Party time on the Hotel Chelsea rooftop. Photo by Kat.
That's true, by the way. When I was a child, I did fashion shows, photo shoots, and other events for a large department store chain here in the Los Angles area. But I was about 12 years old the last time I strutted my stuff out on the catwalk. Still, it is an accurate description.
So that would have been around 1981, but I'd done them for years. Side note: I think my mom just straight-up took all of my modeling money. I don't remember getting a dime of that. I suppose I could be on some gossipy cable show about child stars, but I digress. I'm not here to talk to you about that. Instead, we'll talk about my terrific show at the 16th anniversary party for Hotel Chelsea in Second Life.
Really? Just Gonna Talk About The Show?
I am absolutely going to do that right now, sure. Look, if you want to know what's going on in the world, I write and post my Zak's Random News column literally every day. 95% of the posts on this blog are my daily bullet-point news blurbs. I have nothing other than the show to mention at the moment.
Ok Then. How Was The Show?
It was terrific. First of all, I paid a lot of attention to planning my set list. I always do, but this time, with the star of the day being the Hotel Chelsea itself, I really focused on curating a list of songs to perform that I felt would be appropriate for the venue. No, I didn't go to all the obvious choices. In fact, it was funny; when I arrived, my pal Kaklick Martin had the slot before me, and was doing a Leonard Cohen tune when I arrived midway through his set.
Getting my set going before a small but fun crowd. Photo by Kat.
What Does That Have To Do With Hotel Chelsea?
A lot. Hotel Chelsea is a real place, you see. It's located at 222 West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, and is now is a New York City designated landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Chelsea has always been known as a bastion for creative people. Over the years, its notable residents have included Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas, Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Arthur C. Clarke, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many others. In the virtual world, Hotel Chelsea has long been known for maintaining the same vibe, being a venue and entire sim that promotes visual arts, poetry, and of course, live music. And I have performed there on the first Tuesday of every month going back to November 2020.
Up On the Rooftop
From time to time when I've played special events at Hotel Chelsea, they've been held on the 12-story hotel's rooftop, as opposed to downstairs at the street-level bar and the El Quijote restaurant (which, I should note for the sake of veracity, could not in real life accommodate a giant open dance floor as in the virtual version). I love playing on the normal stage, but since I've done it dozens and dozens of times, the change of scenery from playing on the rooftop stage is enjoyable.
A few of the songs that I did were in reference to this having been my first gig after the summer solstice. Others found they way onto the list because when I do special shows — anniversaries and so on — I don't want to play songs that my regular fans have heard me do often. A lot of the set was comprised of tunes I hadn't done live in months, or in some cases years.
Rocking the people on the roof. Photo by Kat.
Or ever, as was the case with the Velvet Underground tune. I told a little story before launching into the Lou Reed-penned tune, saying, "It's not just by a guy who hung out here at the Hotel Chelsea and did heroin here; it's about him going up to Harlem to get more of the heroin he was going to do at Hotel Chelsea!" And with that pleasant trivia point, I did the tune.
Beyond that, I also did a Brian Wilson song as this was my first show after his passing, and it was the least I could do to memorialize one of the world's greatest pop songwriters in history. Most of my other repertoire was included to showcase the truly creative — and often overlooked — independent singer-songwriters whose music would have been appreciated at Chelsea for their creativity and vibe.
Me, being the goofy rock king of SL onstage at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.
Hanging out with Kat after the show. That's how I looked in SL right after performing...
... but in real life, it was more like this. Rock and roll is a workout, especially in the summertime.
Hotel Chelsea Anniversary set list...
Crosses (José González)
River Man (Nick Drake)
Doin' Time (Sublime)
Sweet Aphrodite (Zak Claxton)
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (Crash Test Dummies)
Abrasion (They Stole My Crayon)
Swirl (Charlie Martin)
*I’m Waiting For the Man (Velvet Underground)
It's Choade My Dear (Connan Mockasin)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Woodstock (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks)
God Only Knows (Beach Boys)
*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
Thanks to everyone who hung out at the special anniversary show for Hotel Chelsea, with special super sauce servings of thanks for the following who helped support it!
Spyker Xenno, londonrain2023 Resident, Guru Witte, MarieKosinski Resident, Trouble Streeter, Judytoo Resident, Kat Claxton, Kaklick Martin, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff! Congrats on 16 years of awesomeness!
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