'Guitar Hero' Aerosmith Contest Hits the Hard Rock in Atlanta / Photo by Damon Sgrignoli

A mix of Guitar Hero fanatics and adventurous newbies battled it out for dominance and supreme bragging rights when the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith ROCKS the Hard Rock contest—sponsored by SPIN and the Hard Rock Café—stopped at downtown Atlanta's Hard Rock last night (July 23).

As Steven Tyler’s wardrobe from the "Walk This Way" flanked the festivities, 18 faux-axe-slingers gave it their all in a fight for the rock 'n' roll chance of a lifetime. The four highest-scoring winners from the entire tour will win the chance to meet the band in Boston and duke it out on Aug. 25 for the grand prize: a chance to speed away on Tyler’s custom designed Guitar Hero: Aerosmith/Hard Rock Café/Red Wing motorcycle.

Although the performances lacked both the epic nature of the US Air Guitar Championships and screeching hilarity of a karaoke night out, all contestants proved their prowess of the pseudo guitar, rocking out the expert level, in most cases, to near perfection.

Slaying his first-ever competition, 29-year-old Johnathan Justice of Atlanta took home an autographed Steven Tyler guitar—controller, that is—along with a good bit of swag. When asked if he came to the competition thinking he’d walk away a champion, he had a simple answer: “I thought I’d do alright. My friends dragged me into it.” Lets hope his friends get a chunk of the spoils, too.