Silas Scarborough (i.e. me) played another show at Cat's Art MusikCircus last night and it started out as most gigs will. Before saying anything about what I did, it's important to me to tell you Cat and I were hoping until an hour before the gig that Sonya Jevette could resolve her technical difficulties and play her regularly-scheduled show. She said she needs to take a break to upgrade her gear and we hope that happens quickly. The regular readers have seen the reports and she's been a highlight of each week for quite a while now. We very much believe in her and, like many others, love her and wish her the very best.
This is the Hanging About Being Cool Before a Gig animation from a package by Ortho Vargas. It's always good to hang about and look cool, of course, but I realised after playing about twenty minutes or so that I was still hanging about looking cool and had failed to change the animation to actually playing the guitar. So much for coolness!
The show started out with not so many there and that wasn't a surprise as no-one knew about it but Cat was there and Riana Magic came as well. Riana had said she was disappointed last time that I didn't sing very much so I was determined to present some music with vocals last night. I know these shows are quite late for her so the gig last night started out with a series of songs.
Cat and I have been talking about this lately as to the way performing in Second Life will improve your music and your show. It's not that you have to change your music to cater to people but rather it's good to know what people want to hear and you can choose from your own stuff which would make the best show for them.
People started arriving as the show went on and that is absolutely always the way you want it to happen. If they're leaving while you play then it's definitely time to review your set list!
From left to right, Cat Boucher, Chance Jampuler, Silas Scarborough (on the stage), Yevette Nishi, Dark, Alikh Wild Rose.
It was great to see Chance Jampuler as I've known him for years since he was starting out writing songs and loading them to MacJams which is an exceptionally-nutritive musical community. At MacJams, the people critique each other's work and help each other develop. Cat has asked him to play at the MusikCircus and that's great coolness as here we run into each other again and this time on a stage. Play it ... Live it!
It was also great to see Alikh as she has been my friend for quite a while and she's a Greek living in Germany. That works as my Greek still sucks but my German improves each day.
Yevette sent me some pictures and here's one of her when she first got there. She was one of the first to arrive and thanks very much for that!
People kept coming and that's always a good feeling. The set was going very well and I couldn't believe forty-five minutes had gone by so quickly. I talked a little about along Lefty's theme that no-one brings all the magic to Cat's MusikCircus but we all bring some and it all combines at the MusikCircus to make magical things happen.
But there's more than one kind of magic ... I'm not going to call it black magic as black is quite a good thing. As my friend reminded me yesterday, try black and you'll never go back. We weren't talking about racism but rather why sharks like to bite surfers. The conclusion was that black people taste better ... except when they're surfers. It's a bitch when a surfer gets bitten but if you dress like a seal and go where sharks live what do you think is going to happen! Surfing doesn't strike me as much different from dressing up like a zebra and wandering about in Kenya. A lion is going to find you!
So that's when some other kind of magic happened and, ka-boom, I crashed. You never ever stop playing when Second Life crashes as the music doesn't stop for the listeners. However, you do try to get back into the virtual world as soon as possible. I tried .... and tried ... and tried ... and tried ...
Since Second Life wasn't cooperating, I started up Skype and that's how Cat confirmed that the music stream was still alive as I had been thinking it was a larger Internet problem and nothing was working. Since she could hear it, that was all I needed to know and I kept on playing. In between songs I would try to get back into Second Life but it wasn't working so this was a show without a performer! Cat had the answer for that!
Cat went up on the stage and she danced there. Here she is twirling fireballs and I would much rather watch her than me anyway!
So this is how it went and Cat danced while I played. In-between each segment I would try again to get into Second Life but each time it failed. This wasn't so much a Second Life problem as ... geek alert ... there was a DNS problem and my browser couldn't get to any Web sites either ... end of geek alert. How anything at all was working is a mystery but the show went on and that's what matters.
We kept the show going in just this way and I was happy to play for her alone but she said other people stayed too. So this became the show without a performer and another hour and a half went by that way! It's becoming a signature to do "Ich Liebe Ratten" (I Love Rats) at the end of it and that's how it closed. It was huge fun and I'll say again that Second Life will make you a better musician ... if you let it. On the stage I will play longer, harder, and enjoy it much, much more than I would if I were playing alone back here. From doing that I learn what people like in what I do and I don't feel it's compromising any values to throw out stuff if people don't like it. I won't always do that as if I believe something is worth keeping then I will keep doing it.
For tonight's show, Joaquin Gustav will play the first set and Voodoo Shilton will return for the second set after almost a month away so it should be another spectacle! Both are guitar wizards and make for a very special evening. Come on out!
This is the Hanging About Being Cool Before a Gig animation from a package by Ortho Vargas. It's always good to hang about and look cool, of course, but I realised after playing about twenty minutes or so that I was still hanging about looking cool and had failed to change the animation to actually playing the guitar. So much for coolness!
The show started out with not so many there and that wasn't a surprise as no-one knew about it but Cat was there and Riana Magic came as well. Riana had said she was disappointed last time that I didn't sing very much so I was determined to present some music with vocals last night. I know these shows are quite late for her so the gig last night started out with a series of songs.
Cat and I have been talking about this lately as to the way performing in Second Life will improve your music and your show. It's not that you have to change your music to cater to people but rather it's good to know what people want to hear and you can choose from your own stuff which would make the best show for them.
People started arriving as the show went on and that is absolutely always the way you want it to happen. If they're leaving while you play then it's definitely time to review your set list!
From left to right, Cat Boucher, Chance Jampuler, Silas Scarborough (on the stage), Yevette Nishi, Dark, Alikh Wild Rose.
It was great to see Chance Jampuler as I've known him for years since he was starting out writing songs and loading them to MacJams which is an exceptionally-nutritive musical community. At MacJams, the people critique each other's work and help each other develop. Cat has asked him to play at the MusikCircus and that's great coolness as here we run into each other again and this time on a stage. Play it ... Live it!
It was also great to see Alikh as she has been my friend for quite a while and she's a Greek living in Germany. That works as my Greek still sucks but my German improves each day.
Yevette sent me some pictures and here's one of her when she first got there. She was one of the first to arrive and thanks very much for that!
People kept coming and that's always a good feeling. The set was going very well and I couldn't believe forty-five minutes had gone by so quickly. I talked a little about along Lefty's theme that no-one brings all the magic to Cat's MusikCircus but we all bring some and it all combines at the MusikCircus to make magical things happen.
But there's more than one kind of magic ... I'm not going to call it black magic as black is quite a good thing. As my friend reminded me yesterday, try black and you'll never go back. We weren't talking about racism but rather why sharks like to bite surfers. The conclusion was that black people taste better ... except when they're surfers. It's a bitch when a surfer gets bitten but if you dress like a seal and go where sharks live what do you think is going to happen! Surfing doesn't strike me as much different from dressing up like a zebra and wandering about in Kenya. A lion is going to find you!
So that's when some other kind of magic happened and, ka-boom, I crashed. You never ever stop playing when Second Life crashes as the music doesn't stop for the listeners. However, you do try to get back into the virtual world as soon as possible. I tried .... and tried ... and tried ... and tried ...
Since Second Life wasn't cooperating, I started up Skype and that's how Cat confirmed that the music stream was still alive as I had been thinking it was a larger Internet problem and nothing was working. Since she could hear it, that was all I needed to know and I kept on playing. In between songs I would try to get back into Second Life but it wasn't working so this was a show without a performer! Cat had the answer for that!
Cat went up on the stage and she danced there. Here she is twirling fireballs and I would much rather watch her than me anyway!
So this is how it went and Cat danced while I played. In-between each segment I would try again to get into Second Life but each time it failed. This wasn't so much a Second Life problem as ... geek alert ... there was a DNS problem and my browser couldn't get to any Web sites either ... end of geek alert. How anything at all was working is a mystery but the show went on and that's what matters.
We kept the show going in just this way and I was happy to play for her alone but she said other people stayed too. So this became the show without a performer and another hour and a half went by that way! It's becoming a signature to do "Ich Liebe Ratten" (I Love Rats) at the end of it and that's how it closed. It was huge fun and I'll say again that Second Life will make you a better musician ... if you let it. On the stage I will play longer, harder, and enjoy it much, much more than I would if I were playing alone back here. From doing that I learn what people like in what I do and I don't feel it's compromising any values to throw out stuff if people don't like it. I won't always do that as if I believe something is worth keeping then I will keep doing it.
For tonight's show, Joaquin Gustav will play the first set and Voodoo Shilton will return for the second set after almost a month away so it should be another spectacle! Both are guitar wizards and make for a very special evening. Come on out!
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