Experiences and Happenings

I wanted to do this in Necto but there were no events planned for a while. I think it’s because of the new building creation, so it was off to find another place to find music and experience what SL has to offer. I wanted to enjoy a tune form my friend Harpo who performs on SL but he has not been on in a while. 

But, the place was empty. So it was on to the place in SL where there is always something happening. The music may not be great, but there are always a lot of people there, usually in interesting costumes. The place is Dance Island. I first went there when I was beginning my search for Detroit Techno. I ended up at Dance Island and left after a while because it wasn’t what I was exactly looking for. Now, I’m back. I’ve got a Deadmau5 mask that I got from a friend who’s ex boyfriend gave it to her. The eyes glow and everything. (Deadmau5 is a world renowned minimal electro and house DJ who is originally from Niagara Falls. He makes really good music, and for the first half of  his sets he wears the mask pictured. It’s really interesting.)

Anyways, this is an experience. There are some things to know when you’re in a club. Don’t go AFK, people are they to dance and when you are a lifeless avatar in the middle of a dance floor it’s almost like a buzzkill. Don’t stand in the middle of the dance floor and not dance. If you do, you’ll get messages from people asking you to dance/ get movin!/ click the ball  and similar requests. Again, it’s sort of a buzz kill to just stand there. If you wouldn’t do it in a real club then don’t do it in a SL club. Also, perhaps most importantly, don’t bump into people. It’s annoying to be shoved around a dance floor by someone who’s aimlessly wandering and annoying people. 

I think SL clubs are trying to mirror real life clubs. What is really cool is you can get people to sync dances. It’s neat to see 5 people doing a dance like some sort of SL “So You Think You Can Dance?”. 

There is a definite culture, with regulars and recurring DJ’s that build up a name for themselves. Lucious Renfold is one who DJ’s at Necto. He’s really good and suggest checking him out if you are into minimal house. He also DJ’s in real life and it is interesting to see his skills come through in another reality.

I want to touch on some other ideas about music in SL. There is a bigger performance music culture then most would assume. Harpo spoke about SL music groups where people come together and perform over SL together. (more in this later...)