The Day the Music Died

I was walking through the local Best Buy recently when much to my delight I discovered a demo of Rock Band and its drum kit was on display.  I OBSESSED over Guitar Hero for most of last year, playing GH2 all the way through in a single sitting and actually claiming that Warrant didn't suck (to play, at least).  I've been salivating over Rock Band since I first saw the track list, and the thought of ripping my shirt off and slapping the kit at home turns me into a blithering idiot.  GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME

Yet it remains an object of desire.  The price tag is steep, and life in Brooklyn doesn't exactly lend well to ample floor space.  Add in a healthy dose of skeptical wife and you've got a recipe for perpetual want.  I ALMOST had it for Father's Day but my wife, as she struggled to lug the box to the counter at GameStop, abandoned her love for me and let her own accursed hatred of loud guitars force her to rethink the gift.

Alas, the wait would continue.

So when I found myself under the big-box lighting, holding two drumsticks as the opening notes of Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" cascaded down the screen, I felt a pubescent thrill course through my body.  My eyes latched to multi-colored discs on the screen, but my ears and my instincts were the ones driving the beat.  I was good...a natural.  My first time playing and I was already Keith Moon, Jon Bonham, Phil Collins.  It was everything I hoped and dreamed.

And it was loud.

The gratifying SLAP SLAP SLAP of the drumsticks on the pads had a deeper meaning. 

It was too loud.

Our daughter stirs in her sleep when I exhale and wakes up in a tirade when I sneeze.  Our apartment conducts sound like a megafone.  And my drumming was rocking the house.

If I bought this game we'd have to move.  Someplace with a separate wing.

I quickly calculated the cost.  Could it be worth it?  Do I want this so much that I'd initiate a house-hunt in New Jersey just to have it?

Is a 30-year interest only jumbo mortgage, plus $169 (before tax) worth it?

I gently placed the sticks back on the pads.  The demo flashed, asking if I wanted to play again.  I paused, taking in the pulsating colors, then bowed my head and walked away.

And the wait goes on.

Comments

[the weirdgirl]

I have been so curious about Rock Band since I started playing drums. (I use the term "playing" loosely.) Since I'll need a new drum kit eventually I figure I can't ask for that AND Rock Band.

damnit

[Kara]

It is worth every penny and then some. It really is a game for the whole family, once your kid(s) is/are old enough to play the easy sonngs. The husband and I have a band and a "tour" with our eight year old. And AC/DC rocks Rock Band 2. When can we come over to jam?