Thanx to Bettie B Goode for the write up and photos!
Full set: http://flickr.com/photos/loveitmadly/sets/72157607498078895/
This past Tuesday evening D.C.'s own Paul Alexander, a.k.a. Fender Splendor hosted the first ever All-City Air Guitar Competition at The Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights.
Air guitar veterans, novices and wildcards alike took the small stage before a packed house for a night of flips, thrusts, windmills and good ol' fashioned face melting.
Baltimore's Lance Kasten (a.k.a. The Shred) walked away the winner and Tim Granlund (a.k.a. The Six String General) may or may not be getting the lay of his life after shoving his tongue down the throat of a very cute blonde in the middle of his final round performance. The General took second place, with Kolb Ettenger (a.k.a. Vlad D.M. Wailer) placing third.
Brooklyn's Bettie B. Goode stepped out from behind the judges' table for an impromptu performance of 'Too Drunk To Fuck', leaving behind a stage covered in beer, sweat, mustard and ketchup. Apparently no one took photos of her performance. If you did, please send them my way.
Final verdict: The show was tight. There should be more.
Previously in Live DC:
- 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
- 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
- 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
- 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel
- 2/6: LiveDC: The Kills / Jeff The Brotherhood @ 9:30 Club
- 2/3: Live DC: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour @ RnR Hotel
- 2/3: LiveDC: Smith Westerns @ Black Cat
God loves a cheerful giver.
WOW! dude, a guy with a fucking DIO shirt and short denim shorts! and tube sox pulled up!! jesus, that is so fucking original! wait, where is his mustache?
this seems interesting.
god i hate white people.
What a bunch of fucking losers. And why would you cover something so fucking stupid? Too bad no pyrotechnics burned this place down with all these dorks in it.
Sorry, you're just wrong about the air guitar. It's awesome and we love it.
Our 2007 coverage
and
our 2008 coverage
air guitar by one drunken jackass at the right time = cool
air guitar competition with a bunch of drunken jackasses = not so cool
If you've ever actually been to an official air guitar competition, there will be a few drunken jackasses, but there are also people who put a lot of effort into it, and have a lot of performing talent. It’s not as easy as it looks.
I didn't make it out to Wonderland so I'm commenting on the last two events at 9:30 Club, but I recognize a few of the same people, Fender Splendor and The Shred for instance are true air guitar heroes.
Hmm, my grandfather telling me a story: Well we took Guadalcanal.
These guys telling their grandkids a story: One time at this really stupid bar I played air guitar for 45 seconds in front of a crowd. I had on spandex.
Ok, so this is going to be the one and only time I ever say anything about this, ever:
Cale, thanks to you and your site for getting the word out - the turn out was excellent, a fun time was had by all, and we managed to turn enough heads that it looks like a larger, dedicated music venue wants to have an air guitar contest of their own very soon.
I put on this air guitar contest at Wonderland because I had so much fun in Brooklyn and DC this year at their respective competitions, and I wanted to give everyone I had met whilst participating in this extremely fascinating pseudo-sport/performance art an excuse to get together and have fun (which we did.) And maybe, just maybe, rope in a few new people who showed up randomly and were completely amazed that something like this actually exists (we did that, also.)
I did NOT throw this air guitar contest at Wonderland because I craved a seal of approval from a bunch of smelly coolsters. Does the mere idea of air guitar strike you as ridiculous? Stupid? A complete waste of time? Good. Stay far, far away from this. I like the fact that air is considered uncool by so many people (close friends of mine included,) and I hope it stays that way. The endless parade of image-conscious, introverted poseurs that troll this site looking for people and activities to make fun of only increases what minute sense of accomplishment I could possibly squeeze out of something as magnificently un-serious and unpretentious as hosting a goddamn air guitar competition. To put it quite simply, this shit is FUN, and I'm far from the only one who thinks so.
I fucking love air guitar, and I've made it my personal crusade to spread its gospel all over our nation's capital (and like I mentioned above, it doesn't look like it's going anywhere.) I implore you naysayers to shotgun a few beers with your friends and check it out one night. It's just air guitar, guys! And unlike your friend's art-rock band, it's not that fucking serious.
Um yeah, what he said.
I happen to think its amazing
and I would love to come out to DC and see this
I live in the entertaimment captol of the the planet. I have won many air guitart contest. and now I w9ould like to to hoat one. having never done this before. what kind of tips can you give me?
My main concern its how to do this on a limited budget.
How much do you charge per entry?
Did you rent a venue? or were you able to get one with no cost?
How was the judging done? or was it audiance response. wich I allways found a total rip off cause it turns into a popularity contest( who brought the most friends)
How many different categories did you have?
thanks for your help
Charlie James
I'm pretty sure this air-guitar competition was immediately followed by the Masturbating into a Tube Sock, Then Crying Yourself to Sleep Championship.
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE I AM DISPROPORTIONATELY UPSET OVER THE FACT THAT AIR GUITAR EXISTS/BYT POSTED SOMETHING ABOUT IT RABBLE RABBLE
christ on a bike, everybody needs to calm down. air guitar's not my thing either, but live and let live, right?
We always cover air guitar hard, see:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/music/behind-the-scenes-6th-annual-air-guitar-championships/