Guitar Hero Bar

Last week, I had two friends email me within five minutes of each other to let me know about a bar in Silverlake that features a Guitar Hero night every Wednesday at 10 PM. Do they know me or what?

Of course, I had to go check it out ASAP, which was tonight! Here's how it works. You buy a beer (no hard alcohol available), then get signed up on the blackboard they keep behind the bar to get a turn up on stage to rock out. The tricky part once you get up there is that you have to watch the notes on the opposite side of the screen from where you're standing on stage.

The guy that runs the bar and the two barbacks all took turns up on stage and it was great! They are the three bears of GH greatness... One wasn't that good (but had good stage presence), one was medium/hard good, and one just rocked the house on expert every time!

Travis and I played a few times... the first one was co-op "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" by the Rolling Stones on expert. Then we played Freezepop's "Less Talk More Rokk" on hard, but in hyperspeed mode (code at the main menu: OBOYOBOY). Our final song was an expert pro face-off of "Sweet Child O'Mine" and I kicked his ass. I think it was the long streak that did him in. I nailed the first part of the song. It was awesome! There was one other girl that was really good and I would've loved to face-off with her. By the time I saw her play, it was crowded and the waiting list was long. If I see her there again, I'm going to throw down the ax!

This all took place at a non-signaged bar:
Hyperion Ave Tavern
1941 Hyperion Ave.
Los Angeles, CA

The pros: It has Guitar Hero! Cheap drinks ($4 beers, $2 non-alcoholic beverages), friendly crowd
The cons: No hard alcohol, it gets crowded around 11 PM.

I'm going to post a MyPC event and see if they'll open early for us!


Eugene and Erin rocking out!



Here is the kick ass bartender Eric who is playing with his homemade controller! It has extra fret dividers on the neck and when you press the string to the fret thing, it closes the circuit and makes the button activate. The strum bar barely sticks out past the strings, so you need a pick to strum this guitar. It's awesome!



Here are a couple of pictures of Grant's homemade wireless controller:







Here's a picture of Eric's more decorated homemade Guitar Hero controller and me using Grant's!!





Update 6/7/07
I went to the GH bar last night and saw Grant. He and Eric are thinking about starting to take orders for the converted guitar controllers. I told him that I'd put an order in. He said that he's not sure how much he'd charge. I told him to make sure he charges enough to cover his costs and make some money at it. It takes a couple weeks to make one. For materials, he has to buy a controller which costs $50 and then the guitar, which probably costs a bunch too. Adding in labor, etc. and the whole thing could get pretty pricy. Buying one would probably be worth it for me. Even if I knew how to do it step-by-step, I'd never actually do it.

If you're interested in finding out more about ordering one, leave a comment!