Serenity Gardens (11.05.18)

I'm back! And so is my happy crowd at Serenity Gardens. Photo by Aurelie Chenaux.

The more sharp-eyed among you might have noticed that it's been about a month since I last wrote a report from one of my live shows. There's a reason for that.

I was scheduled to play my bi-weekly show at Serenity Gardens in Second Life on Monday October 22, but the moment I launched into my first song, it became very obvious that something was dreadfully wrong. "Something's wrong with the sound" are nearly the worst words that any virtual world or other remote performer can hear, second only to no sound coming out at all. I tried every way I knew to fix what was wrong, and frankly, we never did really determine why on that night, instead of my glistening guitar and mellifluous voice coming through folks' headphones and speakers, the tinny sound of a sad robot had somehow replaced me. After trying in vain to make it work -- and a very kind audience who hung out for some 20 minutes -- I had to admit that the show doesn't always go on. It was, to put it mildly, a massive bummer.

The following weekend, we tried some tests with my audio system, with the stream, and the same thing was happening. It became worrisome that something major was broken and that it might have ended up being an extended time before I was able to perform in the virtual world again. Finally, it was just last Saturday that I went through all of my system preferences, reset some data and audio cables, and more, and voila... we tested again and things seemed normal. That having been said, it was still a bit of a question mark until the beginning of last night's show, when I strummed a chord and the audience let me know that things were back to normal. Halle-fucking-lujah! I was so happy just to be able to be heard normally that my mood skyrocketed and the subsequent show was full of energy and positive vibes.

And Now, A Brief Interlude
I'm writing this post at 7AM on the morning of November 6, 2018. As most of my friends/fans/fam know, I have been an ardent supporter of causes that all seem to be in direct opposition to the current Republican administration. Despite all the polls and pundits, I really have no idea what the outcome of today's Midterm Elections will be. I will say only this: I am so very happy that all signs point to a very engaged populace who will likely shatter voting numbers for a non-presidential election year. I am hopeful that the results will be a positive step for the USA, but regardless of what ends up happening, I will always remain a fighter for what I know in my heart to be right, and will continue to support people who are marginalized in our world, and do what I can to protect the environment. It's going to be a pretty tense day for just about everyone, so I advise a) voting and b) remaining calm and focused on the end goal.

And Now, Back to the Show
For some reason, I was pretty convinced that we'd have a really small crowd at Serenity Gardens. A few friends had already indicated they wouldn't be able to make it there, and since it had been four weeks since my previous show, there's always a concern that she folks would find better things to do on a Monday night. I mean, I'm literally competing with the National Football League with shows on Monday evenings in the fall. But I was wrong; we had a large and happy crowd right from the start, and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. I know I did. I also whipped out a couple of tunes I'd never played before, and pulled out a couple that have been rarities in my set list.

Rocking and rolling the Zaksters. Photo by Aurelie Chenaux.

Tyche Szondi seemed to think the song "Pecan Pie" may have been about something beyond a simple delicious dessert. My fans have dirty minds. Photo by Aurelie Chenaux.

Serenity Gardens set list...
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)
Space Oddity (David Bowie)
Tea in the Sahara (The Police)
*Pecan Pie (Golden Smog)
Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell)
Thank U (Alanis Morissette)
Pickles (Zak Claxton)
*Boys in the Trees (Carly Simon)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Texarkana (R.E.M.)

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

Gigantic thanks to all who came out to the show, with special super thanks to the following who helped support it!
Galen Bookmite, Richy Nervous, Turn Pike, hynesyte Harbour, go2smoky Resident, Asimia Heron, Cordelia Cerise, Kat Chauveau, Jamerson Knoller, Aurelie Chenaux, Tyche Szondi, my great manager Maali Beck, and the fabulous team at Serenity Gardens, Tilly Rose and Ilsa Wilde!