Who can resist back-to-back-to-back-to-back episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show! on the big screen?
Frida Cinema is hosting a screening event on Saturday, June 27, with the Aquabats presenting all 13 episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show! playing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
And sure, you can already binge watch the live-action kid's show (that's fun for grownups too) on Amazon Prime or Hulu, but watching it with M.C. Bat Commander, EagleBones FalconHawk, Jimmy the Robot, Crash McLarson, and Ricky Fitness sitting in the audience with you? With games and raffle prizes and live music from the goofy superheroes and their villains? At a small theater in downtown Santa Ana? Whoa.
The impetus for the event, said creator Christian Jacobs, was to start a tradition where “We could connect with everybody and keep the flame alive for the show.”
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The Aquabats! Super Show! developed a cult audience when it aired on the Hub from 2012-2014, but the now-defunct network didn't opt to renew after the second season. “Jason (DeVilliers, who writes and directs the show with Jacobs) and I are still trying to get the show back on the air on another network, and we thought this would be a good way of connecting with the fans with the show,” Jacobs added.
Luckily, there's no lack of die-hard fans of Aquabats, the band. And since the show has come out, DeVilliers said, there's been a whole new base of Aquabats enthusiasts who've discovered the Orange County band and its music because of the Super Show. “So it's also way to connect longtime fans of the band, to fans of the Super Show who have also become fans of the band along the way. It's a way of bringing them together.”
Bringing everyone together in a theater will mean an audience who can sing along to all the songs, shouting out quotes with actors, and really create an interactive fan experience. (Think Rocky Horror Picture Show, but with your five-year-old kid in costume instead of your best friend in drag.)
Fans will also get a chance to ask the Aquabats, crew members and special guests questions every two episodes. There will be photo booths, a meet-and-greet, and raffles at the event as well.
“We're really excited to do this at the Frida Cinema,” Jacobs added. “We haven't played a lot of shows this year (coming off the 2014 tour for our 20th anniversary). So this is something before Comic Con that we really wanted to do for our fans.”
It's also the band's first event at the Frida Cinema, a place they've long patronized for supporting local arts. DeVilliers said, “When we asked about doing this event there, we got really excited because they're totally supportive of the local scene. They did a real push to get the word out, so that when tickets were released, all the higher-tier tickets sold out in 20 minutes. Plus DTSA is really cool atmosphere, and there's lots of good food around, so it felt really right to be there.”
The Aquabats, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 27, The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th Street, Santa Ana, $25, all ages, thefridacinema.org.
See also:
The 50 Best Things About the OC Music Scene
The 50 Worst Things About the OC Music Scene
The 25 Greatest OC Bands of All Time: The Complete List
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