Last year, the US Air Guitar Boston Qualifier was held at Radio, a bar and live-music venue in Somerville, Massachusetts. Radio had a history of giving new and local bands a place to play, and as Captain Airhab, the organizer of the qualifier, was in a band that had played there a few times, he had a bit of a history to draw on with the management when trying to book the qualifier.
Naturally, putting on an air guitar event is going to require a fair bit of trust from a venue, at least one that has never seen such a competition before. On the face of it, it sounds like it's going to be stupid, and more to the point, that no one's going to come and pay good money to watch people NOT play guitars. So agreeing to host the event was taking a risk.
It turned out to be a huge success - the place was packed and the drinks were flowing - and they did well that night, and even more illustratively, two staff members even signed up as walk-ons! Clearly, they did not regret having this event (and even kept asking Airhab when the next one would be).
But this great night was not replicated nearly enough times with Radio. They seemed to always be on the knife edge of closing. Then, in November 2013, a small electrical fire set off the sprinkler system, causing significant water damage and a huge host of expenses for the small club. This was the straw that broke the camel's back - they struggled hard but ultimately never reopened. In February, the city threatened to take away their coveted liquor license if they didn't sell it to a new owner - both of which outcomes meant the bar was done for.
So - that's one great little bar disappeared from the Boston music scene, and specifically, one that's historically been open to the idea of fledgling bands or offbeat stuff. Even worse, owner Aimee McGrath (also known as walk-on air guitarist Dolly Dangerous) suffered a stroke brought on by the stress of the situation that led to the shutdown. We wish her a speedy recovery - she was a great champion of the scene and worked to make it a more welcoming place.
There are now rumblings of a possible new ownership of the space, which would see it continue to be a venue for shows - this is excellent news, of course! But it is going to be a new set of people at the helm, meaning that getting a foot in the door to host the 2014 qualifier there is equally as difficult as at any other venue.
This year, it's going to be tougher work to find a home for the 2014 US Air Guitar Boston Qualifier. Once someone takes a chance on hosting an air guitar event, they're converts - that part isn't the problem. Radio made it clear they would have been happy to see the competition return. Now that there's nowhere to return to, where will the competition find a home this year?