Small crowd? How about big fun? That's a good tradeoff. Rocking Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.
Greetings to you, oh reader. It is I, Zak Claxton, writing to you on a pretty Sunday afternoon in autumn, here for the alleged purpose of a report about my recent show on Tuesday October 7 at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life.
Wasn't That Like, Five Days Ago?
Why yes. Yes it was. You see, I've had a busy week at work, and there's a fascist takeover of the United States going on right now. These — and other aspects of life that compete for my time and attention — have prevented me from telling you about this show on a timely basis.
So while it was certainly not my intention to do so, the fact that I had to push back writing up this show report ended up having me find the time to do it today, which happens to be my and Kat Claxton's 19th rezday in Second Life. We were told about the platform the morning of October 12, 2006, and signed up together that very evening.
Happy Rezday!
Yes, thank you. I'll be the first to admit that while I was relatively hung-ho about SL for the first maybe 8-10 years of my involvement on the platform (which is a very long time in the land of any genre of virtual environment), my time spent in Second Life in more recent years has been almost entirely limited to when I go into world for my live music performances.
I'll be fast to say that I still have all the admiration in the world for people who build their rich social lives and share their extraordinary creativity in SL. I never have anything but good vibes in regard to my time in SL as a whole. My life — real or virtual — is always spread among a wide variety of responsibilities and pleasures. That means I simply don't have the time to spend dedicated to being in world as I once did.
Life in general — SL or otherwise — was a little more simple in 2006.
I had not, in fact, beat this game 19 years ago.
So I'll end this little section with the note that I am grateful to Second Life as a platform, but much more grateful for the excellent lifelong relationships I've built via people I've met there, and the opportunity to perform life music for thousands and thousands of people around the world for nearly two decades at this point.
A nice rezday message today from the Second Life people.
So, How Was That Show?
It was great... if you understand my definition of a great show. Like most live performers, I prefer a larger crowd, but I've had huge crowds where I've done shitty shows that left me frustrated and pissed off. This show, we just couldn't seem to grab the size of crowd that we usually get at Hotel Chelsea, but the show itself? Went great.
Look, I've been in SL for 19 years as of today. I've performed hundreds and hundreds (thousands?) of shows there over those 19 years. I'm far past the point of getting overly excited about well-attended shows, and even further from being upset at poorly-attended ones. Sometimes the world works in ways where you are not the top-level focus of attention at all times. Frankly, that's probably a good thing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll rock just as well for three people as I will for 3,000. Sometimes even better. Photo by Kat.
And you know, I'd rather know that the folks who were there were enjoying the show than having a room filled with people who aren't actually engaged in what I'm doing onstage. Photo by Kat.
Hotel Chelsea set list...
Northern Sky (Nick Drake)
Mad World (Tears for Fears)
Snakes And Ladders (They Stole My Crayon)
Driven To Tears (The Police)
Long Time Gone (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
All You Fascists (Woody Guthrie)
Among the Leaves (Sun Kil Moon)
Swirl (Charlie Martin)
Pecan Pie (Golden Smog)
Mexico (James Taylor)
Loading Zones (Kurt Vile)
Man of Constant Sorrow (Traditional)
Big thanks to the few hardcore fans who hung out for this one, including the following who helped support it!
Trouble Streeter, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff!
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