2019 Toronto Champion!!

May 15, 2019May 15, 2019
by Nyree Macpherson

People of Air Guitar, we proudly present to you your 2019 Toronto Air Guitar Champion – ICHABOD FAME!!! This magnificent human pulled out all the stops (with ease and grace) – throwing up high kicks, dropping into the splits and doing his signature triple pirouette – to take home the number one spot and earn himself a place at Nationals on July. Mark your calendars because July 13th promises to be one hell of a night. Congratulations, Ichabod! We could not be more proud and excited for your victory!
JORTS! JORTS! JORTS! JORTS!

HUGE THANKS as always to Lee’s Palace for hosting the event, to our wonderful sponsor Collective Arts, to our amazing judges, to our DELIGHTFUL host Glittur Dunn, to all our INCREDIBLE competitors, and to everyone who came out for the event. We raised a bunch of money for MusiCounts and had a blast doing it! We love you all and we can’t wait to see you in July!

Toronto Air Guitar

Photo thanks to CultureSnap 📸

Air Guitar World Championships

Real Singers. Fake Guitars. All Winners. The Re-Cap of…

July 21, 2018July 21, 2018
by glenairyglenrocks

Dana ‘DANA-SAURUS REX’ Schiemann takes the 2018 Air Guitar Canada Championship Crown!

Graduation gowns. Tear-away (insert article of clothing). Dude on stilts. Funny as fudge judges. Various fire effects. The Von ‘Stache Crew. The Good Enough Live Karaoke Showdown. 4G! and our incredible host Nordic Thunder! These are just a few of the highlights that made up an epic night of joy-raising and celebration of World Peace in the name of Air Guitar and our charity Right to Play Canada

The following post shares the good times through the amazing photography of Henry Vanderspek who goes by the handle Culture Snap Photography. We also have a few choice videos from our resident videographer and editor Cat Mills. If you re-purpose a picture/video – please credit the Photographer/Videographer

After all the madness and mayhem, Dana-Saurus Rex – the 2018 Toronto Champ, emerged the winner and was crowned the 2018 Air Guitar Canada Champion. She will go on to represent our country at the 23rd Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. We will all be cheering for Dana, our fifth champion overall and second female champion, to become our first World Champion on August 25th.

We have so many to thank for bringing our season to its successful conclusion…

To our 2018 Local Organizers:

Mike Erman and his team in Saskatoon who have done 3 years of successful events now in the name of a local arts charity: Creative Kids. They continue to push the boundaries and expand their performer base.
Tyler Gardner and his crew in Red Deer for his four years of organizing events all over Alberta, most recently in support of Suicide Prevention in honour of our lost brother Joel ‘Hand Solo’ Zak. We miss you Joel.
George Best and Marcus Iannatone of Medicine Hat Alberta for three years of successful events and just over $2500 raised for Right To Play and their local Women’s Shelter charity.
Sandy Gibson from Ottawa for four years of amazing events at the House of Targ where we have some of our wildest and most celebrated nights.
Amy Blackmore and Adam Reider and their team in Montreal for four years of Air Guitar Quebec events in and around her busiest time with the Montreal Fringe.
To Arron Butowski in Kamloops, B.C. who has two events under his belt and a passion for Air Guitar that is virtually unmatched. He has schemes a brewing for the fine city of Kamloops – boldly unscripted.
To Helene Laurin for the introduction to the team in Sherbrooke (Carole-Anne Fortin, Julie Witty-Chagnon, Mélissa Guimond and Danika Lépine (of Arrimage Estrie and CALACS)) who brought us Carolyne Mongeau – better known as Janine Suture. She overcame health challenges, used Air Guitar as a way to heal and help make difference with an on-line fundraiser that raised over $1000 in support of Right To Play.
To Carlos Mengual for being an awesome partner in Air and helping to make the whole season along with Toronto and Ottawa events a breeze.
To Mark Slater for his graphics wizardry in assembling all our posters for Toronto and even abroad in other markets

To our Judges:

Thank you for your careful review and super smart commentary. Everyone came away feeling like a rock star.

THE GOOD ENOUGH LIVE KARAOKE JUDGES:

Michelle Chalice – GELK organizer/singer and enabler of egos and karaoke stage time.

Mr. Bob – The World’s Oldest Air Guitarist

Nyree With A Microphone – Host extraordinaire, Burlesque Promoter and lead singer.

THE AIR GUITAR JUDGES:

Aurora Browne of the CBC’s The Baroness Von Sketch Show

Nathan Dales – Daryl from Letterkenny

Brandy Dawley – Longest standing Air Guitar Canada judge with 4 years of seniority.

David Finkelstein – Guitarist of Red Zeppelin & Kit Airington – the Jon Snow of Air Guitar.

Marilla Wex – The Foreign Correspondent of The Beaverton

To our Sponsors:

BANGER BINGO – for being the magic sauce of support for so many Alberta and Saskatchewan events. Book your holiday Banger BingoParty today.

Collective Arts Brewing for a great first year as our provider of fine suds and ciders. To Jordan, Kyle, Andrew and Elliott – you elevated our game and introduced us to some amazing judges!

Panago Pizza – our longest and most far reaching supporter. Panago has been supplying delicious za to fuel our rocking and helping us make a strong donation to our charity since 2014.

To Hog Town Pub and Oysters for the prizes year after year.

Blitz Printing for giving us a sweet deal and making sure our posters and flyers popped.

To the Drake Hotel for the gift certificates and support.

To The MOD Club for hosting another spectacular National Championships with all the trappings of a full-fledged rock show!

Let’s get down to the action:

GOOD ENOUGH LIVE KARAOKE COMPETITION!

It was the first ever, it was the finest so far. Contestants were competing for one of three trophies, some cash and some fine Panago Pizza gift certificates. Mostly it was about the chance to take the Mod Club Stage and have the time of their lives. We had costumes, props and whole lot of serious singing chops.

Sadly, our photographer showed up just a smidge late for the start of the singing and we missed out our first competitor the Gothic Marilyn Monroe. If we locate a photo we will update this post.

Up second was Amy Winehouse herself. Oh wait… that’s Anna Lise Walmer… dressed to the nines and just crushing it at Rehab!

Kicking up the rock was Jordan who gave the people who missed the Weezer show at the Ampitheatre a little Undone (sweater song), by the Weezeys. He moved like a man possessed and showed a taste for how physical this Karaoke competition was going to become!

Then came Claudio… Dropping a stellar version of Somebody by the Kings of Leon. Claudio was a strong performer who never stopped smilling all the way through.

Oh TIA! she was a natural singing Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman. Tia caused the collective audience’s jaws to drop with her interpretation of this classic. Tia would win the top prize of the night.

JETT Black was next with a prop fuelled rendition of Black Sabbath’s Crazy Train. Complete with a Donald Drumpf Mask and bucket of other goodies, Jett totally brought the rock to another level. Performance art from start to finish.

SCORPION (a.k.a. Scott Baker) gave one of the more audience involved performances with Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell. He was masked and marvellous for his killer act.

Gracie Jet celebrated a birthday with us with the crowd joining in on the Happy Birthday singing. She seriously smashed her performance of Dolly Parton’s Jolene. She came all the way from Owen Sound to party with us and celebrate!

And Madge! After spending the first part of the night dancing and gyrating like a woman possessed at the front of the stage… it was now her turn to take the microphone. She sang Janis Joplin’s Take Another Piece of My Heart. She took our hearts and more.

Our only duet of the night. Leia and Lena – held the room in total awe with their brilliant cover of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. These two voices sent shivers down our backs.

Zane brought the house crashing down with her performance of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name. Zane had the crowd hollering and moving to her rousing act! She commanded the crowd and even got ride of her pesky skirt to be even more bad ass for the climax of the song. It was a highlight of the night for sure.

Our final karaoke performance was by Jess. Hailing from Ottawa, Jess came into the big city that night to kick ass and take names with her performance of The Doors – GLORIA. She got the crowd chanting and the band played through the song like they had invented it.

That ended the Good Enough Live Karaoke Showdown. Huge thanks to Tim McCready and his band for rocking the stage and giving all these competitors the experience of a lifetime.

What a good looking crew! The stars of the first GELK Showdown! Stay tuned for the next GELK show in your neighbourhood.

Top 6 Performances as judged by our panel – based on criteria of a. Vocal Quality, b. Stage Presence/Persona, and c. Interpretation of Song:

Tia – Natural Woman (Won the ‘Gnome Saying Trophy)
Zane – Killing in the Name of (Won the B. Holiday Trophy)
Scott (scorpion) – Rebel Yell (Won the Choir Boy Trophy)
Jett Black – Crazy Train
Jess – GLORIA
Annalise – Rehab

THANK YOU to the band, judges, audience and ALL THE COMPETITORS!!!

TIME FOR AIR GUITAR!!!

After the singing came the twanging… Air Guitar Canada’s 5th championships was about to begin. Showing off the fine metal-work of Cat Friday, the 2018 Air Guitar Canada Trophy was revealed in the flesh for all the competitors and audience members.

NORDIC THUNDER was our host – he is the 2012 World Champion and slated to host the World Championships in Oulu, Finland this year.

We were so proud to welcome Right To Play Canada Ambassador – Anastasia Bucsis, Olympic Speed Skater who wished our competitors a great event. We’ve cleared $20,000 for charities across our events in Canada with over $15,000 going to Right To Play. With luck after the dust settles, we’ll hit $20,000 for Right to Play and $25,000 overall for 5 years of rocking out for goodness sake.

Nordic got the love flowing by asking our audience members to give each other a good hug and start spreading the good vibes.

Then we got started. CHAMP Forrester showed up for the Dark Horse competition, only to find out there was not Dark Horse portion this year. So to bridge that gap, Nordic invited him to join in the opening number of Eruption and Jump! He recruited a Bassist (Judge David Finkelstein, and Hanzel the Manzel on Key boards. Glen Airy Glen Rocks got up to sing – cause why not?

We got a few good hops in there!

Hanzel looks like he’s yogic flying.

Various stages of flight.

And Now….THE COMPETITION!

Whisky Pockets. He came with a fan section. He was also first, as he drew the short straw. Always one for a challenge and never one to let the bastards get you down… he delivered a solid performance to Tenacious D, earning scores: 5.7, 5.6, 5.7

Our first competitor from out of town, the Montreal Vice-Champion, Shay ‘Shreddin’ Scales’ Spivak came at the crowd with a bold choice of “Pala palalta” by Stam1na. She was style personified. We were so thrilled to welcome her to the Nationals stage as she has been a longtime performer in Montreal. The Judges awarded her: 5.4, 5.6, 5.6.

Toronto new comer and crowd favorite, Uriel ‘El Guapo Flaco’ mendoza was next. Beginning a night of reveals, he shed his rocker t for a dress and jammed out to Green Day’s King for a Day. His hair, his smile, his theme was all on point. Judges scores: 5.5, 5.6, 5.4. We hope to see more of El Guapo.

Then it was time for our Red Deer representative to take the stage. Cat Friday is a long time favourite and die hard member of the Air Guitar Family. As you may know… Cat Friday welds the Air Guitar Canada trophy every year. To start his performance, he drafted a missive for the crowd that Nordic read aloud before the performance. Then he was off. He set off a confetti canon. He played the Air Guitar in no fewer than 8 different ways and positions… his performance was packed! Judges love him: 5.8, 5.8, 5.8. Hard to criticize those scores.

Our Sherbrooke Quebec Champion: Carolyne ‘Janine Suture’ Mongeau. Old lady turned leather goddess. She shredded it to Heart’s Barracuda. She also removed items of clothing to show off her inner rock star. Our judges scored her: 5.5, 5.5, 5.6. La Belle Province was well represented.

It was time for the Toronto Champion, Dana-Saurus Rex. She delivered an electric valedictorian address. You know how this turned out. Judges scores: 6.0, 5.8, 5.8.

Our Midland Penetanguishene representative Bryan ‘Dr. Rockstar Genius’ Pittz came dressed like an actual ‘saurus’ of some kind. He was red. He was rad. He hit the stage to Andrew WK’s I Get Wet. The judges were moist enough to give him: 5.5, 5.6, 5.6.

Our Toronto Vice Champion – Arty the Circus Drummer revived his ground breaking balance board performance from the Toronto championships and again wowed the Judges. He scored: 5.9, 5.9, 5.9. Arty ended the first round in the lead by .1

Don’t call it a come back, but Blake Johnston – The Canadian Tuxedo proved that his first trip to Finland was no fluke. Chugging syrup and regurgitating his guitar for GnR’s Welcome to the Jungle scored him the top score of the night and tied with Arty for the lead after the first round. Judges Scores: 5.9, 6.0, 5.8.

Our BC champ was next… Air Head Arron from Kamloops, BC. Choosing a Led Zeppelin track, Communication Break Down. Judges liked it: 5.8, 5.8, 5.8.

Jacob ‘Von Stäche’ Hogan was next. He had the Von Stache crew. He had the tear away shorts. He had the Stache. One of the most energetic performers of the night with a bright future in Air Guitar, the judges showed him much love with scores: 5.9, 5.9, 5.8.

Next up was Sterling Stu Nulman. Our Montreal champion was all class and all guitar. He rocked it righteously and earned great scores from the judges: 5.6, 5.7, 5.8.

OTTAWA CHAMP! After two years of appearing at Nationals as a Dark Horse, The Space Mime Continuum earned the top spot in Ottawa and propelled himself directly into the final. His edit of whatever song it was that he did was unreal. We all have a lot to learn from the Space Mime. Judges dug it too: 5.7, 5.8, 5.7.

The Saskatoon Champ! Air Guitar Saskatchewan is flying high and Major Party continues to lead the army of Central Canada. He marched through the audience and delivered his address, earning the chants of Major Party! He rocked hard and Judges rewarded him with: 5.7, 5.7, 5.8. Not too shabby.

To close the first round was our reigning Canadian Champ – The Phoenix. Gen Leblanc stunned the crowd with yet another insane and visually striking persona. As you can see from the photos… she was radiant and as you can see from the scores, she was brilliant at Air Guitar as well. She defended the title with first round scores of: 5.9, 5.9, 5.8.

Taking a break to tally the scores… we returned with the verdict that we would limit our final round to 5 performers in the interest of time. After vigorous donating and Ballot Boosting, Killing in the Name by Rage Against The Machine was chosen as the audience choice for the Compulsory Round. All performers had to rock out to this track in hopes of bridging the .1 difference in scores from 5th place to 1st. The order of performers was determined by the judges as follows:

Von Stache with 17.6

Phoenix with 17.6

Dana-Saurus with 17.6

Arty The Circus Drummer with 17.7

The Canadian Tuxedo with 17.7

First up was Jacob Hogan. The Von Stache crew was on hand again to lift him up and give him the boost he needed to deliver another insanely jet powered thrashing of the stage. Von Stache is like a nuclear bomb. Boom goes the dynamite!

The Phoenix donned her wings and soared like a mythical wonder. Her grace and style was unrivalled.

Dana-Saurus came out with Marilyn Manson’s make-up and unleashed the demons inside her as she threw herself around the stage with such ferocity that the velociraptors of the yesteryears would have stood and took notice of the carnage that was being delivered.

In case things couldn’t get any weirder. Shit got weird. Arty, in true circus drummer fashion, threw on some stilts to elevate his performance. It was epic.

Blake was next. More syrup. A flag. A hockey stick with a beaver at the top. All stops were put out. He was glorious.

After the compulsory round, the judges determined that there was a tie between Dana-Saurus and Canadian Tuxedo. For the second time in Air Guitar Canada history, we were forced to go to an Air Off. The second most voted on audience choice track was chosen – Dana and Blake would do their final duel to Metallica’s ONE.

The performances were intense. The two titans clashed and emerging from the fray with a single point difference was Dana-Saurus Rex. Our 2018 Air Guitar Canada champion!

Stay tuned for updates on the entire Air Guitar Canada crew travelling to Finland this year! There is a team of 5 aiming to enter the competition and bring home Canada’s first Air Guitar World Championship title!

Air Guitarist

Not a French Hen. A Whiskey Pocket

December 28, 2016January 20, 2017
by glenairyglenrocks

Mark ‘Whiskey Pockets’ Slater – the 3rd day of Air-Mass.

For our third day of Air-Mass we recognize our 2 year veteran and newly found mega-contributor Mark Slater. On top of being a righteous Air Guitarist, Mark is a wildly talented and creative fella who has helped us with posters for our events and t-shirt design for Bob’s campaign to Finland. Mark has recently joined the board of direct-airs for Air Guitar Canada. We’re so lucky to have him with us help make this shit awesome.

Check out his sweet moves from the Toronto Finals, May 28th, 2016.

Air Guitar World Championships

TEAM CANADA ARRIVES IN OULU!

August 23, 2016August 23, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

The largest-ever competitor pool from Canada arrives in Oulu for the 21st Air Guitar World Championships

How exciting this is for our growing Air Guitar Canada organization that there should be 4 competitors from our country who will make their mark at the 21st Air Guitar World Championships.

Joining our 2016 Champion Blake ‘The Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston, will be Helene ‘Hey!len’ Laurin from Quebec (she’s our two-time Quebec champion), Bob ‘Mr. Bob’ Wagner (lifted by the generosity of over 60 people who helped fund his dream of competing in Finland for his 73rd birthday), and lastly Carlos ‘Hanzel the Manzel’ Mengual (2015 Toronto Champ and Air Guitar Canada representative).

On Thursday Aug. 25th, Hey!len, Mr. Bob and Hanzel will take to the small stage at the 45 Special for the DARK HORSE COMPETITION. We’re not sure yet how many are entered or how many are getting through, but you can expect that they will take between 5-8 competitors to the World Championships the next day. We’re hoping that all three of our Dark Horse competitors make it through. If Bob makes it through – he will officially become the oldest air guitarist to ever perform on the world’s stage.

There will be a link for the live broadcast of the World Championships. We will post that link on our facebook page.

Send your love and support by tweeting and hash-tagging #airguitarcanada, #worldairguitar, #worldairguitar2016

We will update you soon!

Judges

EDGE 102.1 ADAM RICARD TO DRIVE THE SCORES HOME

July 11, 2016July 11, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

JUDGE ANNOUNCEMENT 102.1

Freakin’ tickled to welcome The Edge 102.1′s Adam Ricard back for his second year of Air Guitar jury action. Adam judged for the first time last year and reported to have lost his mind. The competitors are promising to mess him up again in 2016.

BUY TICKETS – 20$ in Advance

Using the antiquated figure skating scoring system of 4.0 to 6.0, Adam will be throwing down the scores for our largest ever field of competitors.

ENTER TO COMPETE

We still have a few remaining spots on the Dark Horse list. One night of Air Guitar can win you a paid flight to Finland. You get some pilsners to help you along. Speaking of beer. Check this out – Adam and our beloved sponsor Steam Whistle. Can you believe we never knew this video even existed? You really can’t plan this sort of thing…

Huge thanks to Adam for Year 2, for his on-air plugs, and ongoing badassery on the Edge. He’s the man to listen to on your ride home.

Penetanguishene

Putting the Twang in the ‘Tang

June 22, 2016June 25, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

Penetanguishene, Ontario to Host Their First Offical Air Guitar Championships!

This coming weekend we get the party started in cottage country. Saturday, June 25th at the Maple Valley Sports Club, history will be made as we crown the first ever ‘official’ Penetanguishene Air Guitar Champion.

GET YOUR TICKETS

Brave hopefuls and relatively bold half-hammered others will take the stage and give us their best 1-minute of Air Guitar for the chance to travel to Toronto for the Canadian Championships on July16th. And if they win in Toronto, the winner will fly to Finland for the 21st Air Guitar World Championships.

Over the next few days we will be putting up some tasty bits of information to get the people of Penetang, Midland, and all of Simcoe County pumped for the good times to come on Saturday. I can guarantee that Air Guitar Canada and Maple Valley Comedy will deliver the most ridiculous and fun event of the summer. You will want to bring everyone you care about to witness whatever this is. Rock 95 is on board. Midland Film Company is too. We have some killer judges to make the hard decisions… so now we need you. This is for real.

We have a few videos to stoke your fires and rev up your seadoos. Both feature local hero James ‘Thrustin Beaver’ Dalzell doing what he does best.

The best part – other than it is fuelled by Steam Whistle beer, is that the benefits of the event go to Right To Play Canada – helping kids facing war, famine, and poverty through sport and play programs. It’s like a 10K charity run for goofs. So in doing something so dumb… we do something so good.

After all… the motto of Air Guitar is:

‘When you are holding an Air Guitar, You can’t be holding a gun’ – Ancient Air Guitar Proverb.

We Love To Banger Bingo

June 18, 2016June 18, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

Friends Of Good Times And Good Causes – WE SALUTE YOU!

Banger Bingo has been with us since our re-birth in 2014. We found each other on the internet. It started as a conversation about each other’s gigs. As you know, we put on Air Guitar competitions for charity. Banger Bingo puts on rock and roll bingo parties for a living. Because they dig us (feeling is mutual) and out of the goodness of their own hearts they flew themselves out to Toronto to perform for our first National Championships and their amazing support and generosity just keeps on flowing.

They’ve entertained Air Guitar Canada audiences in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Saskatoon and coming up this weekend – Red Deer Alberta for the first-ever ‘official’ Air Guitar Championships. It is now the third season that they have lent a hand to helping us bring some joy, make some money for charity and send a winner to Finland for the World Championships.

They put on a great show. It’s like bingo with Gene Simmons or Vince Neil circa 1987 as the host. There are prizes, costumes, inflatable guitars, good times had by all.

So head over to Fratters Saturday night for 106.7 The Drive’s Air Guitar Red Deer Championships and kick off your weekend right. Banger Bingo will get you warmed up at 8pm, and then the Air Guitar will follow shortly after.

Last chance to buy advanced tickets.

GET YOUR TICKETS: HERE

ENTER TO COMPETE: HERE

air-guitar-flashdance — CLICK ON ME FOR A GOODTIME

Air Guitarist

TORONTO RE-CAP – Air Guitar Time Lapse

June 9, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

DANA-SAURUS REX WINS TORONTO CHAMPIONSHIP – WEDDINGS SUCK.

Yes… we’ve been really busy. We had the Toronto Championships on May 28th. Montreal was on June 3rd. Ottawa on June 4th. And now…here we are on June 7th… just three sleeps from the first-ever Air Guitar Medicine Hat on June 11th. It’s Bananas! By the way… so far each and every Canadian regional championship has been won by women. Rock and Roll is for the dames!

Here is the long-awaited Toronto re-cap with pictures, some video, and plenty of goodness. Huge thanks to our resident photographer of all things Air Guitar – Henry Vanderspeck a.k.a. Culture Snap. Another huge shout out to SteamWhistle Pilsner for being our biggest and baddest sponsor. Thanks to Panago Pizza for fuelling our shredding and face melting. Our prize sponsors: Bestival, Eatertainment, Second City, Sincair Music and Hog Town Pub and Oysters. And a giant thank you to our new venue the Drake Underground. We made over a grand for our charity Right To Play… that’s pretty boss. Here’s the goodness:

Dana ‘Dana-Saurus Rex’ Schiemann entered as a Brave Soul and came out on top of the competition in Toronto. Her freaking crazy hair and larger than life stage presence floated her into the top spot (see video). Sadly for us… she’s got a wedding to attend on July 16th. Hooray for us… the top spot for Toronto at Nationals will go to vice-champion Blake ‘Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston, a newcomer who regurgitated a killer interpretation of Pantera’s Cowboy’s from Hell (see video):

The night started off with a special guest performance by Dance Animal. They are a comedic dance troupe that will be performing at Fringe late this month. Check them out – top Fringe act – without a doubt.

After Dance Animal warmed up the crowd… our super host Matty Burns led an air band number of The Black Crowes – Hard To Handle. Real singing by Matty and fake instruments by Carlos ‘Hanzel the Manzel’ Mengual – the 2015 Toronto Air Guitar Champ, The Storm Troop-Air, and Paul ‘The PK’ Kingston.

We met our judges: From left to right – Kat Curtis from Naked News, Luke Cameron from the Edge 102.1, Suresh John from CBC’s Mr. D, Carlos ‘Hanzel the Manzel’ Mengual, and Robin Henderson from Dance Animal and Toronto’s Lip Schtick Lip-Synch battles.

COMPETITION TIME

It was time for the competition to begin. First up was an unknown called White Face. Needless to say the judges missed the facial expressions and while the choice of Clutch and Shogun Named Marcus harkened us back 20 years, nostalgia was not nearly enough. He received 5.3, 5.4, 5.6, 5.0, 5.2.

2nd to grace the stage was Carlos Los Badass. A newcomer to the Toronto Air Guitar scene, Carlos totally killed it. He brought the latin lov-air to life with the Gypsy Kings ‘Bambaleo’. Carlos has qualified for Nationals. Scores: 5.5, 5.6, 5.6, 5.8, 5.8.

Next up was another newcomer Tyler ‘Secks A. Peel’ Forbes. Driving hard and leaping high to The Darkness’ ‘I Believe In a Thing Called Love’. Tyler didn’t move forward to the next round… but by our eyes he was most definitely deserving. Secks A. Peel is committed to redemption and has signed up as a Dark Horse for Nationals on July 16th. Scores: 5.5, 5.3, 5.2, 5.9, 5.7.

And another newcomer Laurence ‘Maxim’ Tetrault bent it like Victoria Beckham and gave a solid performance of Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock and Roll’. By no means the least of the performers her scores were near the lower end of the spectrum earning her the 2 Free Music Lessons from Sinclair Music. Funny enough…she’s chosen to use them for the piano. We hope she’ll come back in July and rock some more for the good cause… that and she’s totally rad. Scores: 5.3, 5.3, 5.4, 5.0, 5.2.

Then we had Whiskey Buttocks. Ooops. We mean Whiskey Pockets. Yep… Mark Slater was back for his second year in Air Guitar. Not only did he take it up to a whole new level qualifying for the compulsory round, but he’s been a gent sharing his graphic design skills to get the good word out to the masses by crafting each of our posters and on-line pieces that you may have seen. We are thrilled he’ll be moving forward to Nationals in the championship round. 5.6, 5.6, 5.8, 5.6, 5.7.

AH… Mr. Bob… our 72 year old competitor who inspires each and everyone of us. Despite his energetic performance, he was just one spot away from qualifying for the Nationals. Bob has entered as a Dark Horse for July 16th in hopes of making his dreams of becoming Canada’s Air Guitar Champion in 2016. Scores: 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.5, 5.8.

Riley ‘Savage Buster’ Boyd channeled his best Dan Akroyd and left a trail of Ectoplasm for the audience to slip around in. Scores: 5.1, 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5.6

KIt ‘Kid Vicious’ Kolbegger in their third year in Air Guitar was transformed and demonstrated peak ‘airiness’. Kid will move on to the Nationals. Scores: 5.4, 5.7, 5.5, 5.8, 5.8.

Matthew ‘Champ Forrester’ Hallsworth used his mental telekinetic powers to play the Air Guitar. This my friends, was a first. It was both innovative and bold. That’s what they say about the Champ. Scores: 5.5, 5.6, 5.4, 5.6, 5.7

The Brave Souls came next. First up was Sandy ‘Freakachu’ Gibson. A veteran of the scene, this pokemon power ball just wanted to play… so he signed up. And did better than he’s ever done in his previous competitions. He finished third… but will be volunteering at Camp Ooch during the Nationals – so we’ll miss seeing him electrify the stage in July. But he’ll be back. Pokeball and all. Scores: 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 ,5.7 ,5.7.

Then there was this guy. Out of nowhere… Pierce Manly. Not only did this guy kill it with his frenetic rocking’, but we even fucked up and played the wrong song and he still went with it like it was the plan all along. I actually wonder what it would have been like if we’d played the song he did know… because he was that good. Minus a trip off the stage because of the dark shades he was wearing – he was freaking amazing. Scores: 5.3, 5.3, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6.

Our videographer got so carrie away watching it all through the lens that he decided he should get up and try it on for size. He turned out to be really good at it and has qualified for Nationals. He called himself Adam ‘Holy Rod’ Holroyd. Scores: 5.6, 5.7, 5.7, 5.4, 5.8.

Then came Dana ‘Dana-Saurus Rex’ Schiemann. She was that and all the more. Her hair and her moves mesmerized every living thing in the room. We all air-gasmed with her to ACDC Shook Me All Night Long…Scores: 5.6, 5.8, 5.8. 5.7. 6.0.

Our final performer had a special night, or what sounded like a special week celebrating his bachelor party. Eduardo Van Halen was well suited and kicked out the jams as any totally hammered stag party might call for. Scores: 5.4, 5.5, 5.5, 5.6, 5.6

Our top seven went to the Compulsory round where they rocked out to Heart’s Crazy on You.

Whiskey Pockets – 7th place

Carlos Los Badass – 5th Place

Kid Vicious – 6th Place

Holy Rod – Tied for 3rd.

Freakachu – Tied for 3rd.

Keep on Rocking everyone… See you July 16th for Nationals at the Mod Club.

WANT TO GET IN ON THE FUN: REGISTER TO COMPETE

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Air Guitarist

1st AIR GUITAR SASKATCHEWAN IN THE BOOKS!

May 19, 2016May 19, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

NATALIE ‘SWEET DEE’ SCOTT Becomes Saskatchewan’s First Air Guitar Champion!

It started with a vision of bringing something fun and irreverent to a town that had all the pieces of the rock and roll puzzle. Saskatoon is increasingly known for its arts, music, and creative community. The man with the plan. Mike Erman, purveyor of Glitch Gifts, assembled a team of businesses and performers to bring the idea of Air Guitar Saskatchewan to life. Special thanks to Glitch Gifts, 9 Mile Legacy Brewery, Better Off Duds, Ideas Inc., Smokes Poutinerie, Panago Pizza, Rock 102 and Banger Bingo.

The following is a photo bomb of all the nutty awesomeness that went down in Toon town on May 14th, 2016. The day the Air Guitar circus came to town. Thanks to photographer Bob Holtsman, we have vivid images of the 1st ever ‘official’ Air Guitar Saskatchewan Champioinships. Enjoy…

Banger Bingo, from Medicine Hat, Alberta kicked off the party, getting the audience involved with inflatable guitars and lost of BINGO fun.

It was a festival atmosphere, with beer tents, poutine trucks, and kicking sound system… we can’t thank our audience enough for supporting the event!

The event was run in support of Creative Kids Saskatchewan, a wonderful charity that helps kids gain access to the funds and the opportunities to immerse themselves in the arts – be it music, drama, or fine arts. For anyone who ever wanted desperately to participate in music or theatre but couldn’t afford the instruments or instruction, Creative Kids makes benefitting from arts education a possibility. Over $800 was raised for the charity!!

Mike Erman had a cool trophy put together for the winner. That will look good next to some emmys and oscars.

The first performance of the night was Morgan ‘Master Ugway’ Heise who boldly went where many have and few survived… he braved Van Halen’s Eruption. The lava flowed.

Chris ‘SINISTER’ Simister dropped some Goatwhore. Apocalyptic Havoc ensued.

Then Brennan ‘Major Party’ Risling marched in and ordered a Code Red.

Edward ‘Crazy Eddy’ Smith was on fire with Metallica’s ‘Trapped Under Ice’.

Natalie ‘Sweet Dee’ Scott channeled the spirit of Ambrose Bierce and schooled the audience with her reading of ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ and her lights out performance of Van Halen’s ‘Hot for Teacher’.

Ying ‘BooBoo Kitty’ Tan turned a few heads with her acrobatic leopard printed performance of Avril Lavigne’s ‘Hello Kitty’.

There was Shaky Wilson doing Shaky Wilson. Shaking appropriately.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner showed us that Air knows no bounds and Air Guitarists can fly high, especially with ladders.

Jeff ‘Sid Dica’ Catagas closed out the performance round with a killer Ace Freely track – New York Groove.

The Judges – Xerxes Praetorius Horde – New Jacobin Club, Zelda Tremeer – Belladonnas & The Temps, Nicola Tabb – Better Off Duds, Peter MorningWood – Menagerie Burlesque Company and Christie McCulloch – Creative Kids.

Next came the Brave Souls Round… this is when people from the audience can choose from a number of pre-cut tracks and enter on the spot for their chance to make it through to the compulsory round. Thanks to the folks at Better Off Duds, there were instant rock star costumes available to help the newcomers get into the act.

Before anyone tried this out… Cat Friday from Red Deer Alberta and part of the Banger Bingo team rocked a demo for everyone to Whitney Houston… which makes perfect sense.

The Bearded Wonder came out of nowhere, thrilled the crowd and the judges and landed himself in the Compulsory Round.

The red sequinned jacket found a wearer, oddly enough her stage name was ‘BLUE’. I suppose you’ll have to guess why she’s called that.

Sandra rocked the fringe – she called herself Sandy Beaches… likely dreaming up plans for her next vacation.

This is probably our favourite picture… how serene that look on her face is. Jennifer ‘Miss Minx’ lived the ‘don’t think, just rock’ philosophy of Air Guitar.

Wild Card Hank dropped and prayed to the rock gods.

Thus ended the Brave Souls Round.

After all the scores were tallied the top 5 moved on to the Compulsory Round where all the top scoring Air Guitarists would rock out to the same song. The song was Shook Me All Night Long by AC DC. Seemed like a great time to eat some poutine from Smokes.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner made a return and showed us just how to Chester fry some finger licking guitar licks.

Major Party called in reinforcements and went ballistic to close out tied for 2nd place.

The Bearded Wonder completed the magic circle he started in the Brave Souls and also tied for second place!

In the end it was the sheer charisma and bad-assery of Natalie ‘Sweet Dee’ Scott that brought the Judges to pull out the big scores. She held her solid standing from the first round and came away with the Big Prize! She is Saskatchewan’s first ever official Air Guitar Champion!

And to top it off the gang joined together and rocked Neil Young’s Keep On Rocking In the Free World to celebrate the world peace and joy that was created that night!

And let’s not forget Malick – who closed out the night with their premium sound.

Huge thanks to everyone. Do it again next year. Or… make the trip with Natalie to Toronto for the Canadian National Championships on July 16th at the MOD cLub.

Air Guitarist

Montreal Champ Hey!Len on Deux Homme en Or –

February 8, 2016March 30, 2016
by glenairyglenrocks

Our Montreal Champ – Helene ‘Hey!Len’ Laurin spent a little time on Montreal TV the other day, talking Air Guitar and her academic thesis about women’s representations in world of Air Guitar. Have a look/listen. Note… the show is in french… so practice up those French skills. Canada is a bilingual country after-all.

http://deuxhommesenor.telequebec.tv/emissions/78/sarah-jeanne-labrosse-genevieve-st-germain-arielle-desabysses/26828/helene-laurin