Rock stars love fake rock

The Wall Street Journal reports that members of Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Tool Rascal Flatts and My Chemical Romance are all big fans of Guitar Hero:

"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."

Band of Horses has apparently also experienced Guitar Hero, but not in quite the same way:

"One entertainer is hoping to use Guitar Hero to further blur the line between rocking a crowd and pretending to rock a crowd. Fred Armisen, a cast member on 'Saturday Night Live,' recently decided that Guitar Hero was enough like real musicianship to play it at a nightclub. Booked to open two New York gigs by the Seattle rock group Band of Horses, the comedian decided to forgo his usual standup routine and instead play Guitar Hero.

"Mr. Armisen strode on stage at New York's Bowery Ballroom, tiny plastic guitar strapped on, and told the audience he would be playing 'a couple of songs I've been working on.' He then turned to a giant projection screen at the back of the stage and played along with White Zombie's 'Thunder Kiss '65.' Mr. Armisen says he couldn't see the audience reaction, because he was facing the screen with his back to the crowd. Nor could he hear the live audience over the deafening roar of the videogame. 'The fake crowd on the game loved it,' he says."

Credit: Klevay.