Air Sex and Air Rock N' Roll: The Champions Converge on San Francisco

The Independent, at 628 Divisadero, will play host on June 26 and 27 this year to the national Air Guitar championships. Air guitar as a competitive sport began in the 1980s in Sweden and the United States, and culminates now in a World Championship hosted by the Air Guitar World Championships Network in Oulu, Finland. The official rules of an air guitar tourney are that each competitor perform two rounds on stage of one minute each. The first round features a song chosen by the competitor, while the second is a surprise song that the competitor must improvise on the spot to. Competitors are scored on a 4.0 to 6.0 scale in stage presence, technical merit, and the elusive "airness", the sum quality of the whole presentation and its effect.

If the public flailing and gyrating of air guitar aren't enough for you, the Independent will also be hosting another event just two days prior - the regional Air Sex Championships. Begun in Japan just three short years ago, Air Sex has taken off in popularity in the United States largely thanks to high-profile competitions held in venues like the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin regularly being uploaded to Youtube where they go viral. Popularity has increased enough in this short time for world championships to be held, first in the Alamo Drafthouse in 2008, and now here in San Francisco at the Independent in 2009.

Competitors in Air Sex must keep all their clothes on while on stage, but otherwise simulate the business of gettin' freaky for a couple of minutes, up to and including an explosive (simulated) finale. Competitors in the field mostly consist of a mix of Japanese and American freakmasters, who have suprisingly well developed routines considering that most of them got into the sport because they had trouble getting girlfriends! Women also can compete as well, and some surprisingly cute ones turn out for this, but equally surprising is that by and large it's the guys that seem to win the regional competitions. Presumably the prudish and uptight won't be turning out for Air Sex, but it is probably worth noting that the simulated sex doesn't have to be heterosexual in nature, and men doing guy-on-guy routines are quite frequently the winners of these things.

So there you have it - we've got a month full of pretend guitar and pretend sex to keep us entertained in the city by the Bay. Air guitar enthusiasts will want to check out this link for the ultimate in airness.