When Charlotte Frizzell takes the stage, she's not worried about sounding wonderful.

Her career doesn't depend on the perfect pitch about to flow from her diaphragm and through her vocal cords. In fact, her career doesn't have anything to do with the stage.

The microphone in her hand is real - as real as the butterflies in her stomach as she walks in front of the crowded room.

Her bandmates take the stage as well: Tony Stevens on bass guitar, Karen Lawrence on lead guitar and William Vines on drums. No one in the audience knows their names, and no one in the audience cares.

It's like any amateur night at a bar, with nervous musicians downing liquid courage while hoping they won't make fools of themselves and patrons talking over the music.

The difference is, at this amateur night, there's no real talent necessary. It's a Rock Band competition, and video game artists are the only kind taking the stage.

"It's nerve-wracking, but it's probably not the same as for a real band," Frizzell said once her band's turn on stage was over. "That would be way more embarrassing."

"It's just like playing with friends. Nobody cares how bad you are," Lawrence said.

"That's the only reason you'd do it in public," Stevens added.

Rock Band is a video game that lets up to four players take the stage in a virtual band, using remote controls that look like the instruments they're supposed to be. The "guitar" is plastic, and instead of strings, it has a series of colored buttons to be pressed in synchronization with scrolling colored notes on the television screen. The "drums" are also plastic, but use drumsticks and require different drum pads to be hit in time with the music. The microphone, Frizzell said, is completely real, amplifying the singer's voice through the television and showing how on-pitch the singer's voice is as compared to the music.

The songs are real, and in a way, so are the artists. It's an advanced age of video games, with players working together to create music even though they don't play instruments.

It's not a standing-room-only event, but the newest version of amateur night is bringing an interesting crowd six weekends a year to Karen and Jim's bar and restaurant, which hosts the Rock Band competitions.

Jim Kanelos, co-owner of the bar, thought the idea was ridiculous when local DJ J.D. Wolfe first suggested a Rock Band party in place of karaoke night.

"I said, 'I don't think people are gonna do this,'" Kanelos recalled. "But the first time, we had nine separate bands - that's 36 people - show up. And it's fun to see everyone play."

Most of the bands go by names not suitable for print, but Wolfe loudly announces each name before a band takes the stage. He wants everyone to feel special, even if their only talent is playing video games, he said.

"It's way better than karaoke because of the involvement, because not everybody can sing, but everyone can push buttons," Wolfe said. "For just that one moment, they get to be a superstar."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com. Read her DogBlog at tribtown.trib.com/MeganLee/blog.