The History of The Oldest Air Guitar Competition in the World

2010 UK Air Guitar Finals - Round up and Contestant Profiles»

2009 UK Air Guitar Finals - Round up and Contestant Profiles»

This competition is the longest running air guitar championships in the world. The competition was established between 1994 and 1995 by Jeffrey Louis-Reed and is still to this day the only Air Guitar Championships dedicated to those who love the music and those who would love to have been the musician.

The competition is judged by the audience always, rather than a panel of old people that have no comprehension of the philosophy.

To be a champion you don't need to be good, or cool, you just need to get on stage, close your eyes and let the music take over your itchy fingers. The venues that we use are frequented by the best bands on the scene, so all who enter can say that they have shared the same stage as some of the greatest bands on the planet.

Despite the new look of our website we pride ourselves on running a grass roots level event that is FREE to enter! FREE from contractual obligations, FREE from fees, FREE from judges and a celebration of Air Guitar as it was supposed to be... Free...

From the Former Champ and New Organiser

When people ask me 'so.. what do you do for a living', i say I'm an air guitarist. Air guitar is what living is to me, not working. Then to announce to that very same person that i am the best in the UK at what I 'do' and that makes me feel like i have achieved something that not many people in the country have or ever will.. the status of UK champion.

The very first time I learned of an air guitar competition, I went to a show to see what it was about, I was so awed at what I saw that the following year I couldn't resist. It was a Sunday afternoon and me and my friends were planning on going to the championships that evening, during the course of the afternoon i bottled out of taking part until I had a couple of drinks and thought '***k it'. I went to my local and took a CD from there, turned up at the door and asked for a go. The polite man on the counter said, 'I think we can get you on at the end' I thanked him. From then on butterflies had taken over my body, legs shaking, feeling slightly sick at the thought that the venue was very nearly full to 600 people and i was about to make a fool of myself. It was then my turn... I got called to the stage, still very nervous, but the moment the music played I forgot about the 600 people in the room and I felt like I was back in my y-fronts in front of the mirror. 2 minutes later the music stopped, I openned my eyes to find a sea of people jumping and screaming at me, it was then that I knew... this is where I belong...

Colin 'Cozza' Fulker - UKAG Organiser

From the Founder

I do air guitar. Not just in my bedroom - or even at a gig when the riffs start to involuntarily effect my arms, legs, hands and fingers drawing them into a metal salute - but on a large scale - one bigger than I could ever have imagined.

Now, whether this was the unconscious result of growing up in a bedroom next door to my brother Greg's rock guitar obsession. This bizarre pastime has developed into more than I ever intended, especially after its more than humble beginnings. The UK Air Guitar Championships were ENTIRELY accidental and this is how they came about.

In the winter 1994 I moved back to London. Then to Brighton where I opened the Brighton Cinematheque. A few months later I ended up doing shows at a small dive called The Lift above a rough pub called the Pig in Paradise which sold £1 pints and was famous for its violent pub fights. The Lift, in a former incarnation, was a Swiss-themed fondue restaurant that had a lovely fireplace, carved wood panelling and wood floor that was a magical acoustic space.

So evermore I would have to invent ever more complex schemes to promote a non-happening night. Naked Poetry Slam which became a self-fufilling prophesy when people showed up stark naked or an Ego Tanning Booth and on one especially desperate night - An air guitar playing contest. And so the myth was born.

It seems to have entered the popular consciousness of the country so much so that Everyone you meet seems to know someone who won last year.

Jeffrey Louis-Reed - UKAG Founder - DJ Disastronaut