Live From The Jamboree

The Last Drive-In: Live From The Jamboree
Shudder (September 8, 2023)

Finally... after over two years of waiting, the episode of The Last Drive-In that was filmed at Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater is streaming on Shudder!

The Jamboree was not our first time at the Mahoning, but it is the reason that I became aware of its existence, and I will always be grateful to Joe Bob Briggs for introducing my favorite place in the world to me.  Until Joe Bob announced that the 2021 Jamboree was being held at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, I had no idea that this place even existed.  Our first trip to the Mahoning was a screening of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and our main reason for going that night was to try to get a lay of the land before the Jamboree.  You know... find out where the concession stand is and where the bathrooms are... that sort of thing.  That was 850 days ago today and we've seen close to 300 movies on the lot since that day.

That's a lot of movies, and a lot of fun nights at the drive-in, and I very likely wouldn't have experienced any of them if not for Joe Bob Briggs pointing me in the direction of Lehighton, PA.

 

So... while I'm sitting here watching Joe Bob and Darcy host a screening of Night Of The Demons from my favorite place on earth, here are some photos from the 2021 Jamboree.

The Night Of The Living Hogenstein

Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree

Sunday, July 18th, 2021

Mahoning Drive In - Tamaqua, PA
This has been one of the most fun and incredible events that I have ever had the privilege of being a part of.  I can't begin to express how thankful I am that this happened and that it was so close to my home.  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  Here are some memories of the last day of the first annual Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree.

This groovy coffin car was made by Jonathan Miksch and The Haunted Forestry Service.  It was set up outside of the concession building with lights and smoke and was a big hit.

There were quite a few horror-themed vehicles on the lot, but one of my favorites was this one which was parked near the concession stand.  My old Nestle brain kicked in when I saw the Eye Scream Sundae on the menu.  That would probably sell if they did it right - a vanilla or chocolate base with mini chocolate eyeballs as the inclusion and a cherry or strawberry syrup as the variegate.  Sign me up!

Jow shared this photo of The Kilted Creature, who was the first of the musical performances of the day.  This is a dude who plays guitar and bagpipes while dressed as the punk rock incarnation of The Creature From The Black Lagoon.  Unfortunately, I missed his set, and I'm pretty bummed out about it because I was looking forward to seeing him and I heard he was incredible.  The highlight was when he played Purple Rain on the bagpipes which was shared on Twitter by T. Denton.

 

The first group I was able to see was a Philadelphia-based duo called A Piano and a Cocktail Murderess, which is comprised of Liz Zimmerman on vocals and Matthew Stevenson on keyboard.  They were damn good!  I'm not sure if the absinthe parlor in Jim Thorpe is still open, but they had a vibe that would fit right in there.  The highlight of their set for me was an excellent cover of Satan Gave Me A Taco - a Beck tune that definitely belongs in the playlist of any Mutant gathering.

The next band that took the stage was called Ghoul Friends.  This wasn't my cup of tea, but having said all that, keep in mind that I'm a dude in my early 40's whose musical taste skews to the thirty year period of 1965 to 1995.  They had a few spoken word in between their songs where the lead singer talked about the band's appreciation of squares (the geometric shape - not square people) which reminded me a bit of the story elements of The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday by Phish. 

Timmy's Creep Show was the next band.  I'm not sure if it's Creep Show or Creepshow (I've seen it written both ways) but they were one of my favorite groups that performed this weekend.  I especially enjoyed their spot-on cover of Love Buzz.  The lead singer was wearing the tiger shirt that Nicholas Cage wore in Mandy, and the cosplay progressed to the bathroom scene when he performed the second half of his set with a blood stained face in his tighty whities.

 

There was an impromptu encore performance by John Brennan & The Bigfeet.  They did a set on Saturday night, but they wanted to tape some footage, so we got to hear The Drive-In Oath, Tearing The Heart Out Of Saturday Night, and an awesome cover of the second half of Metallica's One.  John invited folks up on stage with the band.  That's Gerald in the Aloha shirt standing next to him.

The last band that performed was Lords Of October, and they weren't at all what I was expecting.  I'm going to go ahead and blame Psychopathic Records for this, but I've been conditioned to expect horrorcore when I see musicians in black clothes and white facepaint.  No disrespect intended to ICP and Twiztid, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that these guys have a very different sound.  They're a damn good hard rock band.  The website describes their music as "a mix between The Misfits, Anthrax and Goblin" and that's fair, but truth be told, I think they have a sound that's pretty unique and awesome in and of itself.

The paper that had the setlist blew away during the show, so they either had a good memory or they winged it for the rest of the set.  I'm not familiar with their own material, but they did rock covers of the Monster Mash and the theme song from Scooby Doo which were awesome.  I'm going to spend some time digging through their Spotify this week.

 

Before the movies began, Angie wanted to get a selfie with Ernie the Bearded Dragon who appears in every episode of The Last Drive-In.  He belongs to the show's producer, Austin Jennings, and was riding around on his shoulder throughout the Jamboree.

When the sun starts to set, it's time to hit up the concession stand for a bucket of popcorn and some Rico's Nachos (sí).  They were sold out of the Jamboree Burger, but the regular cheeseburgers are pretty darn tasty too.  Then, all that's left to do is get settled in to a good spot and enjoy the show!

 

The highlight of the night was Joe Bob's Drive-In Of Dread, which is one of the most unique and fun concepts that I have ever seen.  It was a Joe Bob hosted movie event with two classic horror films, similar to Monstervision on TNT and The Last Drive-In on Shudder.  However, the segments were filmed in the projection booth at the Mahoning, and they had an ongoing story in which mutant redneck zombies had taken over the drive-in and were terrorizing the audience who were outside watching the movie.

While this was happening on the screen, mutant redneck zombies were roaming the property, sneaking up behind folks who were watching the movie from their camping chairs on the lawn, and invading the vehicles of the fans who were watching from their cars.

To fully appreciate this, keep in mind two important things: it was pitch black outside, with the only light coming from the screen and the occasional radio or cell phone on the lot, and the costumes and makeup of the mutant redneck zombies was outstanding.  This wasn't just a couple of people in Spirit Store costumes saying boo; this was a combination of costumes, masks, makeup and props that must have taken a hell of a lot of time and love to put together.  Also, the people who were playing the mutant redneck zombies were committed to their role.  One dude took off running after people at top speed, like something out of 28 Days Later.  Another one was literally crawling on the ground and would lay flat behind your chair before bursting up to scare the hell out of you.  The main zombie was called Hogenstein, who was a ridiculously large dude in a costume that served as a throwback to Hogzilla.  It was incredible!

The story that played out during Joe Bob and Darcy's segments that took place throughout the two movies was awesome!  Joe Bob was doing what he does - talking about the movie that we're watching, share facts and stories, and going on the occasional rant that goes way off topic.  Meanwhile, Darcy was trying to get him to recognize that there was a zombie attack on the lot.  Naturally, Joe Bob no-sold this for as long as he could, downplaying the fact that there was anything out of the ordinary going on.

Eventually, Joe Bob began to take the threat seriously, and he attempted to educate the audience on the creatures who were waging war with is and with each other.  They fall into one of three groups: the Stankens, the Strankens and the Shankens, with one massive mutant that everyone was afraid of: Hogenstein.

John Brennan played the Lon Chaney role throughout the night.  He appeared as a variety of characters, including The Hooded Harbinger Of Doom and a gun toting member of the Shankens.

The first movie of Joe Bob's Drive-In Of Dread was the original 1953 classic House Of Wax, starring the great Vincent Price.  It's an incredible horror classic that was made that much better with the random screams from other folks in the audience as they were scared by the mutant zombie rednecks who were roaming the lot.  There was a group sitting behind me on my left hand side that they kept going back to scare.  They were great screamers!

The second feature was the 1954 creature feature - Them! - in which giant nuclear ants pose a threat to the future of humanity.  This is one of my wife's favorite movies because she watched it with her grandmother when she was a little girl.

This is the last few seconds of Joe Bob's Drive-In Of Dread.  I didn't really capture any video recordings of the event except for some of the performances on the music stage, but I wanted to preserve the end of the Jamboree.  What I didn't expect is that after Joe Bob and Darcy said good night to the crowd and the screen went dark, there was one more awesome moment to come.  One of the mutant zombie rednecks who had been scaring the group sitting behind us throughout the night was hiding and waiting for the perfect moment to scare them one last time when they least expected it.  What a perfect end to an incredible event!

I can't begin to express how great this whole experience was.  I'm an awkward dude, and I have a difficult time making friends with people sometimes.  When I'm in big crowds or with people that I just met, I tend to second guess the things I say and assume that I don't belong and that people would rather not have me around.  It's something I've dealt with for many years, and I recognize that most of it is in my head.  I'm not gonna lie - those feelings popped up in my head during the Jamboree too, but it was such an overwhelmingly fun and supportive environment that I was able to quickly overcome them and have a great time.  I can't wait for the Jamboree next year!

We're Tearing The Heart Out Of Saturday Night

Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree

Saturday, July 17th, 2021

Mahoning Drive In - Tamaqua, PA
This incredible poster for what we hope will be the first annual Joe Bob Drive-In Jamboree was illustrated by Travis Knight and it perfectly captures the spirit of this event.  Mr. Briggs autographed the poster for us when we were here on Thursday.  Unfortunately, we missed out on the film festival that was held at the Jamboree yesterday because of the ballgame.  I wish I would have been able to be there, but from what the folks on the lot were saying, the weather was pretty rough.  One person who was also at VHS Fest the week before told me that the rain wasn't quite as bad as that monsoon we had the week before, but it was close.

We had clear skies for the start of Saturday.  It wouldn't last, but it was a heck of a lot better weather than they had yesterday.  We set up our camping chairs on the lawn in a good spot to see the concert stage and the screen.  There was a section roped off for folks to sit next to the staging tent where Joe Bob and Darcy would be filming The Last Drive-In, but that was for the people who bought the highest tier tickets that allowed for camping overnight.  Our tickets were the next highest tier, but it was no problem at all.  There really is no bad spot at the Mahoning.

There were a few mutant-mobiles set up on the right near the entrance after you pulled into the Mahoning Drive-In.  I don't usually like the photos that I take, but I really love how this one came out.  The pattern of the clouds fanning out with the shadow of the spikes on the bottom left corner make the SUV really pop.

 

Many of the vendor tents were wiped out from the rain, but Darcy came to the rescue by donating her tent that was meant to be used for Saturday morning cartoons as a place where the vendors could set up so they didn't miss out on the weekend.  It's a bummer to miss out on the cartoons, but the greater good was served here.  I know that people's livelihoods depend on being able to sell their merchandise at events like this, and we all wanted to bring home some goodies from the Jamboree.

The tent was at the opposite corner of the lot from the exit.  Basically, if you kept going straight when you entered the lot, you'd see it on the far right hand side where the property bordered the tree line that surrounds the drive-in.  One of the vendors that I was very happy to find here was the Ship To Shore PhonoCo.  They're a record label that releases high quality vinyl pressings of the soundtracks for movies (both new and classic), video games and albums from independent artists.  I was just hoping to pick up a few records (which I will write about another time), but I got an unexpected surprise when I found Spookie and The Chili Bandit from The Last Drive-In hanging out on their table.  The dude at the booth saw that I was taking pictures and asked if I wanted to take one with them.  Hell yeah, I do!

One of the food trucks that we stopped at was for Donerd's Donuts.  They have a shop not far from the Opera House in Jim Thorpe.  We got a Cookie Monster and Unicorn donut.  They looked pretty, but they're way too sweet for my tastes.  Thankfully, they also sold nitro cold brew coffee, which was delicious and helped cut down the sugar from the donut a bit.

The Shelf Life String Band was on stage when we arrived, but we were over at the merch tent and by the food trucks, so I didn't get to see them.  By the time we settled in to our seats on the lawn near the stage, Pissed had taken the stage.  They're a punk rock band out of Trenton.  Their lead singer has a raw Zack de la Rocha quality, both in message and its delivery.  Definitely good stuff.  Just as Joe Bob promised, they performed Shitter's Full, which is the band's ode to birth control and overpopulation.

 

Next up was The Accelerators, a power pop/punk band from New Jersey.  Their sound is inspired by The Ramones and The Smithereens, and they've released over 30 albums since they got their start in the early 80's.  They're definitely a more mellow kind of punk than Pissed, but a damn good band.

The main event of the music stage was John Brennan & The Bigfeet.  Mr. Brennan is the musical director and performer on The Last Drive-In.  Their setlist included The Drive-In Oath from the end credits of the show, and a few songs off of their album, including an ode to cheeseburgers that was stuck in my head for the rest of the night.  I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Brennan later in the day, and he's a hell of a nice dude.

Another awesome person that I'm very happy to have had the chance to meet is James Rolfe.  I've been a huge fan of his work for at least 15 years - particularly the Angry Video Game Nerd and the Monster Madness series that he does for his channel, Cinemassacre.

 

They had this cool little photo staging area set up by the concession building, so I stopped to take a picture on the way to fill up my little yellow popcorn bucket before the movies started.  

Jow shared this incredible photo of the Mahoning screen under the stars with The Last Drive-In title card.  I can't begin to explain how happy I am that this drive-in has been saved.  I've only been coming here for a few months and I can't imagine the area without it.  The opportunity to see the great Joe Bob Briggs host movies here with folks from all over the country is a privilege that I don't at all take for granted.  This experience was amazing, and I am truly thankful to be here.

Before the movies began, Mr. Briggs led the audience in taking The Drive-In Oath.  Jolene Marie, the costume designer for The Last Drive-In (and the woman who makes Darcy's incredible cosplays during the season) captured the moment on video.  I can't begin to express how thankful I am that she did.  I've been watching Joe Bob since I was a middle school kid in the 90's and to be able to take the Oath with him here at the Mahoning is an experience that I treasure and will never forget. 

The left hand corner of the front of the lot had a massive tent where The Last Drive-In was being taped and broadcast from.  The right hand corner near the exit had the concert stage.  They flanked the big, beautiful CinemaScope screen at the Mahoning.  The blue digital projection booth in the center was used to project both the movies and the segments of The Last Drive-In live as they were happening in the tent.  

The first movie of the night was the 1988 horror classic Night Of The Demons.  They don't get much cheesier than this, but I mean that as a compliment.  In fact, this movie is a good way to gauge compatibility.  If you have a good time watching Night Of The Demons, there's a pretty good chance that we would get along and become fast friends.

Amelia Kinkade and Linnea Quigley joined Joe Bob and Darcy on the set during the movie.  Both ladies star in Night Of The Demons, and both were at the drive-in all day to take pictures, sign autographs and meet the fans.  I don't want to spoil the details of the show because I'm pretty sure it's going to eventually air on Shudder.  I will say that it's an episode that you're not going to want to miss!

It was lightly drizzling off and on throughout the day, but it really started to pick up when the sun went down.  The rain fell pretty steadily for most of the first movie.  I wouldn't say that it was a downpour, but it definitely wasn't a sprinkle either.  I sat on the lawn in my chair with my hoodie pulled up and a pretty heavy grey blanket over my head.  That kept me reasonably dry until the rain settled down.  It eventually stopped during Intermission, and I was able to make it back to the car to change into dry clothes.

 

The second movie of the night was a Giallo film directed by Sergio Martino.  The Italian title is I Corpi Presentano Tracce Di Violenza Carnale, which translates into English as "The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence".  However, the American title of the movie is much easier to remember - Torso.  I've never heard of it before today, but it's a pretty excellent murder mystery film.  During one of his segments, Joe Bob mentioned that no one in the production of the film was given the final pages of the script, so no one knew who the killer was until the final days of filming.

After the movies were over, Joe Bob and Darcy took a moment to present the 2021 Drive-in Lifetime Achievement Award to the Mahoning Drive-In owner and chief projectionist, Jeff Mattox.  He wasn't able to be there to accept it, so his team, Virgil, Mark and JT, accepted it on his behalf.  It's an award that has previously been accepted by Stephen King, Roger Corman and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and now another movie icon can be added to that list.

And that was the end of our Saturday at Joe Bob's Jamboree.  We've got one more day to go, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it that I can.