I like performing after my friend Max Kleene mostly due to our musical and performance styles being similar enough that it works well in back-to-back shows. Oh, and also because I get to start my show with a huge crowd already in place, which is also really nice.
Damn, it's good to be writing just a normal show report. There's been so much strife and sadness and craziness in the world as of late. I mean, there still is, and always has been, and always will be, but at this very moment, I feel like I can actually write about music-related information and not feel like I'm ignoring some crucial topic.
Kurt Cobain
At the beginning of April each year, I'm reminded about the terrible loss of Kurt Cobain, frontman and songwriter of Nirvana. I'll relate a story to you from Fall 1991. I was at my friend Adam Mandel's apartment, being a 22-year-old idiot as one tends to be. I'm sure we were smoking weed and drinking beer, because that's what I did pretty much daily at that point in my life.
We had KROQ on the radio. It's the local commercial alternative music station, or at least it was back then. A song came on that I hadn't heard before. There was a scratchy guitar playing a little four chord progression that caught my attention. Then suddenly there was a massive drum intro fill, and then the guitar's overdriven distortion kicked in, and I immediately said, "What the fuck is this???"
After the song ended, something else came on, and we switched the station over to KLOS, the longtime rock radio favorite here in LA... and the same song came on. A little while later, we changed the station to KNAC, the station with a heavy metal format, and there it was again. Holy shit. What the fuck was happening?
In retrospect, what was happening was a tidal wave that affected global culture, and was a defining moment for my Generation X. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became an anthem for people in my age range, and it was merely the first of many Nirvana songs that would completely change the direction of modern music, along with other bands like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and many others who were a far cry from the hair metal bands we'd been previously fed.
Anyway, it was 28 years ago that Kurt died via suicide, and like any avoidable death at a young age from Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin to Jim Morrison to many others, what I often wonder is what kinds of music might the person have made had they been able to grow and mature. It's a loss, and we'll never know the answer.
Twitter and Elon
I like Twitter despite all of the shitty aspects that it can bring. I will tell you something: if I want to know what's happening in the world, I don't turn on the news; I rush to Twitter. If I want to get the unfiltered outlooks of people who aren't necessarily spouting some kind of agenda driven by external corporate or political forces, I look at Twitter. When I'm not in the mood to see fucking ridiculous idealized photos (Instagram) or hear about someone's birthday greetings for their cousin's friend's grandma (Facebook), Twitter is my groove.
I was understandably concerned this week when I found out that Elon Musk had not only become the largest shareholder of Twitter but had also joined its board of directors. What am I worried about? Well, Elon himself has seemed to use Twitter for his own personal agenda, causing rises and falls in stock prices from a simple Tweet. There's also the aspect of Elon seeming to be opposed to the most basic tenets of Twitter's TOS, purportedly prioritizing free speech over the attempts to stop hate speech and bullying. That could mean things like a reinstatement of people like Donald Trump to the platform, and worse (yes, there are worse things than that).
Like everything, I'm not going to prejudge this situation. Hopefully this is just a business plan for Elon and nothing more. However, if the result of his influence on Twitter's culture causes changes that make it something that I feel is negative for the world, I have zero problem leaving the platform entirely. He's already stated that his investment in Twitter is specifically for the purpose of affecting change, so I think my concerns are, at least in theory, legitimate.
Hey, How About That Show?
Yes indeed. So, I did not have any sort of theme for this particular night at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life. I had actually planned on doing three cover songs I'd never done before. The comedic reason that I did only one of the three is that my printer ran out of ink and I couldn't find my overpriced cartridges in time to print out the lyrics before showtime. Especially with brand new music where I haven't yet internalized the words, I wasn't going to start a song that I'd have to mumble through the bridge without having a lyrical reference in front of me.
This morning, I got sent this extreme closeup from a fan. Many thanks to photographer Haiku Quan!
The thing I keep in mind... it may be a crowd that Max Kleene brought in, but a whole lot of them do stay for my show as well, and they certainly don't have to. It's appreciated. Photo by Kat.
I really do love Hotel Chelsea. No matter what I play there, people seem to dig it, even though often it's stuff they've never heard by artists they've never heard of. Photo by Kat.
I'm getting close to taking off my mask in SL. It's been over two years now or wearing it. The moment I can feel good walking around in public without one, it will come off my avatar's face on the same day, whenever that it. Photo by Kat.
That being said, I think there was a vibe to the show even without a specific theme. I was in a very relaxed mood, and my voice and guitar were both cooperating with what I wanted them to do. Side note: as most performing musician will tell you, when your monitoring sound is good, the show has a much better chance of being good. What I was hearing in my headphones sounded great as I warmed up, and I tore through the show without having to be concerned about levels and so on. That really helps me focus on the performance, and as a result I had a very solid show.
The one new song I did manage to do was one off Kurt Vile's upcoming new album (watch my moves), which is coming out April 15. "Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)" is everything you want a KV song to sound like, which is chill to the max, kinda druggy, and somewhat whimsical. I knew I was going to cover it from the moment I heard it.
I've mentioned this before, but I find it funny. Damn near every time I do a show (SL or RL), I'm 1 to 1-1/2 pounds lighter the next day. Of course, it's all water weight that I gain back immediately, but since I have next to zero concern or interest in regard to my weight, it's just an interesting phenomena that I note. Related note: I sweat a lot while I play. Like, a lot.
Hotel Chelsea set list...
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)
Airport Bar (Martin Courtney)
Norwegian Wood (Beatles)
Hannah Sun (Lomelda)
Among the Leaves (Sun Kil Moon)
*Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone) (Kurt Vile)
It's Choade My Dear (Connan Mockasin)
Big Empty (Stone Temple Pilots)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
Save It For Later (English Beat)
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M.)
A Million Miles Away (Plimsouls)
*Goodbye Hotel Chelsea Improv (Zak Claxton)
*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
Huge thanks to everyone who hung out for the show, with super giganto thanks to the following who helped support it!
PinkFloyd75 Resident, Maximillion Kleene, Irishk9 Aeon, Catori Mistwalker, Trouble Streeter, bennyhillz Resident, Kat Claxton, Haiku Quan, Nina Brandenburg, Simon Linden, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko!
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