The 2013 US Air Guitar Boston Qualifier was Friday night, and your faithful correspondent was there, not only cheering and live-tweeting and taking admittedly lousy cameraphone pictures, but also competing for the first time ever! Here's how it all went down...
This was one of the largest fields of competitors I've seen or heard about outside of a national final - a total of 16 participants, including 4 walk-ons, two of whom were bar staff at the venue, Radio in Union Square, Somerville! Another fun statistic from the evening: 3/4 of Boston metal band Descend Upon the Sane competed (ahem... Lita Morgue, Jeff Slammerman, and Zakk Mylde)!
The host this evening was Captain Airhab, setting down the air guitar to pick up the microphone. Your judges were 4-time Boston champ McNallica (who was very pleased to see 4 women competing this year), defending Boston champ Danny Tanner Tantrum, and love expert and all-around jazzy human being, Barry Tattle.
One competitor volunteered to take the first spot, since he had actually already secured his spot in another semi-final: The Marquis. As usual, the combination of powdered wig, hose, and rock showed the room what to expect. From then on out, a steady stream of veteran competitors, nervous newbies, and walk-ons all stepped up. Scores were lower than in years past - no 6.0s were given out the entire night - but very consistent. Some highlights of the first round:
- Tobias Slaypool came out in Kool-logo pants, which he promptly unzipped down to the "danger zone"... and which also split during his performance.
- Continuing on the theme of nudity, accidental or deliberate, Awkward at Best tore off her dress to expose a nude bodysuit with all the details drawn on. Some spectators had a tough time determining what was real and what was illustration...
- Big Red dressed as a taco and had his friends feed him a burrito - smart move, since it freed up his hands so he didn't have to stop playing!
Going into the second round, the top 5 were actually a top 6, with Awkward at Best and Christian Science Monitor Lizard tied at 5th place. The rest of the second round was filled out by T. Slaypool, Jean-Luc Pickguard, the Ghost of Operation Rockapussy, and Rockupine.
The second round itself was a festival of shirtlessness. My tweet notwithstanding, it was not quite 100% shirt-free - Jean-Luc Pickguard managed to stay mostly clothed - but everyone else either never had a shirt to begin with, or lost theirs for the performance. Awkward at Best began her turn actually dangling from the rafters overhead and that just set the tone for the round! No one failed to deliver; everyone went crazy. T. Slaypool set his chest hair on fire, for god's sake. Things flying through the atmosphere at Radio included glitter, talcum powder, and Jean-Luc Pickguard.
When it was all said and done, Jean-Luc Pickguard came in 2nd, and he and your 2013 Boston Champion, Rockupine - he of the half-disco-ball face - had secured their trips to the NYC Semi-Final on July 2nd.
Were you there? Do you have pictures or video from the evening?
