	This Pontiac may have more trunk room than passenger space.

Cars lined up for the bikini car wash.

This Trans Am has an 8 track, with Ted Nugent in the player when I looked inside.

Kate and the Retreads started off the afternoon's live entertainment with old school country stuff. Kate is super hot, but not as hot as the blazing sun. Saturday had been unseasonably cool but Sunday lived up to its name with blazing temperatures. Few could stand the heat on the blacktop in front of the stage so Kate didn't get the audience she deserved.

The Holy Smokes followed, with Clete and the crew cranking out honky tonk country fried stuff. Good stuff but Clete could use a dose of confidence. He was obviously feeling a bit shy on stage despite everyone's applause. Smile, man, you're loved! Johnny Knox's furious fingers were on lead guitar with the usual results -electric wonder.

Familiar faces (including a new neighbor over here at the DP HQ) have joined together in a new lineup, Sonoramic Commando. Where Knox's fingers are an attack, Chad Proctor's hands are a church choir. I once asked Clete if he'd ever heard Chad miss a note. "Never. Not once." he replied, shaking his head. Chad is a machine, effortlessly rolling out the rockabilly sound. This was paired with the rest of the group's country leanings to make a rootsy country rock show more than worth a listen.

We recently reviewed the new Gravy Boat CD and noted that it doesn't quite live up to the live show. They bring a truckload of energy and enthusiasm with them live, cranking out good country tunes punctuated by pounding rock, an excellent mix that somehow just didn't come out in the recording. But live, they shine.

The Belmont Playboys had played the Invasion before but because the opening acts ran long they barely got going before they were cut off by the movie. But this year they got their due time and used every moment like it was their last. Badass rockabilly, and in a genre where it's tough to stand out these guys stand head and shoulders above the rest. Hard and smooth at the same time, excellent stuff.

The Belmont Playboys inspired a few acts of swing dancing.

The movie screen flickered to life with another batch of trailers that got everyone howling with laughter. I really hope we get to see Dead End Drive In actually showing at the drive in one of these days, as well as any of the dozens of car chase and crash flicks they previewed Sunday.
Ted V. Mikels was there in person to sign our personal copy of Astro Zombies, a film shown at the first Drive Invasion. I remembered the movie fondly for it's many heckling opportunities so I looked forward to a couple of his other features.
Girl in Gold Boots started off promising with go-go dancers and fuzzy 60's garage rock behind the title sequence, but then deteriorated into a slow story about a guy on the run, his newfound female travel companion, and the folk-song-singing hitchhiker they pick up en route to LA. Things swing from dull to confusing to dull again throughout the movie. It was fun to heckle for a while, but eventually you just wanted it to end.
"Could this movie get any slower??" someone asked, incredulously.
Yes, it can. The film slowed, and broke.
Some cheered, but I groaned, knowing they'd only start it back up again.
It flickered back to life, then slowed and broke again.
Funny, but still frustrating.
After the third stoppage the film died the death it deserved as the projectionist mercifully switched to the next feature.
Blood Orgy of the She-Devils was less dull and provided all the heckling opportunities of Girl in Gold Boots, as well as several of the same actors, but without nearly so many dull sequences and no awful folk songs. Unfortunately it was lacking in the promised blood and/or orgy of the title, but still better than the opening flick.
Doll Squad followed, a precursor to Charlie's Angels, complete with the psychedelic spinning color effect between scene changes. Hot ladies running around doing karate and wielding guns can't be all bad!

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