Saturday, July 17, 2010

Relay For Life 2010 Finale in Second Life

My view from the stage at Relay For Life 2010 Finale. Photos by Kat Claxton.

Cool entryway to the Volcano Stage at RFL 2010 Finale. Photos by Kat Claxton.

People rocking out to some ZakTunes™ at RFL 2010 Finale. Photos by Kat Claxton.

Take a look at the arrangements of sims for the event, and the crowds. Awesome. Photos by Kat Claxton.


For the past three years, I've had some level of participation in the Relay for Life activities in Second Life. In 2007, I played at a few independent fundraisers; in 2008, I played at their big kickoff party. Last year I once again performed at an event or two. But I think this year was officially my favorite show that was involved with RFL. I performed at the grand finale event, where all the relayers travel around a multitude of sims. They had a multitude of live shows happening, and mine got scheduled for their Volcano Stage on the RFL Wish sim.

It was, in a word, terrific. Everyone was very enthusiastic about helping out for this obviously worthwhile cause. All the proceeds for the day were going directly to the American Cancer Society, and I was more than glad to be able to chip in. If you're not familiar with Relay For Life...

Relay For Life (often shortened to Relay) is the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society. Originating in the United States, the Relay For Life event has spread to 21 countries worldwide. Relay events are held in local communities, campus universities, military bases, and in cyberspace. Although the main objective of Relay is to raise money for cancer research and cancer patients, the event is held to spread cancer awareness, celebrate the lives of survivors, remember those who lost their lives to cancer, and unite a community in the fight against cancer.


So, as I said, it is always an honor to be chosen to help bring in funds for this cause. For more information, please visit www.relayforlife.org. I was amazed when I saw a note pop up during the show that the events this year had raised over $200,000 USD. That's not an insignificant contribution!

We had a completely awesome crowd at my show, which was between two other very cool SL musicians (Zaphod Theas and Naphalti Hawks). Zaphod had done a metal/punk set and Naphalti was doing his usual sweet reggae act, so there was a cool variety going on. I saw a lot of great music fans in the audience, and it was so good to perform for both old and new friends.

Relay 2010 Setlist...
Pigs On the Wing - Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Heart of Gold (Neil Young)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Bertha (Grateful Dead)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
A Day In The Life (Beatles)

Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous to everyone who came out and supported my show today, while helping fight cancer! You're all heroes!

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