I arrived at Aurelie Chenaux's pretty outdoor music venue AI Tranquility at about 20 minutes before the start of my show. This is standard operating procedure for me. While it doesn't take 20 minutes to set up a mic, a tip jar and strap on a guitar, I like to give myself plenty of time to do things like send out notices of the show to various groups, and to hang out for a minute and get my bearings before starting my first tune.
Anyway, there was no one there except Aurelie herself, which was also pretty normal; no one gets to a show that early, not in SL anyway. But as time ticked away, I gradually became a little more concerned. I was definitely concerned at 6:00, when I started my first song and Aurelie was still the only person at the venue! What happened? Did I become unpopular overnight? Am I passe? Did my fickle audience all simultaneously decide that I was no longer worthy of their attention?
These are the thoughts that go through a performer's mind whenever they have a less-than-packed house at a show. By the time I finished a couple of songs, there was a really nice-sized crowd of very fun people. And it was perhaps because of that sense of relief that I proceeded to lose my mind, apparently. For one thing, I was particularly goofy... yes, more so than usual. But I really knew the night was an odd one when I turned the page in my set list, saw the song "Come Around", announced what I was about it play, and then... PLAYED SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY! That's a new one for me; in all the hundreds of shows I've done in SL, never before have I randomly started playing a different song. All of a sudden, I looked at Kat (who was sitting next to me as usual) and realized that my hands -- apparently acting on their own with no input from my brain -- were playing "Fade Away". No problem; I've played it many times before, but realizing what I'd done, I started laughing and could NOT stop. I laughed through the entire first verse and chorus, and the poor audience probably had no idea why their musical entertainment seemed to have gone insane.
Regardless of that craziness, it turned out to be a fun show for everyone. Here's what I played...
Set List at AI Tranquility
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
Jack Straw (Grateful Dead)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Soul Kitchen (The Doors)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Huge thanks to the folks who supported the show and put up with my nuttiness...
Fleetwood Andrew, Triana Caldera, Portia Munz, Axel Piccard, Charlee Anthony, Siobban Smythe, Xerxes Ninetails, Diana Renoir, and of course our lovely hostess Aurelie Chenaux !
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