Anna McCarthy at the Weekly's All Shook Down blog has this fun review of Saturday's Air Guitar Championship at The Independent. The event was a two-day regional spectacular in which winners move on to become finalists in D.C. on August 7th. Friday night's champion was a guy named Awesome with huge hair and a red beard, and on Saturday Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) showed up to be a celebrity guest judge and apparently fell into the much hated Simon Cowell critic role. Boone's was a sponsor, so much of the pink stuff was drunk, and the winner, who went by the name of Cold Steel Renegate, was said to have brought air tears to at least one eye. more ›

UPDATE: We have our winners, and they are being informed. Please stop emailing us.
more ›

The kids over at The Daily Clog bring to our attention this festive Bollywood film, Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), that was shot in Berkeley, the Cal campus, and San Francisco. While the English dubbing barely masks some sort of nonsense language, the real treat here is the seamlessly-choreographed and air guitar-infused Tamil song and dance number featuring Berkeley landmarks and the SF waterfront. more ›

Or rather lucite? That's right, home town hero Hott Lixx Hulahan won the Air Guitar World Championships in Finland last week. For once, a victory on the international stage unmarred by accusations of doping, and underage-ness. Even the NY Times is celebrating. Congrats Hot Lixx!
more ›

Hey, remember way last week when we told you that air guitar royalty were on the streets of SF? The final round of 2008 Cuervo Black Air Guitar National Finals consisted of the top 6 air-guitarists, some new-comers to the usag circuit, some seasoned veterans, but the home-town hero, Hot Lixx Hulahan, had SFist at hello. Performing injured, he strung up his air-axe and aired out a Crazy Train that even Ozzy could get behind. The highlight of his winning performance was a full front-flip, twisting into a perfect stage-dive. His command of the crowd was so great that they spewed him back onto the stage just in time to perform the most anatomically correct, gut-busting solo of the night. Hot Lixx, we salute you, and may you bring Finland the nation's best! more ›

It's that time of the year again for San Francisco magazine's Best of the Bay party. The annual bash features lots of eats, drinks and chances to win prizes. Be prepared to fork over nearly a bill for your ticket here -- but as an added bonus it will also get you into the afterparty at Slide. San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St. more ›

SFist interviews Craig Billmeier aka Hot Lixx Hulahan, US air guitar champion. more ›

SFist interviews Alexandra Lipsitz, Director of Air Guitar Nation more ›

Long-time readers of SFist will know that we love (love!) all things Air Guitar, both for its obvious silliness and its devotion to the rawk. So when we heard that Air Guitar Nation was playing at the San Francisco Independent Asian Film Festival, we knew we were destined to see it. How was it? Well, we’ll describe it using the one word we heard other people describe it-- awesome. more ›

Thanks to geniuses who created the whole air guitar competition, we have this YouTube clip of the very first air guitar competition. From 1981. Playing AC/DC. And better yet, it's of an Air Guitar Band-- drummer, singer, bassist, guitarist, and rhythym guitarist. It's tight jeans, vests over bare chests, and short shorts. Needless to say, it rocks. more ›

SFist would like to give an official SFist Mazel Tov to Alameda's own Craig "Hot Lixx Hulahan" Billmeier who became the Fourth ever US Air Guitar National Champion. Having seen Hot Lixx in action, we can only say well done, sir, well done more ›

a Chris Daly power grab, darn it! Krissy Keefer gets her Green primary endorsement on the editorial page (though they note "she virtually has no hope of beating Nancy Pelosi." Oops, last week's endorsement issue forgot to mention that they're endorsing Leno in Assembly District 13. Union-busting Whole Foods might be moving to the Haight. Cover: Why's the city killing off fun? (an article about the SF Party Party.) Annalee Newitz on the NSA. Sonic Reducer hosts a DJing class today at 5 p.m. at the Hemlock. Carnival pullout for the weekend. New tea place in Hayes Valley. L.E. Leone goes out for karaoke. And SFist Eve's horoscope: think big! (Happy birthday, co-editor! Hope it was a good one!) more ›

http://flickr.com/photos/michaelbutler/sets/72057594133025541/ more ›

Once again the musical offerings in San Francisco are so plentiful and compelling that they force us into stressful choices. The upside is that no matter what you decide this week, you really can't go wrong. more ›