"It definitely kept me up until 4 in the morning some nights," said Plain White T's frontman Tom Higgenson.

Self-absorption? Groupies? Just what are these rock stars talking about?

They're talking about video games.

The inaugural "Rock Band Live Tour" makes a stop in West Valley City on Thursday with, appropriately enough, rock bands Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's and The Cab.

"Rock Band" is the video game that allows players to perform in a virtual band, playing up to four controllers modeled after musical instruments (a guitar, bass, drum and microphone). These "instruments" are used to simulate the playing of rock music by hitting scrolling notes on-screen. The game has sold nearly 4 million copies since its release in 2007.

While the "Rock Band Live Tour" could be dismissed as a marketing ploy for the video game, it has the advantage of giving local gamers the chance to appear onstage between the tour acts' sets. (Players hoping to appear onstage should arrive at the venue at 6 p.m. for on-site "Rock Band" competitions.) Not to mention, a talented bill of four rock bands will play.

Higgenson said he enjoys "Rock Band" with his bandmates, and not just because the band's acoustic hit "Hey There Delilah" can be played on the game. "The studio we were at had the game," he said in a phone interview.

When he wasn't playing the game, Higgenson and the band wrote songs for their new album, "Big Bad World," released Sept. 23. It's the follow-up to "Every Second Counts," the band's gold-selling breakthrough album.

The new album gave the once-harder-edged band room to grow, Higgenson said. "Instead of trying to turn [all the songs] into punk songs, we decided to let them breathe and we let them be."

As for Carrabba, he has to appear onstage whether or not he is a good video game player, but he contended in an interview that he is getting better at playing drums the "Rock Band" drums, that is. He already sings and plays guitar with his band, describing his day job this way: "I play guitar and sing for work."

Carrabba, who makes music usually classified as emo rock, says he enjoys playing the game's downloadable songs from the 1980s, familiar from his youth. "I like the classic rock stuff," Carrabba said. "Playing a lot of the metal brings me back to the teenage years."

When he's performing, Carrabba has formed a ritual of making eye contact with one person in the audience, and having what he terms "eye sex" with that person. Does the singer hope an audience member who gets onstage to demonstrate his or her "Rock Band" skills will have "eye sex" with him?

"One can only dream," he said.

David Burger writes about popular music. Contact him at dburger@sltrib.com or 801-257-8620.

Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, The Cab

When » Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.

Where » E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City

Tickets » $26.95-$32.95 at Ticketmaster (325-SEAT)