Last night I experienced something that defies logic or description.
I went to the National Air Guitar Championships.
That's right--air guitar.
Speaking of things white people like. . .
I am now intimately acquainted with the art of air guitar.
Words are so not sufficient to explain the chaos.
The evening began with dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl. This is a Washington Monument. The food was tasty, and the place was packed. We kept seeing these odd t-shirts though. Hordes of white people were wearing shirts with "STD" written on the front. Now, we all know that white people believe strongly in the power of "awareness", but these tee-shirts were a little, well . . . yeah.
We made our way to the 930 Club. The line went around the block.
for an air guitar show.
The regional champ from DC was hanging around the line. As people began to recognize him, they would rush over and get his autograph. It was kind of cute to see him enjoy his moment in the sun.
Contestants from all over the nation came to compete in the US Finals. The winner is going to the World Championships in Finland!
The competitors were named: Shred Flinstone, The Fro, William Ocean, Sanjaya the Destroyer (STD), Romeo Panther Love, etc. I wish I could remember more names. Oh heck, I wish I could forget some of them though.
The contestants were judged on 3 things: Technical merit--how well did they keep up with the music, Charisma: costume, weirdness, unsexiness, and Airness: an untangible "it".
Words cannot describe this.
The people were going crazy. So many people.
The three judges were HILARIOUS. As the crowd chanted "STD!" one of the judges picked up the microphone and yelled "the Clap! the Clap!" I was dying.
It was a very patriotic fest because this was the National Finals of course. Red, white, and blue balloons fell from the ceiling. A giant "Air Bear" crawled around among the crowd and then crowd surfed over my head, (after trying to peek up my dress--yeah, that didn't happen.) When he came crowd surfing over my head, we might have "accidentally" dropped him on the floor. He lost consciousness. Yep. A stuffed bear fell off of my head and lost consciousness.
While balloons floated around my head.
And fake musicians jumped around in spandex on a stage.
Yep.
Who needs acid! I mean, really.
3 comments:
I'm not kidding... I would have LOVED to be there!! Totally my kind of scene. I'm SO JEALOUS!
Looking for photos from the event, I found your description. I think you described my evening (as well as at least 200 others, right down to the Ben's Chili Bowl).
I was the guy with the shirt that lit up. That Bear was a menace! All in all, I have had some great recap conversations of the Championships, and everyone seems to love the Fro, the cleanest cut of the bunch. Your thoughts?
I thought the fro was awesome. Frankly though, I was disappointed that more contestants didn't lip sync like the the world champ did. All in all, it was a surreal experience. Thanks for the comment!
Post a Comment