Guitar Hero Is The New (And Vastly More Irritating) Karaoke

The cover of Danzig’s “Mother” you hear coming from your neighborhood bar might not be by a Danzig tribute band like you’d secretly hoped. Nope, the New York Times is here to inform you that Guitar Hero, the video game that you previously enjoyed in your living room, is making its way into the realm of public drunkenness. And what better way to prepare you for your future annoyance than an article with the title “Virtual Frets, Actual Sweat”?

Within the past year, bar owners and managers have introduced the game, usually played in basements and bedrooms, into their locations to spike business on otherwise slow nights. Now they say Guitar Hero night is the new karaoke night — without the embarrassment of atrocious vocals.

“It’s for people like me, who can’t play guitar but want to,” said Jasper Coolidge, the head talent booker at Pianos, a downtown Manhattan bar that features Guitar Hero night every Tuesday.

Mr. Coolidge said business on Tuesdays had tripled at the bar, which typically attracts a post-college crowd, since the event began in April. “We wanted some sort of quirky thing that wasn’t your typical New York dance-club house music night,” he said.

At River Gods, where the crowd is filled with high-tech workers in rock T-shirts, blue jeans and Converse sneakers, bar regulars and bewildered patrons who just stopped by for a drink, some of the players take it much more seriously.

“There are a couple of people who are these cartoon-character version of nerds,” said Jeff MacIsaac, the entertainment producer here. “They’re playing their Game Boys until Guitar Hero starts. They’re actually playing video games before the video games start.”

Hey, I’m certainly not here to tell anyone how to have fun, and just yesterday I indulged in a little Heroism myself, but isn’t this the sort of thing we go to bars to avoid? There’s something communal about karaoke amateurs embarassing themselves through the medium of Journey numbers outside their range. But when it’s a former contestant from America’s Next Top Model dressing like Pat Benatar and pressing plastic buttons to Flock of Seagulls tracks, it’s time to step back and re-examine things.

Others players, like Shandi Sullivan, a former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model” and a regular at Pianos, appreciate Guitar Hero more for the experience of dressing up and performing for a live audience.

After discovering the game in April at a friend’s apartment, Ms. Sullivan started coming to Pianos every Tuesday, and she even bought a PlayStation 2 to practice with in her apartment. At the bar’s weekly Guitar Hero party, she assumes a different rock ‘n’ roll alter ego each time. She has been both Pat Benatar and Elvis Presley. Given her choice, though, she still prefers to rock out to Megadeth, and the game has turned her on to contemporary heavy-metal acts like Shadows Fall.

“I can’t wait until the ’80s version comes out,” Ms. Sullivan said. “Eighties music is my life.”

By Christmas, there will be competing “Pretend You’re A Musician” games available (one adding drums and vocals to the mix), so it’s unlikely this trend will burn out as quickly as we can hope. However, the question that vexes your guest editor–and, I assume many of the visitors to this site–is this: How will this affect the quiz-night industry? My team (the “Chilled Out Entertainers”) sits, somewhat wobbly and intoxicated, on the edge of our seats.

Virtual Frets, Actual Sweat [NY Times]