Monday, October 20, 2008

RAWK!!!

I freakin' LOVE the game Rock Band! I played it for the first time this weekend (on an x-box 360 console & 46" HD TV) while visiting friends in Iowa City.

I've played Guitar Hero before, but always managed to suck it up. Even when my left hand still worked OK, and I was still playing guitar, I couldn't get beyond the medium level without getting booed off the stage.

With rock band I tried playing the bass lefty on Easy & got booed off the stage in under a minute. I could finger the notes, but couldn't hit the strum bar at the right time. So I tried singing & held my own on Medium. Not bad.

My first attempt on the Drums resulted in 80% on easy for the Weezer song "Say it Ain't So". I moved up to Medium & scored an 88%. Better. I moved up to Hard & scored another 88%.

How did I rock the drums with a gimpy hand, you ask? Rubber bands. Check it:

After a break for dinner & several hoppy refreshing beverages, my "bandmates" and I went for broke on expert level. (Incidentally, I decided our band name should be the "Gutter Sluts") On attempt number 5 or 6, we finally made it through "Say it Ain't So" on the Expert level. Behold our bitchin' score:

Awww, yeah! 85% on expert after less than 3 hours of playing. Granted, this is one of the easier songs. I tried drumming to a difficult one & bombed out after 30 seconds.

I looked around online for stories about people using Rock Band for physical rehab, but couldn't find any. I worked my arm all evening without even realizing I was doing it! There is definitely a drum kit in my future. I think I'll get one of those electronic ones that uses headphones. I'm sure Marney & the cats will appreciate it.

Of course, I couldn't have rocked without my band mates.

Hopefully we'll get in a world tour before the usual drug & groupie-fueled lifestyle tears us apart, only to reunite on VH-1 in 20 years. I'm guessing talented guitar god Matt will be the one who says "It used to be about the music, man!" while Dr. Andrew will get all the chicks as lead singer. That leaves me with booze, pills, or heroin... or a combination of the three. It's going to be a wild ride.

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