Rock Band Wins/Ruins Thanksgiving

[Apples]

Apparently word got around among my 8 aunts and uncles about my trip to Boston for the Rock Band release party. As a result, there was a concerted effort to get me to drag all the parts to the family Thanksgiving party to show what all the hype was about.

Given the demographic of people at the party, I was pretty skeptical this would work out. It would be an adult crowd in their 40s/50s and some cousins ages 8 to 16. None of them gamers, none of them remotely tech savvy.

So I get there and put up a whole setup. My sister and I give a sort of demonstration with her on drums, and myself doing a guitar + vocals combo. After the song, a strange thing happened... people started coming out of the woodwork to join in. And then after the next song, a few more, and then a few more.

A couple cousins had played Guitar Hero and picked up easy/medium level guitar parts. The adults gravitated toward the microphone and drum set. A few braved guitar or bass for the first time. The most amusing was a brother and sister, ages 8 and 10, who picked up medium drums and each played 2 pads while their mother handled the kick pedal.

Six hours later... Thanksgiving was a disaster. No one wanted to eat. No one wanted to join the family poker game. No one wanted to celebrate the November birthdays. No one watched the football games. Rock Band had dominated the day.

One of my cousins, 14, picked up drums well enough that he wanted the PS2 version for Christmas. So while I'm packing all of this mess up to go home, people began to comment... you're bringing this back for the Christmas party, right? :D If I ever for a moment doubted this idea would work, it was dead wrong.

[Eman311]

Highlight of my thanksgiving was getting my mom to sing My Sharona.

Good stuff.

[masterx1918]

my family hates/loves Rock Band. They think it makes too much noise and wastes too much of their time. Needless to say they play it and have a blasty blast, but when they're away from it they hate it.

[AdamBomb629]

Family party: SATURDAY. ROCK BAND IS THERE. I'll let you know how it goes.

By the way, good to see the forum regulars still hanging around!

[Eman311]

Family party: SATURDAY. ROCK BAND IS THERE. I'll let you know how it goes.

By the way, good to see the forum regulars still hanging around!

My hands hurt, i'm tired and am avoiding sleep because it brings me that much closer to work 2moro.

Of course i'm here!

[theLoser]

same here my granma was hogging the drums tho
All in all GREAT DAY!!!

THE_LOSER

[dittohead213]

haha it seems to be happening all over.
i got my uncle to sing Run to the hills....ha i didnt know he could hit high high notes.....

[Bakkster]

I have yet to hold a Rock Band party. Next weekend I'm visiting a bunch of my friends, and most of them are also GH nuts and are looking forward to it. Also, my girlfriend is a drummer, and I figure I can entice everyone else to at least try vocals.


Highlight of my thanksgiving was getting my mom to sing My Sharona.

Good stuff.

So your mom always gives it up for the touch of the younger kind? ;)

[Ajax2006]

My family and I were late, we were rocking out and didn't want to leave.

[Lazerus101]

Oh dear... you have created a monster...

[undertow]

I too had a bunch of my family over playing. Popular song choices were My Sharona, Say it Ain't so and Wanted Dead or Alive.

The day before, I had played about an 8 hour session with 5 of my friends and ended up being a few minutes late for work. Well, I work for a gaming company and when I came in to explain why I was late, no one was in their offices... then a few seconds later I heard Say it ain't so playing in a closed meeting room, I was like there's no way! Open the meeting room door and sure enough about 10-12 fellow employees, including the Vice President of the company were in the room rockin out to Rock Band, using the Projector we use for meetings on the wall!

Good Times! God Bless you Harmonix, I absolutely cannot wait to hear about, see, play and purchase as much DLC as you release! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday on the forums and at Harmonix!

[Apples]

Highlight of my thanksgiving was getting my mom to sing My Sharona.

Good stuff.

My Sharona, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Say It Ain't so were big hits at my party. The wierdest though was Foreplay/Longtime, when half the room somehow knew the song by heart and started singing along with the vocalist.

[Rock_Starman]

So that makes 2 "Rock Band ruined Thanksgiving" topics today. Bad Harmonix! See should've sent some to Canada then one of these people might not have gotten theirs and had their Thanksgivings saved! We already had ours last month.

[SteppinRazor]

My Sharona, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Say It Ain't so were big hits at my party. The wierdest though was Foreplay/Longtime, when half the room somehow knew the song by heart and started singing along with the vocalist.

Heh, side effect of having a room full of boomers?

But seriously, that is rock.

I'm still waiting for my chance up here in Canada, but I know I have some relatives who probably won't be able to resist when they visit over the Xmas break (assuming I can get it by then).

I showed my uncle Guitar Hero 2 when I bought it, he's a big Stones fan, so he loved "Can't you hear me knocking". I put GH1 in the drive and he played More Than a Feeling on easy -- he's 50 something, but plays a little Xbox, so he wasn't completely lost.

He bought GH2 on the way home. He bought GH1 shortly thereafter.

Before this thread I hadn't even wondered if he knew about RB... I oughtta send him an email.

[Aetherus]

I got Rock Band the day before Thanksgiving, knowing that this would be the party game of the holiday, and sure enough it was. Everyone got into it, with "Say it Ain't So", "In Bloom", "I Think I'm Paranoid", "Creep", and "Celebrity Skin" being the most popular.

It took a while, I had to be the first to try the vocal to get anyone on the mic. After that, we had a full band (minus the bass) going. My eight year old daughter aces vocals to "I Think I'm Paranoid", which was surprising!

[walnutthewise]

I set up Rock Band in the basement and my friends and I were down there most of the turkey day besides eating. Great times!

[WildBillKickoff]

Highlight of our Thanksgiving was getting my dad (54) to sing Gimme Shelter with my mom (51) backing him up. After that, he was so hyped, he decided to go one more, and we picked Sabotage for him. Hilarity ensued when in teh middle of the song, he busts out the only rap he knows: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.

[xfMike]

I'll have some what o a Rock Band party tonight at my girlfriend's house.

The night RB was released though, my family and I had a blast doing BWT. My mom and sister were on microphone (GREAT stuff hearing your mom try to sing Mississippi Queen!), my youngest sister on my X-Plorer doing bass/guitar, I was on the Strat doing bass/guitar, and my sister's boyfriend was on the drums. Great stuff.



Random: I am angry though that my Xbox died last night. I only have 1 red light flash (the lower right), and it gives me an E 74 error. I had played through the last set of Solo Career for Guitar, and messed with the create a character a bit. I hopped on these boards and read about the battery slot on the back of the Strat for 360, and threw some batteries in. No more than 5 minutes had passed since I turned my Xbox off from beating the solo tour to throwing batteries in the guitar, then the Xbox stopped working when I tried to turn it back on...

[cromartie90000]

man my dad saw me playing one day and he scoffed "humph! It's just electronic Electronic air guitar!" D:

[steelcurtain187]

haha awesome story! Sounds like lots of fun :cool:

[DFAZaNDRiC]

Ya my mom got pissed at my dad cuz he was playing the drums and didnt help her make dinner XD

[ScubaKev]

Great story. We have people over to play Guitar Hero and people are often hesitant at first but always leave addicted. I guess I'll need to get the drums before long, but I am having a great time with Rock Band and Guitar / Bass.

[Nekura20x6]

It was a hit at my mom's house. She played drums (she's a retired band director / music teacher), my brother-in-law played bass, I played guitar, and my sister sang. Fan-freakin-tastic experience. My sister was even leaning toward getting a 360 for herself.

[Ultrace]

Highlight of our Thanksgiving was getting my dad (54) to sing Gimme Shelter with my mom (51) backing him up. After that, he was so hyped, he decided to go one more, and we picked Sabotage for him. Hilarity ensued when in teh middle of the song, he busts out the only rap he knows: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.
I've been wondering that... In the Gimme Shelter cover, is there a female singer as well? They could have done a cover version with just someone imitating Mick Jagger... And I assume in the game when you play, you sing his part and don't get the choice to sing hers...

[AVC808]

i just think it's so awesome how this game bonds you with your family again. i know once you hit those teen years you start to separate yourself from your parents and stuff. but with the track list going back to classic rock, your parents grew up listening to that stuff and can flash back and enjoy this game just as much as you. must be an awesome feeling to come together as a family for pure enjoyment :)

[devo193]

Highlight of our Thanksgiving was getting my dad (54) to sing Gimme Shelter with my mom (51) backing him up. After that, he was so hyped, he decided to go one more, and we picked Sabotage for him. Hilarity ensued when in teh middle of the song, he busts out the only rap he knows: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.



I wish I could've been there! Sounds hilarious.

[IvyYamaguchi]

I had a similar experience with my family too. Unfortunately, the TV at my dad's house was about the size of a postage stamp, so no one could see anything. Still had fun though.

[JoshuaNeff]

I had a pre-thanksgiving RB party... We were playing for a few hours, and none of our girlfriends would play.

At some point, we sort of forced them, and then couldn't get the game back after that. lol:p

[SoKGiX]

same thing here, had my aunts uncles cousins, everybody playin by the end of the night.

we're havin xmas here so it'll happen again too

[Mr_GtD]

I've been wondering that... In the Gimme Shelter cover, is there a female singer as well? They could have done a cover version with just someone imitating Mick Jagger... And I assume in the game when you play, you sing his part and don't get the choice to sing hers...

It's the original master. And yes, you do sing the female part.

[brokentoothpic]

My wife and 4 sisters decided to keep swapping out various parts to play Gimme Shelter over, and over, and OVER again...once someone said 'isn't that the song from Adventures in Babysitting?' every chick in the house came running.


As soon as I digitize the video, I'll post it for all of your laughing pleasure :)

[RavenAnWo]

I know what u mean Apples. I got coaxed into taking my 360 and Rock Band to my friends house for Thanksgiving dinner and we(me,her,her son, and his g/f) must of played on it for almost 5-6 hours straight. I kept waiting for the system to give me the RROD since it getting pretty hot from the constant playing. Everyone switched instruments and a few times I ended up playing guitar and doin vocals cause our singer for the couldn't keep up. It short it was a blast.