Friday, May 30, 2014

Vinyl Cafe (05.29.14)


It's funny; after performing on Tuesday night, I'd made a point of mentioning to Kat that I didn't have a single Second Life show to do over the next couple of weeks. We're taking a short trip to Joshua Tree next weekend, and I'm busy working on musical activities for our band They Stole My Crayon, so I purposefully hadn't pushed to do more SL shows during that time frame. However, yesterday morning, I got messaged on Facebook from my manager Maali Beck.

Maali Beck: Interested in a 7 pm gig at Vinyl Cafe tonight for Lei?
Zak Claxton: Hmmm. Sure, why not?

Why not indeed? Vinyl Cafe is a cool live venue, and more importantly, Heavenlei Lexenstar has become a good friend in recent months, particularly since our hanging out in person at the Nashville SL Jam a couple of weeks back. My choice to perform a previously-unplanned show isn't a given; I'd only do that at a place where I was certain that I'd have a good time, and be able to put on a good show for whoever turned up to see me. Vinyl Cafe meets those qualifications fully. The show itself was good musically, and lots of fun. I think the fun part is the most important aspect, but it's always nice when I feel I'm performing well and have chosen good material. We had a good crowd, which for me means one that's engaged in the show and having a good time.

My crazy friends were all making the show as entertaining for me as I hopefully was for them. Photo and top photo by Kat.

I like the low-key, backyard party vibe of Vinyl Cafe. Photo by Kat.

The quality of the audience is determined by how much fun I'm having, not by how large it is. Last night was massively fun. Photo by Kat.

Vinyl Cafe is on the Key West sim, and fits in well with the gorgeous build of the overall area. Photo by Kat.

Vinyl Cafe set list...
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Lost Cause (Beck)
Perfectly Calm (They Stole My Crayon)
Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Come Around (Zak Claxton)
Nearly Lost You (Screaming Trees)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Swing Lo Magellan (Dirty Projectors)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)

Big thanks to all who came out to my surprise show at Vinyl Cafe, especially all of you who helped support it!
Friendly Story, Triana Caldera, Darcy Kingmaker, Allegra Genira, Kat Claxton, Liz Harley, Obeloinkment Wrigglesworth, Monkey Martian, gwampa Lomu, Colby Abrahams, Aurelie Chenaux, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and Vinyl Cafe's queen of the beaver, heavenlei Lexenstar!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you Zak for agreeing to play on short notice!! And I'm with you on the fun factor. A successful show to me is definitely how much people enjoyed themselves. And we definitely had a good time at your show. I'm glad I got to meet you and your lovely wife, Kat in Nashville...along with Maali, Triana, Aurelie, Gwampa and Monkey. It felt like old home week. I LOVE that :) And Kat, awesome pictures. hugs you!