The Rabbit Hole (04.27.13)

I'm pretty sure that over the last 6+ years in which I've been performing live music in Second Life, I've played every possible type of virtual venue. Very much like the real world, each place has a distinct vibe, and there's a fascinating phenomenon about those distinctions that people outside of SL might not understand. As a musician, my style as a performer and my choices of repertoire to play is influenced by the differences in places and the people who go to each respective venue. That having been said, I don't think it's very odd that my performance at an online virtual college event is a bit different than, say, a virtual strip club. I'd hope that the real life versions of these would also want different types of musical entertainment.

A couple of weeks ago, my manager Maali asked if I was amenable to performing at the grand opening of an adult sim in SL, and I said I'd be glad to. I did a show at a similar place last year, and if anything, it was anticlimactic in terms of the blatant adult aspects I'd been expecting. It was pretty much like any show I've done before, and that was mostly the case yesterday at the Rabbit Hole.

Photo by Kat.

Photo by Kat.

For one thing, we had a surprisingly good crowd of 30+, and only a couple of my Zaksters were there, meaning it was an opportunity to introduce my music to a bunch of new people. This is always cool. Second, the people who ran the place were nice, and appreciative of my performance. Finally, other than a few rather minor displays of blatant sexual content (it is an adult-rated sim after all), the place felt like any other well-designed SL venue. All in all, it really was a good show, and I'd be happy to play there again. As has been my goal lately, I also used the occasion to pull out a few tunes I hadn't played before.

Rabbit Hole Set List...
Polly (Nirvana)
Lovesong (The Cure)
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Lola (The Kinks)
*Boss of Me (David Bowie)
I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)
*Closer (Nine Inch Nails)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
*It's Good to be King (Tom Petty)
Parallax (Atlas Sound)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Mad World (Tears for Fears)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Many thanks to the folks who supported my show at the Rabbit Hole!
davidstar204, Rogue Braveheart, DarrowD, Abysinnia, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, Weston Loxely, and Rabbit Hole staff KissMyAzz and Gina Soulstar!