Catching serious air guitar

Leather pants, Iron Maiden T-shirts, headbands, capes, wigs, and spiked leather gauntlets were back in style last Saturday night at Harpers Ferry on Brighton Avenue. The Boston regional for the US Air Guitar Championships drew an enthusiastic crowd to see who would compete in the national finals in New York next month, and possibly travel to Finland for the world championships in August.

The contestants proved that air guitar is becoming a more serious business in the United States, as it already is in Europe.

Does the United States have a chance to overtake the mighty Finns and other Europeans who actually train in air guitar?

''I think so, the more people see it and are exposed to it," said Boston finalist Brandon ''Deus Ex Rockina" Bogajewicz, a 23-year-old photographer from Brooklyn.

The self-proclaimed ''God of Rockina" said that he saw the New York regional competition in March and signed up for the Boston event because he thought he ''could do better." He said he spent hours rehearsing his moves, believing Americans cannot expect to win at shredding the air guitar until they start treating it as more than just drunken shenanigans.

Couch Potato, the 30-Pack of Rock, Torsten Von Rockenstein, the Shredder, Air Metal, and the Godfather of Air were among this year's field of about a dozen contestants. They were winnowed to five finalists and then one winner -- South Boston's Mike Torpey, the Godfather of Air, took home the crown with an animated performance set to Pink Floyd and fueled by a large cheering section.

The Godfather wore a longhaired wig and a headband to go with his torn jeans and white sleeveless T-shirt. He mouthed the sounds of the guitar in his two performances, winning over the crowd in the process.

Torpey had to go through last year's champion, Rob ''Air Metal" Brown, 29, whose head-banging routine set to an In Flames track did not go over well. The Stoughton resident landed an appearance on NBC's ''Today Show" after his performance at last year's regional. ''Tough crowd," he remarked to the 30-Pack of Rock as they chatted next to the stage. 30-Pack, also a finalist, says he is a professional air guitarist, opening for bands in Springfield and across Massachusetts. ''I love it," he said. ''But it's all politics now. I used to believe it was about the rock. Now you need a gimmick."

MATTHEW M. BURKE