Boston, 2006: Bang Camaro, a band made up of people in other
bands, plays its first hometown gig. Would the group's arena
rock-filed in iTunes under "hair metal"-go over well in a
basement party full of hipsters?  "We were terrified. It wasn't
like hard rock was the in thing at the time," co-founder Bryn
Bennett says. "We thought we would be crucified." But, as it
turns out, the crowd just wanted to rock-including some in the
front row who worked at nearby Cambridge, Mass.-based videogame
developer Harmonix, best-known for the "Guitar Hero" and "Rock
Band" series.  The intersection of Boston's indie rock scene and
Harmonix's staff wasn't unusual; the company employs many
independent musicians as gamers and programmers. "We probably
already knew 20-30 people that worked at the company because
they played in bands with us," Bennett recalls.  Bang Camaro's
timing and sound were just right. "Guitar Hero II," like the
other titles, was built around the joys of shredding guitars,
and "we happened to be doing that s