Week 15 – Part 2: U.S. Air Guitar Championship

We’ve all done it, but do you have the guts to get up on stage and do it in front of hundreds of people?  No, not that – I’m talking about air guitar.  The U.S. Air Guitar Championship was my second new experience of the week – not as karma-rrific as my clean-up, but a lot of geeky fun!  

I found this gem of a new experience on the City Pages website.  When I first saw the event advertised last week, I giggled at the thought of who would be there watching and who would be participating.  As the week went on, I began to again stomach the idea of nightlife and began to get very curious about everything associated with a contest involving imaginary instruments, including who would compete, who would the audience be, what is the scope and rules of such a contest – I wanted to know how just how big is this Air Guitar Championship.  

Rose and Jennie decided to join me in my journey to find out more about the world of air guitar.  We arrived at the Varsity Theater at about 8:15 to pay our $16 cover – expensive, right?  However, well worth the money, which we would soon find out.  The contest started about 9:30, so we had some time to just hang out in the surprisingly very cool venue. I have never been to the Varsity and the decor and bathrooms are totally awesome (I thought this phrase was fitting for an entry on air guitar) in a hedonistic sort of way.  As we were waiting for the contest to begin we sang along to great air guitar songs from Van Halen, Whitesnake, Def Leopard and Bryan Adams.  I also told the gals about the strict rules of the air guitar championship:  

- Each performance is played to 1 minute (60 sec.) of a song  

- The 60 seconds can start anywhere in the song  

- The instrument must be invisible & be a guitar, i.e. air drums not allowed  

- Air roadies are allowed, but must leave the stage before the performance  

- Back-up bands (air or real) are not allowed  

US Air Guitar contests each consist of two rounds:  

Round 1 (freestyle): each competitor performs to a song of their choice  

Round 2 (compulsory): top competitors (5 in Minneapolis) from round 1 perform surprise song  

It is also very important to know the scores from the first and second round are combined to crown the winner. Pandemonium broke out at one of the contests when there was confusion of this scoring process.  Another important note: the winners of the regional contests go to New York to compete and the winner of New York goes to Finland to compete in the World Air Guitar Championships.  

The championship began with a few words from the MC and a request for volunteers to put together an air band.  The MC first asked for an air drummer, several times, I couldn’t leave the guy hanging, so I found myself on stage awaiting the rest of my air band. The MC brought up an air bassist, then brought out a special guest, an air guitar champion (total Anthony Kiedis look-alike) to play with us.  I can’t remember what song it was, but it was fun and really tiring!  I was out of breath after imaginary drumming to one song, I can’t imagine how tired musicians must be after a concert.  When I exited the stage, I received quite a few compliments on my outstanding performance on the air drums – this must be what it feels like to be a rock star.  

The competitors finally took the stage.  The first four guys were what the MC called “wildcards”, which means guys that decided to compete as they entered the Varsity.  They hadn’t practiced, or not very much, and they didn’t have costumes or well-developed alter egos as seen by those who would become the top competitors of the evening. After the “wildcards”, the real competitors took the stage (I can’t remember all the names so these are made up names with the exception of Aireola and Mean Melin):  

Stiffy – a man in a sparkly gold tunic and blue leisure suit barely moving on stage except his fingers as he strummed his invisible guitar to The Shaggs.  

Tuxedo T-shirt guy – rocked so hard, his hat, wig and sunglasses fell off during his performance.  

Hugh Hefner Harry Potter – a young man in a smoking jacket and cape ran around the stage in a geeky, naive, lovable rock star sort of way.  

Mean Melin - reminiscent of the Miz.  He was one of my favorites with being very technically accurate and having a great stage presence without being a complete spaz.  

Fringy Red Velvet Pants - the man who was awarded 2nd place, I was just ok with him – not very technically accurate and I didn’t think he did anything special  

Aireola – the only woman competitor and the winner of the Twin Cities championship.  She was fantastic with great facial expressions working the crowd throughout her performance.  

The night ended with the MC inviting all of the contestants and the audience on stage to air guitar to Free Bird.  Jennie, Rose and I were happy just watching.  We had a great time; we and most of audience really got into the contest, cheering for our favorites and heckling the others.  

INFORMATION:  

www.usairguitar.com  

www.varsitytheater.org  

How do you get three hot babes in one room? Air Guitar!

Awaiting my chance to prove myself as an air drummer.

I found my stride as an air drummer.

Air guitar = invisible shirt

This contestant showed more than just his air guitar skills . . .

This competitor liked to play it close to vest, actually really close to the nipples.

Tuxedo T-shirt before the hat, wig and sunglasses came off.

Stiffy

Mean Melin

Aireola

Me and Champion Air Guitarist, Anthony Kiedis Look-alike