The Islands of New England (05.21.15)

I woke up yesterday in a coiled spring of uber stress, and went to bed last night as calm as a... okay, enough with the analogies. I'll just tell you about the day, and my show at The Islands Of New England in Second Life.

Thursdays aren't necessarily bad days for me. Not at all. They are, however, busy days. I start my Thursdays with two consecutive weekly meetings I have with my business clients, and these aren't passive meetings; I am generally expected to lead both of them, giving reports of our actions over the past week and talking about upcoming plans, and all that business crap that business people do. After that, I often have massive deadlines that will crush my soul if I allow them to. And, for whatever reason, Thursday seems to be a day I also get booked for shows in Second Life. I like doing shows, obviously, but when you start your day with a whole bunch of tasks ahead, just about anything can add to the stress level.

Need something to kill the stress in your life? Instead of turning to drugs or moving to a remote island, try picking up a guitar and playing music in front of people for an hour or so. I guarantee that whatever was bothering you before will be smaller and easier to deal with afterwards. Photo and top photo by Kat.

Well, as usual, I got through all the stuff I had to do, and by the time my show at TIONE rolled around in the evening, I was feeling good. One note (that people who see me play often already know): when I have two shows in a short time frame, as I did this week on Tuesday and Thursday, I am always very cognizant of the fact that some people are seeing me twice, and the last thing I want to do is bore them by playing the same shit over and over. So, last night's show didn't have a single song in common with Tuesday night's show. I mean, come on; I have hundreds of songs in my repertoire, and there's just too much good music in the world to play the same things again and again in any case.

I was slightly concerned when I strummed by first note, since there were like five people there. And in typical SL fashion, there was a nice sized crowd before I'd finished that song. Of course, a venue like The Islands of New England gives great support to artists performing there, so I shouldn't have been surprised that it worked out well. I also want to note that once again, I used the opportunity to debut a They Stole My Crayon song. Since I'd just restrung the Shitty Guitar™, I tuned it so I could perform "Favorite Things" for the first time ever, which went well. I should also mention that Amforte Clarity performed right after me, and it was good to hear her again as I hung out after my show.

The Islands of New England set list...
Any Major Dude (Steely Dan)
I Like You (Zak Claxton)
Frigid Spring (Chairlift)
*Favorite Things (They Stole My Crayon)
Lines On Your Eyes (Zak Claxton)
Cat's In The Cradle (Harry Chapin)
After The Goldfish (Neil Young)
Starman (David Bowie)
Perfect Day (Lou Reed)
Things Under Trees (They Stole My Crayon)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Big Empty (Stone Temple Pilots)

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

Massive thanks to all who came out the the show, especially the following people who helped support it!
Soniarising Resident, AMFORTE Clarity, Maurice Mistwallow, Brookelyn Breen, Richy Nervous, Aurelie Chenaux, RansomTalmidge Resident, TheaDee Resident, Kat Claxton, my manager Maali Beck, venue helper Sesh Kamachi, and TIONE event manager Christine Haiku!