It's going down tonight. Contestants are carb-loading, judges are wrapping up their pre-competition detox diets, and the crowd--frankly, the crowd was born ready for the Seattle regionals of 2008's Cuervo Black US Air Guitar Championship tour! This is the first year that Seattle (home of Jimi, for God's sake!) gets to compete, and we have not a shadow of a doubt that local Air Guitar artists have more than enough attitude and commitment to the......

tribute by bamassippi Guitar overload is an appropriate image choice for this musically overloaded weekend. Plucked from the Seattlest Flickr Pool - keep on sharing.......

DJ Rare Groove spins for the crowd before Atmosphere's set. Slug's tidy ponytail gleams, silhouetted against changing red, green and aqua lights. He moves his body like he's got something to clarify. "Oh, you know this one too?" he asks the deliriously excited crowd, and of course the answer is yes. In Seattle, Atmosphere's emcee Slug--dark, emotionally tortured, pensive Lothario Slug--is a god. We seem to prefer our rockstars on the brooding but safe......

You'd never know by listening to Pearl Jam records that lead guitar player Mike McCready might have been in excruciating pain or at risk of losing his bowels at any moment in the studio. Seeing the band live at a large venue like KeyArena probably wouldn't clue you in, either. McCready doesn't play as if he suffers from an inflammatory bowel disease. He's all over the place—running, jumping, and flailing with his guitar. Seeing the......

If you're not a Pearl Jam fan, you don't suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, and you aren't familiar with England's hard-rockin' UFO, chances are you don't know about PJ guitarist Mike McCready's tribute band, Flight to Mars. You should. Not because McCready is one of the planet's greatest guitar players. (Ever.) And not because Flight to Mars' covers—"Rock Bottom," "Too Hot to Handle," "Lights Out," etc.—rock harder and sound better than UFO's......

Tuning the Air continues their multi-guitar soundscape at the Capitol Hill Arts Center showroom every Monday through 12/17. So you've only got four more chances to see the guitorchestra in action, playing their fusion of the old and new, the classic and the modern, live and in the round. Intrepid reporter MvB has seen them on more than one occasion and had this to say about the CHAC residency: Tuning the Air is guitar-topia,......