Steve Weinberger with Sarah Torribio/No Air Guitar Allowed
Love may be a battlefield, but so can be the concert experience. Concert vet Steve Weinberger could’ve written a book just about his days in the mosh pit; instead, he takes it several layers deeper, categorizing the kind of people that you will usually meet at these shows (all genres have their stones overturned). You will find yourself laughing at nearly every page.
Weinberger writes with a intensely observant yet never mean-spirited eye; the closest comparison I could make are the less than caustic but nevertheless hysterically funny parodies in Mad magazine or perhaps National Lampoon, who would’ve easily published this 20 years ago. Rarely have I ever seen somebody write something so intelligently about the stupidest human behavior. Weinberger will have you observing your fellow concertgoers at the next gig you attend, searching for the characters in his book. For example, under the heading “Gal Pals,” Weinberger addresses the Lilith Fair crowd that made superstars out of female singer/songwriters such as Paula Cole and Ani DiFranco. “First, it is understood that the ‘woman show’ is a time to reclaim lost tribal unity. This means that the girl who keeps bumping into you is not That Bitch (see the Girl Fight) but instead a misguided sister,” Weinberger explains. That’s just a small sample of the big laughs in No Air Guitar Allowed.
Twang Town 