The US Air Guitar Championships returns to The Independent in SF for the 2nd straight year. This is the 3rd year the Nationals have been held in SF, a city where the competition has SOLD OUT every time, was name checked by the Mayor and has seen SF Giants mascot Lou Seal compete against USAG mascot Air Bear. The National Finals are the Super Bowl of competitive air guitar. A cross between American Idol, professional wrestling and Marina Abramović, the Finals pit city champions from across the country and the defending National Champ against one another, in two-rounds of anything-but-guitars-goes mayhem — with bragging rights, 15 minutes of fame and a trip to represent the United States in Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. (Not for nothing, as the USA is the winningest nation in the history of global competitive air guitar.)

Ultimate Fakebook melds the pop power of 70s groups like Cheap Trick with the snark of 80s garage bands like the Replacements. 1999's indie This Will Be Laughing Week was reissued by 550/Epic Records in 2000, and remains the band’s best-loved album to date. The trio—which also features two US Air Guitar Hall of Famers—reunited in 2020 for The Preserving Machine (released by Sonic Ritual Recordings), and their skills were undiminished, recapturing the powerful pop sound of their early records and adding some well-earned maturity to the lyrical content. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of This Will Be Laughing Week, Ultimate Fakebook will do something they never did back in the day—play the original album in its entirety.