Time: 4:00pm-6:30pm

Location: 55 Eagle St, Albany, NY 12207 (map)

Albany—it’s finally your turn to shred! For the first time ever, the US Air Guitar Championships are coming to upstate New York. The Albany Qualifier at the Dead Man’s Hands Expo is not only your chance to carve your name into air guitar history, but it’s also kicking off the 2026 season early—which means the road to Nationals starts right here.

This is the official competition. OpRock kicks off an opening number. Competitors can either bring a prepared one-minute track or pick one on the spot. After round one, the top five scorers advance to round two, where everyone performs a compulsory song. Scores from both rounds are combined to determine the winner. Fourth round (incase there a 3rd air off tie breaker). To cap things off, everyone gets on stage together, audience included, for a big, chaotic, communal jam—usually to “Freebird” or “War Pigs.”