In a wedge of Harper’s Ferry in Allston, nestled between the tail end of the bar and the pool table, a bald thirty-something picked up an imaginary Gibson Les Paul and tuned it up last Saturday. However, this wasn’t about having a few too many beers and making a fool of himself. This was a rehearsal.

After all, he had just over an hour to perfect his licks before an international search for the best air guitarist started in Boston.

“His face looks like this,” he told his drinking buddies, stressing facial contortions as he fingered the notes to Poison’s “Nothin’ but a Good Time.”

He is dressed as if he just left the office – a gray button-up shirt neatly tucked into black Haggar pants while the dotty growth of male pattern baldness peeks from beneath his shaved head.

Ninety minutes after crooning like Bret Michaels, this unlikely candidate strutted confidently onto the stage calling himself “The Package,” despite the fact he was still clad in an outfit fit for a stockbroker.

Welcome to the Boston regional leg of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships, where one needn’t have much more than imagination to win over a crowd.

The competition is in its ninth year and will conclude its third U.S. tour in Los Angeles next month with the crowning of a national champion. From there, the national winner will have the chance to compete for the world title in the competition’s native country, Finland.

This is the first time the contest has stopped in Boston, but it’s part of a growing trend as more U.S. cities are jumping at the opportunity to showcase their citizens’ unique style of bending an imaginary whammy bar or wearing tight pants. New York City produced last year’s world champion, MiRi “Sonyk-Rok” Park (“Sonic Rock”), who appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” dressed in a school girl’s outfit and wailing to Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher.”

The local competition upheld the promises of Park’s national TV performance, as 10 hopefuls looked to usurp the champ’s throne. Although Boston hosted the event, one contestant trekked from Park’s hometown after finishing third in New York City’s competition last year. The oldest contestant, “Jammin’ J-Bone” strolled out in a sparkly red halter top and nylon pants that showed a bit too much. J-Bone de-caped himself and played the solo to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” even throwing in an air violin during the vocal “oohs.” The judges, comprised of writers from local media outlets like the Boston Phoenix, took the bait and awarded him: