“Guitar Hero” has become one of the world’s most popular video games. It allows players to act out their rock-and-roll fantasies. But one thing is missing: the adoring crowds. The game’s simple, easy-to-play-hard-to-master rhythm gameplay has enabled local college students who don’t know an A chord from a C chord to feel like a rock god (or goddess). The game’s success was what caused the owners and staff of Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern to set up a weekly “Guitar Hero II” tournament along with its open mic night.
“We were doing mice races and open mic night, and we had the whole thing going with the winner getting a free drink,” Todd Rowan, Open Mic Night host, said. “We had been doing it a long time, and we needed something new, and this “Guitar Hero” phenomenon hit. We decided it might be cool to do. Incorporate “Guitar Hero” with open mic night. It’s kind of a parody of itself. It ended up working out. We’ve had a lot of support for it.”
The tournament has been in place for about a month. The response has been great, with growing numbers of people coming to participate each week.
“The first night we had eight people show up to play it with not a lot of advertisement,” Rowan said. “It’s grown exponentially. The second week we had 12 people. The third we had 16 people. We’ve had a great amount of support for it, in addition to the open mic night. It’s become fun. Something different to do.”
Participants seem to agree.
“I’ve always loved ‘Guitar Hero,'” senior engineering major Hunter Travis, who participated in Monday night’s tournament, said. “[The tournament] is an amazing idea. ‘Guitar Hero’ is going to take over the world.”
The tournament has developed its own unique system.
“We thought about bracket systems,” Rowan said. “It turned out that so many people were showing up to play from week to week that a bracket got a little hectic. After two weeks we did it as a loser’s bracket and winner’s bracket, and it got to be this big cluster of madness. Starting at 9:30 p.m. I randomly draw two names, and I randomly draw all the songs. So there’s no strategy involved at that point. If you win, you get a free drink at the bar. If you’re under age, we give you a water. We cycle through the bucket, and if we have time at the end, we put everyone’s name back in the bucket. It’s completely random. I think that’s the best way of doing it.”
Rowan encourages anyone who enjoys the game to come out and participate regardless of skill level or experience.
“I think it’s hilarious,” Rowan said. “I’m terrible at it. I would absolutely encourage anyone to come out. The thing about it is, we use the upper [skill] levels. But, if we have two people that would like to play at a lower level, I totally encourage them to come out and play, and if we have a couple of people that want to play on medium, I’ll put them in a different bracket. We’ll do a harder level and an easier level. Most rounds are played on hard or expert because most of the people that come out and play here are pretty good. I think it’s funny either way.”
While the “Guitar Hero” tournament is a new development, Open Mic night has been in place for quite a while. It allows for local amateur musicians and standup comedians to come out and provide entertainment for the crowd.
“Anybody’s welcome,” Rowan said. “You can bring your own guitar. I have a guitar here. The mics and everything are set up. We start at 9:30 p.m. I would encourage anybody to come out and play. We’ve actually had some people get booked up here through open mic night. It’s happened a few times.”
John Butler | The Reflector
Todd Rowan, open mic night host at Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern in Starkville, performed Monday night before a quick ‘Guitar Hero’ tournament, which is held each week.