How I Wound Up Onstage Playing Air Guitar

By Elaine Viets

It's difficult to explain how I wound up onstage playing air guitar with an international touring show in South Florida. (That's me with the blue guitar, behind the singer in yellow.)

It's also difficult to explain the show. ARTrageous calls itself "an interactive art and music experience. Paint jumps to life with amazing speed unveiling larger than life art in just moments. Experience music, dancing and images from Sinatra to Lennon."

Here's a photo of ARTrageous. Better yet, here's a video. https://youtu.be/lvN7ITjW6Qk

The high-powered troupe danced, sang, and painted during the fast-paced show, and the audience became part of it. We sang. We danced on bubble wrap (oooh, the popping pleasure). We played volleyball with beach balls.

Somehow, I wound up on stage with other audience members, and we were all playing air guitar. Okay, not the classic air guitar. This was an inflatable guitar, which makes it truly an air guitar.

Don't ask me to name the song – I just remember having a heck of a good time and smashing my guitar on the speakers. When the music ended, most of the air guitarists were ushered off stage. I'd had my moment in the sun and joined them.

But no – I was asked to be part of the air guitar back up band, and I played until the end of the show.

I'm not ready yet for the Annual Air Guitar World Championship Contest in Oulu, Finland. I know I need to improve my "technical merit," and "mimesmanship" — those are real criteria, by the way. But I agree with the air guitar creed: "Wars will end and all the bad things will go away if everyone just played air guitar."

There's a video of my air guitar performance, but that's not going to be posted – not if I keep making regular monthly payments.

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Comments

[Mark]

What fun! Thanks for sharing.

[Elaine Viets]

It was fun, Mark. If you get a chance to see ARTrageous -- go!

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

SO great! I bet you were awesome.

[Elaine Viets]

Uh, awesome is not the word I would use, Hank, but I sure had fun.

[Storyteller Mary]

Oh fantastic fun! Add air guitar to the list of peaceful actions, along with my student's "Drop pies, not bombs" slogan.
At a Hawaiian luau, I joined the hula onstage -- it's fun to join in! Hugs <3

[Elaine Viets]

Prozac sales would shrink if there were more air guitar events, Mary.

[Marcia Talley]

How can you NOT attend a contest in Oulu, Finland!?

[Elaine Viets]

Hey, Finland has some very cool bands. Seriously.

[Cath]

What a fantastic experience! So cool! You're a cool cat playing too!

[Elaine Viets]

And you're very kind, Cath, but it was fun.