Once it was announced that Metallica was doing a Guitar Hero game, it was a no-brainer that Virginia Fuel would do some type of Guitar Hero tournament or party. On April 18, 2009, we had our first Metallica Guitar Hero tournament. We had approximately 18 players which were split up into 6 "bands" with 3 members each. The level of experience ranged from "expert+" to "beginner." This made for a difficult time in splitting the teams up evenly, but in the end, we were just there to rock out with our co...err, I mean we justed wanted to have fun!

We played a 6-band double-elimination tournament. Everyone started in the Winner's Bracket (aka the Newsted/Trujillo Bracket) and if you lost, you were placed in the Loser's Bracket (aka the Mustaine Bracket - sorry Dave!). Songs were picked at random, and each band had 1 "mulligan" (a do-over if you got booed off stage). Let's meet the 6 bands:

Creeping Death
(Jac, Charlie and Justin)

Pastor of Muppets
(Jeannette, Tim F. and Matt)

The Three Puppeteers
(Laura, Jack and Gary)

Harvester of Puppets
(Brad, Tim C. and Joe)
Note: Tim C. had to leave early, so Joie filled in.

Damage, Inc.
(Roger, Eric F. and Dawn)

Sandman Now's
(Jessie, Jeff and Jimbo)

After a practice song or two, the tournament started. "Harvester of Puppets" breezed through the Newsted/Trujillo Bracket and made it to the finals by beating the "Pastor of Muppets" in the semifinals. The other band in the championship was the "Sandman Now's", which lost its opening round battle, but made it to the championship through the Mustaine Bracket by also beating the "Pastor of Muppets". In the championship game, "Harvester of Puppets" defeated the "Sandman Now's" by scoring more points on "Whiplash". Congratulations to the "Harvester of Puppets" who were deemed the "Gods of Thunder".

Prizes included: a rare Guitar Hero poster (from the gig in Austin, TX), Sick of the Studio '07 posters (from the Denmark show in July '07), some stuff from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, a Guitar Hero figure, a Guitar Hero t-shirt. We even gave away the game, Guitar Hero: World Tour for the PS3.

The final standings were:

• 1st place - Harvester of Puppets
• 2nd place - Sandman Nows
• 3rd place - Pastor of Muppets
• 4th place - The Three Puppeteers
• 5th place - Creeping Death
• 6th place - Damage, Inc.

Trujillo braids

This was by-far one of Virginia Fuel's most successful events. So successful, that we are doing the "Guitar Hero of the Day" Tournament II this August! Check the 2009 Fuel Event Schedule for more details. We definitely learned some things at this tournament that will make all future tournaments better (i.e., have one tournament of easy/beginner level and one tournament with more experienced levels, start earlier in the day, playing a double-elimination tournament takes a LONG time especially with Metallica's 7-8 minute song length, etc.)

Thank you's & Shout-out's:

Thanks to Roger and Beckie for hosting. Thanks to Joie for some of the prizes, food preparation, and drawing up the brackets. And thanks to everyone who came and played. See you at the next tournament in August! Finally, Tim F. gets the "thy drummer who shreds the most" award - for shredding on drums on expert+ level!