Saturday, I was chilling here at Chez Zak with Kat on a typical kick-back weekend day when an email came in from my manager Maali Beck. It simply said, "Hi Zak, are you interested in a Noon gig tomorrow at a BDSM sim? It's a Halloween party." Well, I'm not always up for doing shows on weekends, especially on short notice, and I do turn down shows from time to time for various reasons. But I was glad to jump in and do this one. First off, it was being held at noon, meaning I could wake up, have breakfast, get ready, and do the show, then still have most of my day available for weekend relaxation.
But there was another aspect of performing at a place where I'd probably never visit on my own accord. The essence of that reason was stated eloquently by folk legend Pete Seeger in 1955 during his testimony for the now-infamous House Un-American Activities Committee:
I have been singing folksongs of America and other lands to people everywhere. I am proud that I never refused to sing to any group of people because I might disagree with some of the ideas of some of the people listening to me. I have sung for rich and poor, for Americans of every possible political and religious opinion and persuasion, of every race, color, and creed.
The very last thing I want to do as a musician is be exclusionary. I tend to shun shows that have exorbitant admittance fees, or that don't allow any particular group of people to attend. So, in the same way that I am not black, not gay, not an immigrant, not poverty-stricken, not a woman, and yet still support the rights of those people to be treated fairly and equally, I wasn't about to turn down a show for a community just because I am not part of it. Plus, as I said, I kind of enjoy noon shows on a weekend.
I went to visit the BDSM Forum sim before announcing the show. I'm not sure what I was expecting; perhaps it was some area chock full of whips, chains, bondage rooms, and so on. For all I know, those things might all be there. But what I saw was a pleasant, nicely-landscaped sim with a few people sitting around having discussions. I spoke to them and they seemed like nice folks. In visiting the area where their Halloween event was to take place, it was a pretty typical Second Life setting. I saw no reason at all not to invite my fans to come to this show as I would to any show, so that's what I did.
Here I am performing at the BDSM Forum party. Funny... it looks like a photo of me performing for any group of people in SL. It sounded that way too. People aren't as different as you assume. Photo and top photo by Kat.
We had a fun and enthusiastic crowd who seemed to enjoy themselves, and I got to perform music for a good number of people who'd never heard me before... an opportunity I always welcome. Photo by Kat.
The show itself was fine. We had a good turnout of people, comprised both of my Zakster crowd and a good number of folks from the BDSM community. Honestly, the vibe of the crowd was no more raunchy than that of just about any of my shows, and most of my fans are very open-minded people who probably weren't at all freaked out by the idea of visiting an adult sim to come see me play music. I did pull out one new song to help the Halloween spirit.
BDSM Forum Set List...
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Polly (Nirvana)
*Spooky (Classics IV)
The Other Way (Zak Claxton)
If It Makes you Happy (Sheryl Crow)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Coyote (Joni Mitchell)
I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Lola (Kinks)
Sex & Candy (Marcy Playground)
*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in Second Life. Side note: "Spooky" was actually the first song I ever played for a crowd in public, at my guitar recital on December 8, 1980.
Big thanks to the BDSM Forum folks for having me play their Halloween event, and to everyone who helped support my show!
Squeeakers, Blindboy Gumbo, Alexis Fairlady, rosMekanic, Raoul Ragu, Diana Renoir, Soulstorm Ruby, Xerxes Ninetails, Kat Claxton, TheaDee, my manager Maali Beck, and BDSM Forum's Kathryn Foley!
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