A rare Friday night Zak Party at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.
I think it was just Wednesday or Thursday this past week that my manager Maali Beck pinged me and asked if I could play a show Friday night at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life. As is rather obvious, I've tended to stick to a minimal amount of SL shows; life is busy, and time is generally not on my side to plan for and do a show properly.
What Does That Even Mean?
I've talked about this before. There's no right or wrong way to perform live music. If you provide enjoyment to your audience and hopefully enjoy yourself or get some other fulfillment at the same time, there are literally no other rules and no other goals.
For me, having a good show means being prepared to perform a good show, and not ever berate myself for being underprepared. Is that still as true today, after doing literally thousands of live performances, as it was when I was starting? God yes, and more so. My steps for a good show are very simple.
1. Plan a set list ahead of time.
2. Promote the show so people are at least aware of it happening.
3. Make sure the gear is functioning and ready to go.
4. Do short run-throughs of every song I plan on doing.
5. Spend a good while warming up my voice right before starting.
That's literally it. I don't obsess on this shit. It's maybe an hour of my time total for each gig. And guess what? It works. I can definitively say that skipping any of the above five things exponentially increases the chance of the show getting shitty.
I always promote all of my shows. Look, I'm not obsessed with crowd size, but I also know people who complain about not being able to get people to come to shows when they also do literally nothing to get people to come to shows. I'm not one of them. I use several social media platforms and in-world groups to help drive attendance.
Be Prepared
Ask any musician if they've suddenly blanked on the chords of a song's bridge as it's rapidly approaching. It's an awful feeling, which is why even though you've done it 50 times before, run through it before you're performing in front of actual people. So not to sound like a Boy Scout about it, but be prepared. It's a good motto.
Something I like to add here: various aspects of this don't apply to all performers. Some artists love doing shows on the fly and taking audience requests. In casual situations, I enjoy that too. But my own preference for my shows in SL or otherwise involve some pre-planning, more like a traditional concert setting where an artist or band curates a list of things they think you might enjoy. Either planned or spontaneous show formats can be great.
Did You Say Something About a Hurricane?
Yeah. I'm writing this on the morning of Saturday August 19, here in my happy home in Redondo Beach, CA. We are reportedly in the path of Hurricane Hilary, which is predicted to be the first tropical storm to hit the Los Angeles area since 1939. Hilary is at this moment a category 3 hurricane; it will diminish considerably before it reaches us tomorrow.
We'll be fine; both wind gusts and precipitation will be strong but manageable here. Other places more inland will get the brunt of it... especially my beloved Joshua Tree National Park. So, I'm hoping this thing is more hype than substance. We're cool here at the beach regardless, and I'm mostly prepared for power outages and whatnot.
Knock knock. Who's there? A big-ass hurricane. Should hit us as a rather blustery but otherwise uneventful storm tomorrow morning (Sunday 8/20).
How Was The Show?
It was super good. I was glad I did it. I was pretty certain that I was filling on for someone else who usually has that time slot and couldn't do their show, which is fine; it happens often, especially in SL. But typically I like to have my Friday evenings open for relaxation and/or fun. Two things made me say yes to this gig.
Me, onstage, being me. Photo by Kat.
Getting the show rolling with some fun people. Photo by Kat.
First is that Hotel Chelsea is always tremendously supportive of me, and I like being able to return the favor. Second is that doing a show away from my typical Tuesday evening slot brings in an audience of new and different people who may not often have an opportunity to see me. Both cool things.
I'd decided to do a set list of more familiar tunes than I usually do. It was a Friday night and I didn't feel any need to educate or otherwise challenge my crowd. Interestingly, I ended up picking out a number of songs that I hadn't done in a good while as a result.
Now we're rocking. Photo by Kat.
Friday night fun. Photo by Kat.
Hotel Chelsea is always a great place to hear interesting and cool tunes in SL. Photo by Kat.
As usual, I was mildly concerned that there wasn't much of a crowd when I arrived, and as usual, I needn't have been. We ended up with a really great, super engaged crowd who were really having a good time and seemed to fully enjoy the tunes. I should add that I made a conscious game-time decision to end with a fully improvised song as opposed to the one I'd had previously selected, and I'm glad I did because it went super well.
Hotel Chelsea set list...
Friday I'm In Love (The Cure)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
So. Central Rain (R.E.M.)
Ripple (Grateful Dead)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
Sister Golden Hair (America)
Rock and Roll Woman (Buffalo Springfield)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
She's Always a Woman (Billy Joel)
Blew the Dust Away (They Stole My Crayon)
What's So Funny About Peace Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
*Friday Night at Chelsea (Zak Claxton)
*Indicates the first tie I've performed this song in SL.
Super humungous thanks to my Friday night rockers who came out to the show, with an extra heaping helping of super duper mondo thanks to the following who helped support it!
Etherian Kamaboko, Susie Lapis, lilah Landfall, Hojo Warf, Bx Whybrow, Jes Kattun, GMetal Svartur, Billie Evergarden, Alex Zelin, Trymetwice Resident, Trouble Streeter, Chaos Mandelbrot, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff.
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