The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #28-2010 Show Date: Jun 3, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Club

Hi :D  This show was a great one, made extra special by the introduction to the band of Azrai Barzane!  She is the new fiancee of our good friend, Caliente Lemon, who is always a fun guy to have in the room!

Congratulations to Azrai and Cal …  May you enjoy a long and happy second life together!

And with a wedding coming up, new duds were in order so we went shopping.  Couldn’t keep the guys interested for very long though, so we cut the shopping short and went for a beer instead.  The quest for a new dress to-be-continued!

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #27-2010 Show Date: May 27, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Club

Let’s pretend that after our show, the band van broke down in the middle of nowhere.  So we had to walk and walk, when we came upon ….

True story

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #26-2010 Show Date: May 20, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Club

I have never been to Italy, but my avatar has!

I’ve written before about the wonderful opportunities to mix with people of other cultures that Second Life offers.  Not only can we learn so much about different traditions, foods and manners of speaking, by becoming friends with avatars from afar,  but there is also so much to glean by immersing yourself in the sites that people build.

These photos display the outfits we wore for a show we did on May 20th, during the travel chaos resulting from the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull.  While many airports were jammed with stranded travelers, attempting to get to where they had to be, we were able to comfortably broadcast our concert from our studio in Toronto.  And even though flights were grounded all over Europe, we were still able to walk on quaint cobblestone paths in Italy.  Ciao!

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #25-2010 Show Date: May 13, 2010.  Venue: The Notes Shack Pub

Today’s show was held at Krakov Letov’s place called ‘The Notes Shack’.   It was in celebration of the pub’s two year anniversary, and was a real wing-ding!  Such an anniversary is a true achievement in SL, as time here passes in dog’s years  …  2 sl years = 14 human years.  I’m kidding, but really, it is rare for a venue to reach a 2 year anniversary.  Krakov has been able to do it because he’s very engaged and enthusiastic.  Here’s to ‘The Notes Shack Pub’!

And since this venue is located in Europe we had to find some speedy transportation to get home, so we hopped onto a space shuttle.

The bar lounge featured this wonderful aquarium.

Uhm, hold it … Did we take a wrong turn somewhere along the way?

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #24-2010 Show Date: May 6, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Nightclub

Our first ‘hot’ show of the year!  Warm weather set in very early this year in Toronto, so we got a little sweaty during the set.  Well, I guess, the men were sweating, while Jill and I were glowing!

In addition to music, another thing Jill and I have in common in real life, is we both like to grow things.  So we extended our green thumbs to Second Life.  The guys helped too, but we had to buy them a beer after!

Thanks to everyone who came to the show, and to you for reading this!  Please keep going for details.

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #23-2010 Show Date: April 29, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Nightclub

This show left us pondering the question, “Should be add a flute player to the line-up?”

The reason this came up was because one of our SL friends, Stilgar Fizgig, is a great flute player.  And for this show, he hopped up on stage and jammed it out with the band.  Here’s a live action shot, taken by his sweetie, Gloria Sempati. (Jill had to tuck her necklace into her shirt for the show, ’cause it was bouncing against the microphone.)

While he is a fine player, we just weren’t sure about adding a new band member full time though.  We Googled flutes + rock band for guidance and the results were sparse.  Basically two things came up (1) the 70s band called Jethro Tull, who we were surprised to see are still touring! and (2) a Youtube of a girl playing Rock Band on a flute.  Check it out youtube

A great thing about Second Life is that if he did join the band, we could rehearse here, even though he lives across the ocean!

After much discussion, we decided to leave things as they are, BUT Stilgar can jam with us anytime he wants!

Here’s hoping we made the right decision.  We might be missing out on a chance to be the next big band with a flute player!

Thanks for reading

[Btw: We're not sure if Stilgar is a flautist in RL, but he's got mad skills in SL!]

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #22-2010 Show Date: April 22, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Nightclub

You know that tune from The Twilight Zone?  Dee-do dee-do … sing it to yourself now, because we have a story to tell that is out of this world.  It’s a crazy one, even for Second Life.

I can only speak for myself, but the rest of the band told me their experiences.

I became aware of my surroundings while lying alone in a field.  I couldn’t remember my name or the date, and had no idea where I was.

Making my way to a farm house, I peeped through the window.  Nobody was around, but a cigarette was burning in an ashtray, and there was a plate of partially eaten food on the table.  The oil lamp still had plenty of fuel and the tractor was idling in the road.

I was at the edge of a town, so began to walk towards what I hoped would be help.

Meanwhile, Jeremy found himself in a marketplace, that he’d never been in before.  Not a soul was around, but the cheese and seafood in the carts was fresh and cool.

As for Jill, she came to in a pottery shed, where a recently made pot remained on the wheel.  The clay was still soft and damp.

Chops pondered his situation while in a green house, where the plants were thriving and well watered.  Who was caring for them?  More importantly, who was he?

Each of us wandered around, searching for someone to help solve this mystery.  Eventually, I found a shopkeeper, but he seemed to be fast asleep.  I simply could not wake him up.

In his confused state, Jeremy was so relieved when he finally saw a group of people.  He didn’t know how to introduce himself nor did he recognized them.  But he was still glad to see them.

It turns out that the people were Jill, Chops and me.

We found a poster so now we knew who we were, but where and why was still a mystery!

Dee-do dee-do dee-do dee-do …

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #21-2010 Show Date: April 18, 2010.  Venue: Blacklist

Some new friends invited us to play a show at their club, called Blacklist, located at Cataclysm Sim.  Chops and Jill couldn’t make it, but with a description as follows, “Punkers and Nekos and Rockers and .. OH MY!! A grungy lil’ town served up hot with a side of tasty humour”, how could Jeremy and I refuse?!

It sounded like such a good time, which, in deed, it turned out to be, with a room full of interesting and fun people.  A big thanks to Alysa Paravane, for inviting us, and to the other people involved in making it happen, Jo Soosung, Shye Kidd and Lisa Lianfair  …  and to everyone who came!

Jo had set a beautiful train outside the club for the week before the show, where Alysa rezzed some pose balls and shared her creative talent by taking and treating these two pictures above.

Here’s one that I took.

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #20-2010 Show Date: April 15, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Nightclub

For this show, it was only me and the boys, as Jilly Bean had to be elsewhere in real life.  We missed her, but I didn’t feel out numbered as there were plenty of females in the audience.  Jeremy says that it’s good that our music appeals to women, because the boys will go where the girls are!

After the show, I decided to hang out with Jer & Chops, who needed to go see a mechanic about a rattle on his bike.

Nice shop!

The repair job wasn’t going to take long, so we waited at the garage.

Then we got hungry, so Chops made bbq!

After dinner, with vehicles on his mind, Jeremy decided to bust out his new remote control car.

All in all, a good time hanging with the guys!

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #19-2010 Show Date: April 8, 2010.  Venue: The Rails Nightclub

This show went well with plenty of new friends coming, and many of the beloved ones we already know.  Thanks for coming!

You wouldn’t believe what happened to us after the gig though!  Man, we were taking a little sunset cruise, when we hit a rock and the boat began to take on water.

We swam to the shore, where it was very dark, so we curled up on the beach and went to sleep.  In the morning we discovered that the island seemed to be deserted.  We searched around and found some good stuff that had washed up on the shore.

Among the things we found were a fishing rod that still worked and an old lobster trap.  Lucky for that, as we were getting hungry!

There actually ended up being plenty to eat and drink on the island, so we began to have a pretty good time.

Four coconuts!

But, of course, we had to find a way off the island, so over a few days, Jeremy and Chops built a raft.

We were sad to leave but looking forward to changing our clothes.  It was remarkable how they still looked pretty good though.

We made it home safely, and lived to tell the tale!

Thanks for reading it.  Please continue under the fold for credits!

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