The first semi-final of the 2014 US Air Guitar season has taken place! The Midwest Semifinal pulled in the top 3 air guitarists from the qualifiers in Kansas City, Des Moines, Chicago, and Detroit. Surprising no one, the midwest is always a force (it's not for nothing that the current reigning World Champion, Mean Melin, hails from Kansas City). The general consensus among spectators and participants was that this semi-final was basically a "mini Nationals" with regard to the level of talent and excitement!
There was, however, one weird mystery that I hope is soon solved. As I mentioned, Detroit's qualifier fed into this semi. By all accounts, they had a whale of a time and 3 winners were selected to advance. But none of them - not one! - showed up at the Chicago semi! Dear Detroit air guitarists, I hope you did not get lost on the way to Chicago or give up on your dreams of air guitar stardom.
Onto who was there. The highlights:
- Sparkle Hoof (Chicago) didn't just wear a horse mask, he burst out of a paper bag OVER his horse mask, and then frolicked about the stage before going into full on shred mode.
- This was no doubt an homage to Dry Ice, the original exploder-from-out-of-a-bag-or-tinfoil, who once again showed how it is done. Side note, he didn't get into this semifinal by qualifying this year - he was defending his Midwest Semifinal win from last year.
- Noche (Chicago) blew minds and rocked faces in her spiked outfit. Also I think she looks like an opera singer in this photo right here:
Right?
- Sonic Bitch (Des Moines) made the best of a bad situation and overcame having her costume peed on by cats to pull off a solid performance.
- It was a night of much thunder, as Nordic Thunder played a halftime show, and Thunderball (Kansas City) and Thundergland both competed. It was a dramatic return to the scene in Thundergland's case, by the way - he had also not competed in any qualifiers this year. Air guitar is a very thundery sport, going by names alone.
Thundergland bagged a couple of 6.0s with his trademark choppy, crazy-eyed style. Those were enough to propel him to victory! He will be advancing to the National Finals in Kansas City August 9th. The top 3 advance - but there was a 3-way tie for second place, so Thundergland will be joined by Flying Finn, Dry Ice, and Rocky Rhoads!