Labor day weekend brings Atlanta a wide variety of festivals and activities but by far my favorite is The Drive Invasion. It is one of two annual festivals held at the Atlanta landmark, Starlight Six Drive -In. Day time at Drive Invasion provides it patrons with shopping, a car, bicycle, scooter, motor cycle show and lots and lots of live music. This years line-up included Atlanta’s own family band Spooky Partridge, the spiritual high-jinks of Dusty Booze and the Baby Haters, a Smoky and the Bandit tribute band known as Burt & the Bandits, a little touch of metal from Gargantua and many local favorites. Roky Erickson and Dex Romweber Duo were some of the national headliners.
At night fall, Drive Invasion becomes a lock in of sorts. People set up camp in tents and vehicles and wait for a movie marathon to appear on the big screen. This years movies were, Smoky and the Bandit, Emperor of the North, Cockfighter and Hillbillies in a Haunted House.
For some, the party doesn’t end when the movies do. There are impromptu jam and singing sessions. I personally bonded over the song “Sister Christian” with then total strangers. We sang til the sun came up….then it was time to go home and relive the amazing memories that came from Drive Invasion. See you there next year!
