Yesterday was the MAYDAY MAYHEM Festival at the Wasteland sim, and I was the first performer starting at2pm SLT.
I arrived at the Atropine stage early to set up my gear, send notices and other types of spam, as the crowd started to drop in earlier in the hour for the festival. For other events, Second Life is known to have the most impatient live music crowd ever, arriving at the spot only to leave in 10 seconds because they don't hear someone singing the same instant they teleported in. Not to mention the exactly same thing happens when artists have to change during the event at the top of the hour. Oh and the worst that could happen if the artist has equipment or stream trouble that he can fix in 1-5 minutes, the crowd runs away like if someone released gas in the venue.
However the crowd yesterday was complete opposite, and I really appreciate them for that. They knew for what they came for and sat through the whole festival without a flinch or complaint. They are the true music lovers.
I was amazed and really excited by the big turnout to this event. It's really rare in Second Life to have 42 people in the audience, especially for experimental music events. It goes to show that Second Life has a great following for the experimental media and arts too, we just need more of these festivals around the grid.
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| Photo by Kashmir Wind! |
The set I did was my usual 2x 30 minutes compositions of ambient, experimental improvisations. I used my bass guitar too after long time sitting in the attic and catching dust. Also I was asked yesterday if I use a mini moog in real life, sadly I don't for many reasons. From "its more expensive then selling your kidney" to "I wouldn't know how to use the bloody thing".
If you are wondering how I do all this, one of these days I'll take a picture and explain. It's really easy. :)
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| Photo by Kashmir Wind! |
At the top of the hour, 3pm SLT was The Invisible Band, led by Alazarin Mondrian. They have this really cool spacey music, the likes of Hawkwind, Tangerine Dream all mixed up with nostalgic game music. Great guitar solo's and riffs and rhythmic bass and drums. Gives you the feeling like you are playing arcade games on mushrooms. Luckily Second Life doesn't require credits to continue the game, so you can enjoy the music without worrying about that.
4pm SLT was a DJ Set from Aposiopesis Fullstop at The Junkyard. It was a nice DJ set with variety of mash-ups from hits and some chiptune music. Speaking of nostalgic game music, I discovered the band Anamanaguchi from this set. If you haven't heard them, they make trippy chiptune music with guitars and beats, keeping this type of music alive.
Sadly I had to miss Engrama and Diamanda's set due to bad headache, however insomnia and some freakin mice up on the roof kept me awake for the redzone set.
Redzone recently released a 4 track EP on their website, and I believe they must have played those tracks on the show yesterday. So what was their show like?
Combine hard guitar riffs and chords, with trippy violin, synths, beats and cello, add the dark Gothic voice that fits in really really good, multiply all that by more trippines and you get redzone. It's one of those bands that you have to listen to many times to start recognizing their songs, and each time you hear it sounds like something new. Being still kinda new for me, every set they play feels fresh to me, which is actually a really good thing. Having stayed from 4am until 5am to listen to them was totally worth it, and I suggest you to check them out in the future.
Overall this event was awesome. I hope redzone will continue doing this festival in the future, and invite and discover more experimental artists/bands in the future.
