Air play

Photo: Tien Mao for Gothamist.com

At the regional tournament for the U.S. Air Guitar Championships last year, Justin Howard—dressed in a fur-lined bikini, shackles and Viking boots—prowled the stage for deli meat his roadies threw at him. But what he’s really hungry for is rock. Better known as Nordic Thunder, the leather-sporting, meat-loving air-guitar god conquered all at last year’s Chicago finals, and he will defend his title Friday 15. “Everyone wants to know what it’s like to be on that stage and rock—and with air guitar, you’re given that chance,” Howard says. Judged on stage presence, technical merit and “airness”—how well the performer presents the air-guitar artform—Howard says that you can expect the same level of face-melting rock you’d get at a regular rock show. “Air guitarists are real musicians,” he says. “It takes as much passion and as much drive as it takes to play the physical six-string guitar.” The U.S. Air Guitar Chicago Regionals are Friday 15. See Music.—Christina Couch