Rock on....

I won the Guitar Hero contest last night! The contest was set up with two rounds and then a final elimination. In Round 1 there were five sets of two playing Pro Face-Off. Players had to agree on song and skill level. I was the only one that plays on expert with any regularity so I let my opponent pick the song and level. He chose "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against the Machine and HARD difficulty. The song is actually pretty easy even on Expert. Lots of repeating notes and a short, simple solo. I haven't spent much time on anything except for expert so it was a challenge to play a level down and "skip" notes I was used to playing. But I beat him handily and even showed off a little by playing with my back to the screen.

Once Round 1 was complete, that left us with 5 winners which they then let the crowd vote with applause for their favorite two. I was chosen and had to face off against the other chosen player from Round 1. They upped the ante by requiring us to play on Expert and with a pre-determined song - "Rock You like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions. This is also a pretty easy song and given that I have been air-guitaring it for last 20+ years and playing it on Expert pretty regularly I won that one as well.

Round 2 repeated the format of Round 1 leaving myself and the Round two overall winner to compete. They also required Expert and the chosen song for this round was "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson. I love the song but I can't play it for squat. It is the one song where the timing just seems squirrelly to me and I have a hard time with it. Just before we started play I congratulated the other player expecting to lose.

I started out behind and stayed behind through the first 3rd of the song which is the hardest part for me. I missed every star power while he hit his. I thought it was over at that point but we hit the 2nd third and I managed to grab the star powers which if I remember correctly he missed. I started to catch him and the crowd started to get into it (for the record....it was a little lopsided in the crowd...most of my team and several other friends and acquaintances were there cheering me on). I started to see the power meter swing back my direction which gave me some hope and I finally caught him in the final 3rd and stayed in front for the win. My score sucked but I only had to win by 1 point. I think I ended up about 10 or 15 thousand ahead.

I am the Guitar Hero.....

btw......my XBox Live ID is "loper". Feel free to add me as a friend and let's play some Guitar Hero!

Cheers!