The Rock-afire ExplosionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Rolfe DeWolfe performs on the main stage on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland in Barboursville.
Lilly Mathis, 5, of Lavalette, waves at her family as she sits on the miniature carousel on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland in Barboursville.
The Rock-afire ExplosionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Rolfe DeWolfe performs on the main stage on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland in Barboursville.
Lilly Mathis, 5, of Lavalette, waves at her family as she sits on the miniature carousel on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland in Barboursville.
BARBOURSVILLE ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” In the early 1980s and ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜90s, a restaurant called Showbiz Pizza was known for featuring the Rock-afire Explosion band, which was made up of animatronic group members created by a company called Creative Engineering Inc. The music-playing robots thrilled kids of all ages, who also went to the restaurant for the pizza and fun.
Earlier, in the late 1970s, the Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater restaurant franchise was created in Texas to take advantage of the popularity of the first electronic video games that had come out by then. The eateries featured their own animatronic robots, yet by the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜80s, the company filed bankruptcy and was bought by Showtime Pizza.
Once the two companies combined, the focus was put on the Chuck E. Cheese brand and its version of animatronic entertainment.
As for the Showbiz Pizza Rock-afire Explosion music-playing robots, they ended up in other franchise restaurants, including Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” the last of which is located in Barboursville at 5 Cracker Barrel Drive.
While there is one other Rock-afire Explosion animatronic set up in a museum in Illinois, Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland has the last fully intact and operational Rock-afire Explosion band.
In continued love for the old Rock-afire Explosion shows, the fifth annual Billy Con is set for July 11-13 at Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Wonderland.
A full schedule of events, animatronic experiences, VIP packages, song requests, games and the Rock-afire Explosion Costume Contest can be found at .
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œPeople come here from all over the country to see our place,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said Billy BobÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s WonderlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Owner Mark Hoffman. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAlmost every day, people will come in from some other state far away to see us. We even get phone calls from kids all over the world almost every day. Then, once Billy Con was created, it has really taken off. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s crazy. But, we are the last restaurant left on the planet that has the animatronic show in it, and that has made it legendary.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
With the animatronics being of 1980s technology, Hoffman said the maintenance on the robots is nearly constant, but it is worth it.
The Rock-afire Explosion band plays about every 15 minutes. There are hundreds of songs staff can digitally choose from. At Billy Con, the band will perform a Beatles set this year, he said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt is a lot of work as the convention really has grown over the years,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Hoffman said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œbut it is also a lot of fun and I love doing it.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
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