Man, Can These Guys Play Guitar Hero
September 10, 2009 at 2:13 pm Tina Hay 2 comments
My brother and sister-in-law have Guitar Hero, and I just adore it. But I’m really, really bad at it.
If it’s a song from my era—like, say, Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”—and if we set the difficulty level to “easy,” I can get by. But the majority of the songs are ones I don’t recognize, by bands I’ve never even heard of, and if I try to play at “medium” difficulty I make so many mistakes that I soon get booed off the stage. The “hard” and “expert” levels? Out of the question.
So last night I went to Eisenhower Auditorium to watch some Penn State students show how it’s done.
The Center for the Performing Arts was sponsoring its first-ever Guitar Hero Tournament, hosted by local radio personality Jeff Brown of 93.7 The Bus. It was part of a larger “patio party” designed to make students aware of the upcoming CPA season lineup.
Sixteen finalists—15 male, one female—competed on the Eisenhower stage, two at a time. Here again, I think I recognized one song the whole night (Blue Oyster Cult’s “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll,” released in 1972). But it was just a blast to see these students play at the “expert” level with such ease. And it was fun to photograph them in rock-star lighting.
The guy pictured here with the headband, by the way, was the ultimate winner—Ron Rieker, a telecommunications major from Allentown. He won a 26-inch flat-screen TV from Best Buy, the tournament sponsor.
You can see a slide show of 20 images from last night here. Special thanks to our senior editor, Lori Shontz ’91, for identifying the contestants for me—she was there last night, too, and took good notes!
Tina Hay, editor
Entry filed under: Campus events, College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State students, University Park campus. Tags: Blue Oyster Cult, Center for the Performing Arts, Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, Eisenhower Auditorium, Guitar Hero, Lori Shontz, Ron Rieker.
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1. John Mark Rafacz | September 10, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Tina, you’re one step ahead of me. Fleetwood Mac was a prominent part of my youthful soundtrack, too, but I can’t play a note of it—on Guitar Hero or otherwise. I enjoyed reading your post about the Center for the Performing Arts Guitar Hero tourney. Thanks for coming to the event.
2. Angele Martin | September 24, 2009 at 5:55 am
It might look very easy but in fact it’s not. Many beginners cannot play the guitar and sing a song in the same time. It’s quite difficult but in time you’ll manage to do it without any problems. Playing guitar requires commitment, practice and dedication especially if you want to sing a song simultaneously. If you choose the right song you can do it. Simple songs are usually the best way to go.