Key West (06.11.14)

Sorry for the tardiness with this report from my show at Key West last Wednesday. I do have a valid excuse for my late homework, though.

On Wednesday night, I played at Key West in Second Life, but the following day was my son's graduation from middle school. I was thinking that it would be a boring affair (as I recall from my own graduation ceremonies). But they did it very well; the speeches were short (and thankfully delivered almost entirely by students, rather than school administrators). They funneled 350 kids through the line to pick up their certificates in record time. I was impressed. The whole thing took about an hour, and I was proud of my kid for having made it this far, as well as being ready for high school next fall. I enjoyed it very much.

Friday was a day so filled with work that my head barely stopped spinning over the weekend. Then, that night, my Los Angeles Kings hockey team won the Stanley Cup in a double-overtime game that is already being mentioned along with some of the greatest games of all time. Saturday included a brunch with my family and my dad, and then Sunday was Father's Day, and now here we are on Monday morning. As I said, I have a valid excuse.

Back to Wednesday night. I had the 5PM slot, and usually am the "opening act" at Key West at that time. There's nothing wrong with that; it just means that there's not already the benefit of an audience present at the venue, so it's up to you as the performer to get the night rolling. I generally do fine in this role, and Key West is very helpful at bringing in people who might not come just for the specific purpose of seeing me play. But on this night, there had been a scheduling mix-up. I was originally slated to play on June 6, but that was my and Kat's birthday, and we were in the Mojave Desert at that moment, far away from computers and broadband streaming. So, the show had been rescheduled about a month previously, but it still ended up that my pal Winston Ackland and I were listed at the same time. Winston kindly took the 4PM slot instead, so it was nice to have some of his friends and fans around when I kicked off my show.

The show itself was great. I'd normally have some pics to show you, but Kat (who usually takes them) was at work. Even so, sometimes I'm fortunate enough to have a fan or two send me pics unrequested. I probably should have asked one of them to, but no worries. I felt like I played and sang well, and I was also inspired to have fun with my pal Gravey Jones performing after me. All in all, Key West was its usual excellent self, and consistently lives up to its reputation of being one of the best places for live music in all of SL.

Key West set list...
Never Run Away (Kurt Vile)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Six Underground (Sneaker Pimps)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Rubbing It Out (They Stole My Crayon)
Say Goodbye (Beck)
*Thought Ballune (Unknown Mortal Orchestra)
Things Behond the Sun (Nick Drake)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Swing Lo Magellan (Dirty Projectors)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)

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

Big thanks to all who helped support my show at Key West!
heavenlei Lexenstar, Toxic Darkmatter, Kite Bravin, Heather Couturier, Effie Emmons, Awgidawda Gazov, daallee Resident, Owl Dragonash, GraveyJones Resident, Aurelie Chenaux, Kiki Szetey, Asheranna Resident, Simon Linden, TheaDee Resident, Bronsin Resident, Winston Ackland, Diana Renoir, my manager Maali Beck, Key West hostess Coreopsis Bluebird, and fantastic owner Liz Harley!