The Islands of New England (04.30.14)

Every time I think I've done and experienced everything there is in life, I get proven wrong. Last night's show -- if you want to call it that -- at The Islands of New England is great example.

I generally log into SL at roughly 20-25 minutes before my scheduled start time, after warming up for about 40 minutes. If my show is scheduled for 5PM, for example, I start warming up at 4:00, and get into world at about 4:35. On a typical day, I then make sure my avatar is dressed appropriately, then teleport to the venue, make sure everything is ready to go, and then set up my microphones and other audio tools to be ready to perform.

All that is precisely what didn't happen yesterday. I'd been hearing some rumblings of Second Life being problematic from my Facebook friends, but didn't pay much attention until I tried to get onto the grid... and failed. I immediately pinged my manager Maali Beck, as well as IONE manager Christine Haiku, and let them know what was going on. I was hammering the "log in" button to no avail for the next 15 minutes, and a few minutes before my show was schedule to start, I was about ready to angrily cancel the whole thing when Christine made a suggestion.

So, to be clear... I couldn't get into SL, but we did the show anyway. Here's how it worked: I ran my audio stream broadcast as usual. Meanwhile, Christine was copy/pasting the local chat that was going on at the venue into Facebook messages so I could have some interaction with the crowd (a big part of my show). At the venue, as opposed to having an empty stage, my crazy friends put up a photo of me. And the show went on. I even managed to do a couple of tunes I hadn't done before, which is kind of a bonus.

Despite not being able attend my own show, I was there in spirit. Photo by Maali Beck; top photo by Thea Dee.

It's a testament to the coolness of the SL community that people hung out for a show where I wasn't even there. Photo by Maali Beck.

The Islands of New England set list...
Mad World (Tears for Fears)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Joe Jackson)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
*No One Knows (Queens of the Stone Age)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo)
Swim and Sleep Like a Shark (Unknown Mortal Orchestra)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
*Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles)
Loser (Beck)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL (I did the Beatles tune before, but along with Kat).

Many thanks to all who hung out for my show... even if I couldn't. Special thanks to those who tipped me (though I wasn't there)!
Taunter Goodnight, Richy Nervous, Shannyn Fall, TheaDee... and extra big thanks and hugs to Maali Beck and Christine Haiku, without whom I'd never have done this show at all.