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A Reverie on Rock Band

After the last week of new weekly Rock Band DLC, we asked fans to send us their stories about Rock Band to share with the community. This story is from our friend Tommy Wall, creator of the amazing Rock Band fansite RockBandAide.com.

If you have a story you’d like to have featured in the Blog, post here to let us know!

“…Just something in the range of 500 words about Rock Band.”

Huh. OK. I can do this. I mean, I’ve written over 1,600 articles for my own site. This shouldn't be a problem… right?

I’ve been able to carve out my own little niche within the Rock Band community by writing about Rock Band for almost four years, with barely a day going by not thinking about the game. Putting my thoughts and feelings onto paper about the de facto ending of the franchise is something I can do… I think.

But, hold on a second. How do I write something that’s an ode, and not a requiem? How do I put something down that is more akin to praise without sounding like a eulogy? How do I reminisce and wax nostalgic without lamenting?

Uh oh.

OK, let’s break this down. Maybe I should write about my first Rock Band experience. I can still see the line wrapped around the Best Buy, and despite everyone’s breath hanging in the cold November Midwest air, the atmosphere was electric, like at any moment, everyone’s favorite band was going to show up and melt our faces. It seems like that just happened… but so much more has occurred since then. Let’s do something more recent.

Rock Band midnight release


What about something deeply personal? Do people really want to hear about how Rock Band was one of the salves for a stinging but intensely cathartic divorce in 2008? Hrm… I doubt it. Let’s keep the emo to a minimum here.

Should I talk about my 30th birthday party and how we rented out a bar and let all my friends play Rock Band on a big stage like real life rock stars? I don’t think this was that unique during Rock Band’s heyday, but let’s mark this down as a maybe.

Rock Band on the big stage


What if I talked about how I started my site? I mean, it was only intended to be a hobby and much-needed creative outlet, but really snowballed into something pretty surprising and engaging. I guess I could talk about how it was the catalyst behind meeting metric buttloads of amazing friends in New York, Boston, and elsewhere, and truly left me with experiences I will never forget. Ugh, not sure if people want to hear about some me-monster talking about his exploits, though. Maybe something a little more relatable.

I got it! I can talk about how Rock Band was a favorite after-bar pastime of myself and my wife for the past few years. Nothing beats having a “few” drinks and then belting out “Wanted… WANNNTTEEEDD… Dead or Alive…” at 2:00 in the morning. Hold on. The game is T for Teen. Better avoid making my wife and I sound like a couple of drunks.

Maybe I can talk about how Rock Band Blitz’s release coincided with the birth of our daughter, and that the ability to use a controller rather than a noisy plastic peripheral let me continue to play even while our little rock star was trying to sleep… Alright, maybe I’ll save that story for posting on Facebook with all the other baby photos we've got.

I’m kinda hitting the bottom of the barrel here with ideas. Man, I hope I can think of something to write.