Boston Air Guitar Blog

Did you know that Tucson's US Air Guitar Qualifier took place in a mall? In broad daylight? With children? No one even had an air name or a song that they had brought with them! It was basically air guitar improv, or maybe air guitar from the ground up. Veteran competitor Vlad DM Wailer and the event's ATC (that's Air Traffic Control, for the uninitiated: the person who pushes the space bar and plays the music), Jonas, being the only people with US Air Guitar experience, did their best to educate their air guitarists and bring them into the fold, although they were hampered a bit by the venue (no beer) and the rules of the guitar festival that this was a part of (no shirtlessness, and definitely no raunchiness, which means that the entirety of Boston air guitar would pretty much be disqualified).

The Nashville US Air Guitar Qualifier went off like a sexy explosion on Saturday. It was a benefit for Notes for Notes, which is a nonprofit that helps kids get access to music instruction and instruments (whether that includes air guitars is not known). So they're already better than the rest of us - they rocked for good, and the rest of us just rocked for beer and glory (and world peace). But wait - it gets better.

Last Friday, the Manhattan US Air Guitar Qualifier happened, and I know next to nothing about it! Here's what I do know:

You might think that Des Moines wouldn't have as much rock to bring as, say, a larger city. If you're one of my Boston compatriots, you may not even believe in Des Moines as a city and not, say, a cornfield. Sources assure me that Des Moines does exist and does, in fact, rock. And if you think the Des Moines qualifier wouldn't bring much in terms of air guitar greatness, you would be wrong. Just like with the Manhattan qualifier for Boston air guitarists, it's close by and accessible to contestants from other cities - so it's a fantastic second opportunity if you didn't win (or a great practice round if you did... more on that later).

Hey, Boston air guitarists! The Manhattan US Air Guitar Qualifier is coming up this Friday (no, the one that already happened was the Brooklyn one... completely different), and if you're able to make it down, you should go!

From what I understand, a pole won the San Francisco qualifier. And stage-bombed every competitor.

Friends and air guitar fans! Thunderball, who came in 2nd in the Kansas City US Air Guitar Qualifier, needs your help. The competitors who come in first and second place continue on to the semi-final for their region, which in his case is in New York City. However, only the first-place finisher gets prize money to use towards their travel. So he is trying to raise a few bucks to help defray his travel costs so that he can compete and doesn't need to give up his spot in the semi.

This entry's guest blogger is 2012 Rocky Mountain Air Guitar Champion, Diane Cletus. Diane is the only known air guitar champion to hail from Kentucky, WV, where she recently graduated with her 8th grade diploma (equivalency). When she's not working the bar at Mayberry's, she can be seen strutting her stuff at this summer's Chicago Air Guitar Semi-Final.

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...

Tonight - Radio - 8pm - $10
Bring all your friends! You can even sign up on the spot and use one of Captain Airhab's pre-edited tracks.