photo: courtesy Evergreene High School
Cactus Jack’s will host Evergreen’s first competitive air band competition at 5 p.m. Nov. 7.
The event promotes Evergreen High School’s fall play production of “Airness,” which runs November 12-14. “Airness” is a comedy about an air band competition and the real-world subculture of competitive air guitar. Most of the cast is expected to participate in the contest.
Competitors for the Cactus Jack’s event must be 13 or older and can register at Evergreen Air Guitar Competitor Sign-Up.
Judges for the competition include retired EHS English teacher Colin Booth, third-place winner of the 2026 Air Guitar World Championships and AUL Denver teacher “Six String Sal” Thomas, and U.S. air guitar competitor and therapist Irene “CAirless WhispAir” Good.
As a play, “Airness” immediately appealed to EHS students, and for far more than its physicality, fun and quirkiness.
Competitive air guitar started in Oulu, Finland, where a group of students were assigned to create world peace, said Evergreen native and 2018 EHS grad Kiana Holmes, a consultant for the play.
Their idea was that if everyone was holding an air guitar, no one could hold a gun; wars would end and people would connect through the power of music.
That resonated with EHS theater students, many of whom were at the school during the September 2025 shooting there.
“I’m particularly excited about producing this event for our community because of the message of the sport,” said Holmes, who also set up the Cactus Jack’s competition. “And the kids are excited not only to be doing a show that has so much energy, but one that has a bigger, deeper meaning. That’s important to them after what happened.”
Holmes is working with EHS theater director Kiara Butts Janez, who was a new EHS teacher when the shooting occurred. The cast includes Kinley Pilcher, Neve Aune, Jayden Klobuchar, Stella Lee, Seren Taylor and Abby Thurling.
While air guitar competitions started in the late ‘70s, the Finnish students’ idea led to the 1996 launch of the annual Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland, now celebrating its 30th year.
It’s no surprise a competition that promotes world peace is held there; Finland is one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the world. It also ranked again as the happiest country in the world — for the ninth year in a row — in the 2026 World Happiness Report.
And Holmes, known onstage as Kiki Pink, said it’s an uplifting pastime that draws upbeat people.
“I got into it as a bit of a joke four years ago,” she said. “But it’s been the most welcoming group of people.”
Holmes finished 13th in the 2025 World Championships.
“When you make it to the World Championships, it feels like an Olympic village,” she said. “We’re pulling out Google Translate to have conversations with each other. It’s really sweet. It’s very wholesome.”
The play “Airness” encourages air guitarists to choose a song that “rocks your soul and makes you feel you’re back in your childhood bedroom.”
For Homes, that’s Hannah Montana.
“I’ll usually do a mash-up,” she said. “‘Nobody’s Perfect’ by Hannah Montana, ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day, and a rock cover of ‘Barbie Girl’.”
Tickets for the EHS production of “Airness” start at $7 and can be purchased online. Performances are November 12-14 with shows Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
