The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #22 Show Date: Mar 25, 2009.  Venue: The Bushy Beard Pub

In real life we are frequently asked when we will do another live show.  “Don’t you miss the thrill of being on stage in front of a live audience?”, inquire fellow musicians with whom we used to share the stage.

To back up a couple of years .. We did used to play live quite often, and yes, it was a lot of fun and very exciting.  However, now that we have found Second Life, our live performing has become rare (except for Drummer, Chops, who plays live all the time with other bands he is in).  The main reason for our change of platform is that when playing live, the event bookers’ first question was not about the music … it was about how many people we could draw to a show, which translates to how much beer the venue will be able to sell.  This is completely understandable, as no doubt, the bars must make a profit in order to remain in business, however it adds a whole layer of stress to the musician, which has nothing to do with writing and performing music well.  This is not to say that we will not perform live again, because we will.  Our plan is to record a second cd this summer and then play live to support it’s release.

Heading over to Lush Studio for a photoshoot

Until then, we are very happy to play in Second Life.  It allows us to practice and play for an international audience of real listeners, and to get immediate feedback about what is appealing and what doesn’t work.  It is extremely easy to leave a performance in SL … one just has to teleport away … poof, gone in a moment.  A sure way to let the musician know if you dig their tunes or not!

Additionally, a valued benefit of performing our music in Second Life has been the friends and contacts we have gained, and the fact that collaborations are facilitated with others, no matter where they live.

It is with this preface that I present to you the visual work of Plastique Munro, a multi-talented artist from the UK, who took these photos following our set at The Bushy Beard Pub.

The four preceding photographs taken by P. Munro ~ Mar 09

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #21 Show Date: Mar 19, 2009.  Venue: The Rails Band Nightclub.

Since Chops couldn’t make it for our regular Wednesday show, we got together and did this one on Thursday.  It was more of a practice really because Jeremy and I had two new songs to show him, called ‘Penny on The Tracks’ and ‘Soho Sky Watchers’.  He’s pretty quick at picking up new material so we think we’ll be ready to try these songs out with a wider audience next week.

I’m not certain if everyone around the world has seen Kinder Surprises … they are small foil wrapped chocolate eggs containing a prize.  I used to be really into them and collected quite a few.  I heard once that the design of the prizes was part of the education program for Engineers … a challenge to see how they could make something interesting, that would fit into a tiny egg.  Most of the toys have parts that you assemble, but this story is about a tiny wooden train engine, which just rolled right out of the egg and into my hand.  I’ve always liked it and in fact, it is here by my side right now! (/me turns wheels)

Hmm, that’s an interesting picture.

Let’s try to build it.

Toot toot !!  Take a ride on the Kinder Express.

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #20 Show Date: Mar 18, 2009.  Venue: The Bushy Beard Pub

It was our regular Wednesday set at The Bushy Beard Pub.  This show is scheduled to suit the time zone of our European friends, so while it’s only 4 pm for us, it is night time for most of the people who attend.  Our set was preceded by tunes selected by dj Krakov and followed by those chosen by Lahoha.  Both these dj’s plays unique and interesting music, so it made for a full afternoon of fun!

Chops was unable to make it today though, because he had to work in real life, so Jeremy & I were backed by our valiant old Oberheim drum machine.  It has been around since the early 80’s and still keeps on ticking.  It’s not as fancy as the new digital ones, but we prefer it’s realistic drum sounds.  Each of our songs has been programmed into the machine so that the various drum sounds occur at the right times for the highest impact.  This means that if Jeremy and I don’t kick in with the song right on cue, we have to begin over again, lest we end up having a crashing cymbal where a regular tom drum sound should be.

On our way home from the show, our van broke down in the middle of nowhere.  We had to call a tow truck to take us to a service station.

The repairman said it would take a while to fix, so we went across the street to a diner for some food.

Later he told us he didn’t have the right part and had to make some calls, but it would definitely take until the next day.  They steered us in the  direction of the only place around to spend the night .. a motel on the edge of town.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of a touring band!

(For readers who have not yet been to Second Life, the part about the van breakdown is fiction.  You don’t need a van here!  …  you just teleport anywhere you want to go, with all your gear safely stowed in your inventory.)

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #19 Show Date: Mar 14, 2009.  Venue: The Freakheim Funeral Home

The beauty of Second Life is that imagination rules.  Musical events are not bound by noise bylaws or stage sets as we know them in real life.  In the two years that we have been performing in Second Life we have played at a variety of venues, on ’stages’ which we would only have been able to imagine before entering this world.  There have been shows amongst mermaids, dancing in the waters around us; a show on a huge vintage record player, floating high up in the sky; a stage on a rooftop surrounded by airships drifting overhead.

However, one of the most unconventional places (for Canadians, at least) we have played was this show at a Funeral Home.   What does one wear to perform at a funeral home?  Do we make jokes and smile, or do we look sad and mournful?

Funeral Director and leader of the Freakheim Funeral Home, Rykk Ferraris, has been a beloved supporter of our music since he attended one of our very first gigs in SL.  We were happy to agree to playing a benefit show he was organizing at his venue, for Relay For Life  …. though we did have reservations about waking the dead!

There wasn’t a body in the casket … you could get in it and take a rest if you so chose.  Or if you were a vampire, it was a place where you could while away the day.

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #18 Show Date: Mar 11, 2009.  Venue: The Bushy Beard Pub

Our Wednesday show at The Bushy Beard Pub began was off to a great start with the landlady herself, Zeeblebob Voss, dj’ing some tunes before we hit the stage.

Chops Baxton was back on his drum stool after being sick last week, and he was raring to let her rip.  Actually we were all feeling a bit giddy today and the banter reflected that. To quote dj Lahoha Chestnut about the vibe in the room today … “It is awesome to have happy and funny people in the bar”.

Some jokes were funny and some were just plain bad.  But even the bad jokes get the chat going at The BB.  These people have a way with words that keeps you laughing and searching your imagination for something to say.  If you like puns and wordplay, this is the place for you.

Our set was followed by dancing to a dj set by the lovely Lahoha, who kept the fun going with her unique and interesting song choices, accompanied by her ribald sense of humour  … she talks between songs and it’s pretty funny.

So, while we were wearing blue tones today, there was nothing blue about our mood!

And …

Here’s a live action shot, taken by Zeeblebob Voss.

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #17 Show Date: Mar 04, 2009.  Venue: The Bushy Beard Pub

It was Wednesday, which meant a show at The Bushy Beard Pub with drummer Chops Baxton joining Jeremy and me. Hold it … the phone.

Unfortunately Chops called to say that he was sick, so he couldn’t come.  We did the show with our drum machine and while we missed him, the music must have been good because there was an encore.

After the show we made Chops some soup.

Hope you feel better soon, Chopsy!

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The RAILS Band Gig Diary - Entry #16 Show Date: Mar 01, 2009.  Venue:  The Notes Shack Pub

On Sunday it was incredibly cold in Real Life in Toronto, with a wind chill effect making it feel like -26 degrees, but a big fire burning in the hearth at the Notes Shack Pub kept things comfortable in Second Life.  There was some talk of roasted nuts from Jeremy, when he sat a bit too close the blaze, but all in all, the fire was a welcome sight, seeming to trick the brain into thinking you were less cold than you really were.

Pub owner Krakov Letov and Manager Cerealistic Noland also added to the warmth of the room with their friendly manner.  Making this show extra special was sharing the bill with a musician we had yet to meet in Second Life but are now big fans of … Zorch Boomhauer played an entertaining set of original songs.  Check him out when you have a chance.

We decided to take the train to this show.  Here we are at the UR Train Station, in Koh Kut Sim.

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