When Being a Fake Rock Star Is Better Than Reality

"On tour with his multiplatinum hard-rock band Korn last summer, Jonathan Davis regularly whipped crowds into a frenzy with classic-rock staples such as "Iron Man," "Smoke on the Water" and "More Than a Feeling." And that was before he even got off the tour bus.

Mr. Davis, Korn's lead singer, is part of an unlikely but growing fraternity: Rock stars who are also avid players of Guitar Hero, an electronic game that lets gamers pretend to be, well, rock stars.

From superstars like Korn to up-and-comers, Guitar Hero has quickly become a fixture on tour buses and in recording studios. Intended for air guitarists who might not be able to play the real instrument, the $70 PlayStation title has also won a following in the music world. "

Read the rest at WSJ.com

Related: I went to Best Buy tonight to buy Gears Of War, but they were all sold out. So, instead I embarrassed myself by playing Guitar Hero II in front of a crowd.

Mrs. ZombieCreep encouraged me to pick up the plastic axe and jam as we passed a Guitar Hero II display in the store. I told her that I had never played this game before and played "real guitar, badly." She said to give it a shot. So, plastic axe in hand and feeling real confident, I picked War Pigs by Black Sabbath on the easy level.

It started off badly. Missed notes all over the place. More people lined up behind me to see the mad axe-man slay the video game. As I got the feel for the game it got a little easier, and i was jamming, hitting most of the notes by the middle of the song.

Then it got ugly. The solo.

The crowd on the game started booing me. My Rockstar level on the game went into the red. I told the wife I was struggling. She told me to suck it up and jam. The real crowd behind me dispersed, as they watched a pretend guitar hero melt into a Black Sabbath solo.

Yeah, I got Boo'ed off the stage.