In a time pop culture embraces the idea of glorifying the old as cool because it’s so ironically uncool to do so, it’s incredibly refreshing to go see a show where people are doing uncool things because they enjoy doing them. Case in point: the US Air Guitar Regional Championships, held at The Knitting Factory, New York City, where participants celebrated the time-honored bedroom tradition of imitating their guitar gods with a guitar made of air and the power of imagination.

The Power of Air Guitar Performance

I must admit that at first I thought this show would only be really funny to watch; after all, if rock ‘n roll is about not taking yourself seriously, playing air guitar, especially on stage in front of hundreds of complete strangers is about abandoning all dignity to the winds. Once I learned a bit more, however, I came to see that this show really is part of a legitimate competition that glorifies and showcases one of the most important parts of any performance: theatricality. Yes, for the most part you get men and women dancing around on stage aping the antics of rock bands playing to huge stadiums, but sometimes the performance goes beyond mere imitation and rises to the level of performance art. When it happens, as it did that night, the result is just as extraordinary as it would be if the performer played a real instrument.

An Appropriate Opener

The evening opened, appropriately enough, by a performance from that rarest of breeds, an American power metal band. Sporting a variety of costumes and stage names like DJ Blood Sacrifice and Saucy Jack, The Gods of Fire ripped out a 45 minute set to open things up, setting the tone for the competition later in the evening. With a style that speaks of a heavy Iron Maiden and Judas Priest influence, the music of the Gods features five-minute-long alternating guitar interludes, a singer who can actually sing – not just simply push out the unintelligible screams and howls used by so metal vocalists these days – and songs about science fiction, historical events and the glories of heavy metal. For an evening that was all about pushing over-the-top performances to the next level, you couldn’t ask for a more perfect opener.

The Air Guitar Competition

At 9:30, the competition began. The rules are simple: there are two rounds. In round one, the guitarist plays to a one-minute song clip of his or her choosing. In round two, the top eight guitarists play to a one-minute song clip of the judges’ choosing. Guitarists must play an air guitar or bass, cannot have any sort of backing band (although air roadies are allowed) and are judged on a scale between 4.0 and 6.0 on technical ability, stage presence and “airness,” an intangible quality that measures the guitarist’s ability to take the performance to the level of art.

15 guitarists brought their best (or their not-so-best) stuff to the stage in front of the packed house, jamming to a variety of music. Some worked the hair metal angle; others tried pop-punk groups like Blink 182, or pulled out air-guitar standards like Ozzie Osbourne or Queen. The most impressive performances were by Couch Potato, who wowed the judges and the audience with his unique combination of air banjo and air violin and curly black mullet wig and William Ocean, decked out in a red cape, pink stretch pants and shiny pink top, who used acrobatics and rocker attitude to secure top billing. The audience loved every minute of it, giving cheers and metal salutes to the best performers, booing the sub-par amateurs and letting the judges know when they thought a mark was unfair.