We like to make a bit of a show at Sinner's Burlesque and since we have taken a hiatus from doing cabaret, the set designs still keep coming out regardless. Since the Oscars had just taken place this it seemed like a fun idea to roll out the red carpet.
Our first event was with Samm Qendra and she had them rolling in the aisles between songs. She is not only a talented and sweet person but also extremely funny. I treasure getting to work with her because she is such a joy. I made a joke on Facebook about not dropping the gold envelopes so she turned up in a dress with no long skirt at the front so she wouldn't trip over it :D The week after we had the equally lovely Lisa Brune who turned the red carpet blue just before we started and had us all crying laughing. I offered her an Oscar for Best Promotion of Depeche Mode in SecondLife but she had to get Noah to accept it on her behalf because her dog needed to be walked in RL. Damn, I thought being a star meant you had people to do these things for you! LOL Both shows were packed out and Sanne and I had so much fun. We hope everyone enjoyed them as much as we did. The 3 Divas strike again !! Sinner's Burlesque in Second Life
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I have never had a lot to do with MadPea in the past, apart from a few visits to their old sim which was a lovely place. When Brique asked me to be part of this event I jumped at the chance, knowing that their great organisational skills were going to be something special.
On the day of the opening I got a message from Brique saying that they needed a fill in so I jumped in and when I got there found I was opening the event! with 15 minutes notice it was a bit slapdash but we had a good time and there were a lot of people around on the 4 sims. My first experience of streaming over multiple sims I think? When the 21st came around (and yes I did really wear a teapot on my head..its Darjeeling btw..I was also wearing rollerskates but I ditched the fruit platter for Health & Safety reasons) I was in full fundraising gear so got the good people of Roissy at my earlier gig to donate their tips to Feed A Smile. I think we ended up with about 18K from that alone, so shout out to those wonderful patrons who gave so generously. The actual concert at MadPea brought in another 10K I think, so again, thank you to everyone who donated. In total I believe the event raised in excess of 3 million Linden for the School Kitchen in Kenya which was nearly $12,000. Congratulations for such an amazing event and to all the other artists and contributors. Thank you also to Brique for letting me be just a small part of such a wonderful event. http://www.madpeagames.com/goodbye-food-fair/ I finished 3 SecondLife videos in December:
Sinner's Burlesque Wonderland { H E R E } Aura's Christmas Card { H E R E } Something 'bout December { H E R E } I also completed a short piece for SineWave Space { H E R E } I decided that I would like to bring you some highlights of the talent in SL... Especially the lesser spotted variety :D Mark Allen Jensen in concert at Our Place 21st December 2016
I like to get out and see other performers when I can and I am always so happy to discover another talent that I have not heard before. Yesterday I went to "Our Place" to see Lisa Brune and was intrigued to stay. If I go along to listen to a familiar artist I like to try and catch a couple of the songs of the following artist as well. After all you don't know what you might be missing! Mark turned out to be well worth staying for. He has a lovely mellow guitar style with clarity and resonance; his voice is evocative of James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot. He plays a combination of covers and his own songs. Mark classes himself as folk/rock but his sound is actually very fresh and contemporary. When I mentioned the similarity in his voice to Lightfoot he sang a wonderful rendition of "If You Could Read My Mind Love", a personal favourite of mine. Mark comes to us via satelite from Minneapolis. This is a return to SecondLife for him after 2 years. He has been writing and performing his own compositions since the age of 19 and has travelled a lot to perform. He describes his songs as "little pieces of his shredded soul". When I took a look at his website, I found a very honest and frank summary of his past. It was certainly no sunshine and rainbows. He stands out as an excellent example of someone who has used the shadows to fuel the creation of his songs. This has resulted in some really beautiful works such as "What Am I Still Doing Here?" and "If I Fail This Time", both of which can be found on the track listings of his website. Don't let this fool you into thinking that his songs are maudlin, far from it. In the words of one of his songs, "I don't want to write no sad songs..." He proved this as he played us one of his songs, "Hazel Green", which has a very catchy riff and an almost playful lyric. He does however maintain that it is all about "..the need for my soul to be heard" You can't argue with that. For someone as unassuming and humble in the words between his music, Mark sure has tremendous talent to share with the world. His use of melody and harmony make for enchanting songs. I should mention that he is also very funny; something I discovered before he even got on stage. Mark finished his performance with a cover of Adele's "Someone Like You" and did probably the most outstanding version I have heard in SL. Carry on Mark...! we are listening :) You can see a clip of Mark performing { H E R E } http://www.markjensenmusic.com - lots of content https://www.facebook.com/Markallanjensen/ To book Mark for your venue, please contact Nyna Slate-Sands either in world or on Facebook. Last night was my last concert at Smokin' Aces. The club is closing tomorrow, the 22nd of December; the latest in a string of club closures in SecondLife. I only sang there a few times but it still had me close to tears. The place has the most wonderful staff...such lovely genuine people who really care about music.
I went to see Lisa Brune there a few months back and it just happened that whoever was singing after her had to cancel, so Lisa suggested me to Jan. I jumped at the chance to get some more experience and I had an amazing time. Thomas Etzel, from The Jitterbug Club was there that night and that was how he came to hear me. Button was hostessing and she friended me and expressed an interest in having me back there for a spot of my own. These people had never really engaged with me before, but something magical happened and they reached out to me because they liked what they heard. I can't tell you how much that touched me, as it always does when I sing and someone appreciates it. I don't expect everyone to like me or what I do, but when they do, it is so special to me. YOU ALL MATTER...everyone of you. It delights me to touch someone's heart. Thank you Jan and Button for giving me that chance. I want to say that again, where people can see. You always did an amazing job, and I am sure that you will make a difference elsewhere. Please go on trying...and that goes for the rest of your staff too. I hate that clubs have to close. That is why I have said over and over, we can't be greedy as performers. This is not a real life economy where club owners can sell you a ticket. They rely on generosity. Pay it forward. Think of the bigger picture. Talking of which, Smokin' Aces always had a big picture of the Polar Express up in the club and it always made me think of "Believe" by Josh Groban. I sang it last night and a few of us were crying. Thank you for being the best club staff that you could be, and remember: "Believe in what you feel inside And give your dreams the wings to fly You have everything you need If you just believe... Destinations Are where we begin again" Oh bugger, I need another tissue! So much has happened in the last month in SL and RL that it's been a bit hard to keep up with everything, but I am trying! Thank you to everyone who has given me so much support and been so understanding. The Winter Wonderland at Sinner's Burlesque took some focus and then making a couple of videos. You can find my Video Christmas card to you all HERE So last night we had an awesome event with Lisa Brune and myself in the Ice Caves. It's coming up to my one year mark singing in SL. Last year I didn't get to do any Christmas songs so last night was my first proper set with a a few surprises ;) As always, It was great to perform with Lisa and she sounded better than ever last night. I think the Ice caves have very good acoustics ha! Thanks to all of you who attended. I hope you had as good a time as we did! Lisa Brune wows the crowd!
I took a week out recently because I had a backlog of things that needed to be sorted in RL, but now I am back with a calmer mind...although on the bright side I now have a new kitty to keep me on my toes. Thankfully he stays quiet when I am singing although he has his moments. If you are part of my group or on my subscriber in SL then you should have received a little gift from me to brighten up your home or garden. I just wanted to say thank you to so many of you who have supported me during this first year of singing. You have all been incredibly kind with your comments and suggestions, but mostly its just the joy of having you there when I sing and hearing that you enjoy it. It's hard to believe that it has nearly been a year already! I will be at the Old Train Station and Cafe Musique tomorrow and then I have the pleasure of performing at the beautiful Spin Club on Friday. if you haven't visited SC yet you really should, its very impressive and the owner, Marvin Hammill is a top bloke and a fantastic DJ.
On Saturday I get to sing in a double-bill with my sweet friend Lisa Brune. Lisa has just been nominated for an Avi-Choice award and she deserves every bit of it, not just for her amazing voice but also for being one of the sweetest and most generous souls I know. All details of the gigs are on the calendar page along with the rest of the dates and times for his month. Hope to see you all soon! x When I first came to SL, I fell in with this bunch of exceptionally funny people, in particular Jules Delicioso and Juls Fey, who ended up as my family. Jules had a group called "Sexy Brits" and was invited to join. We would generally turn up places and cause some kind of hilarious mayhem. Then Jules actually opened up a club. Now this woman has such character and spirit that people would do anything for her...and it has to be said, she would do anything for them too, which is probably why anything she does is always going to be well attended. She was responsible for our Cabaret roadshow in London last year, which were huge fun for us. She also had me sing at their Spring Ball, which was a real thrill for me. Now she has a completely new club, not tied to anything else and with only one major aim : HAVING FUN The official opening for the new club is coming next weekend, but this was really the christening party for the land. A "lets blow this parcel out of the water party" in true SB style. I was really excited because I had a couple of new songs that I wanted to debut at the party. So many people turned up and I saw so many lovely comments in local chat while I was singing. But then, these are the people who love to show their support of "family". Thank you so much everyone of you who came along and took part. It was a great experience for me to entertain people so warm and loving :) As you can see...it wouldn't be a Sexy Brits party without an upside-down, blue minotaur at the side of your stage! Thank you Juan! After I was done, we had DJ Super Harry up and..DAMN there was much funking and boogie-tunage to be had. I really can't remember the last time I heard such an excellent line-up of dance music. He really knows his stuff. I am so looking forward to him doing his next set there.
So all in all, one hot damn of a kick off to SEXY BRITS. Look out for their official launch on the 3rd of September. I have a feeling that there are many more nights like this to come. I will be there singing every month now, so I know it's going to be something I look forward to immensely. Congratulations Jules! you really earned this. Also a huge thank you to my Mom, Juls who plays such an important part in both our lives and to Sparda who is one of the original Sexy Brits (6 years now?), Caitlin and Lilith for so many lovely photos! Last post I was telling about our upcoming Charity Concert for Feed-A-Smile. Well the day arrived yesterday and I was a bag of nerves. I was suddenly struck by this feeling that I had maybe bitten off more than I could chew and it could all go disastrously wrong in ways that only SL can supply! You all know I am a control freak and a perfectionist - yes I didn't think I would hear anyone disagree. Doing stuff like this takes me well outside my comfort zone, which is a good thing in the end :D So guests started arriving early and our MC Pepper Curie played a few tunes and along with Fantasia True, welcomed people and got them seated while we rushed around backstage. Pepper then delivered a lovely introduction with information about the charity. Suddenly it was curtain up. We kicked into "Copacabana" and there was no turning back. The stage was a mass of yellow feathers. Thank you so much to my colleagues from Sinner's Burlesque: Sanne Blister, Skye Nightshade, Jules Delicioso and Juls Fey for dancing and particular thanks to Jules for such fabulous choreography, which she had to do on the fly because of the stream delay. Not an easy job! We had a fantastic audience who had the donations flowing in and TPing in other people. We then had to do a set change over so I came out front of curtain to sing a song. I chose "Fragile" by Sting because I wanted to remind people how fragile the lives of these children are, and especially that of little Gideon who lost his life earlier this year and who inspired me to build this show and make a statement about how lucky we are here to be able to follow our dreams. I got a bit tearful but thank fully a backstage emergency involving getting angels on clouds distracted me... Our second half was heaven bound and the angels danced around on gently bobbing clouds. before we knew it it was time for the last song and nearly all over. The gods of SL had smiled on us! When I looked at the board at the end and saw the amount donated I lost it :P I was grinning all over my face and crying at the same time. Final total at the end of the night 16K!
I do hope we get to do events like this more often. It was a huge team effort and everyone pulled together so well. I hope our audience enjoyed themselves as much as we did! Although everyone left pretty quickly so they missed the hilarity afterwards of jazz angels stuck in silly poses chasing each other around the floor..and you can imagine some of the comments with Sterling and Sparda there :D Thank you to Sparda Stormcrow and Caitlin Cornsilk-Knott for the photos! **Addendum - I will be putting the dancer costumes on sale at Auradacious and all proceeds will be going to Feed-A-Smile! The Feed-A-Smile Charity is one that often brings tears and smiles to my RL. These children are so precious and I can't help but smile when I see their faces and it makes my heart ache too. I want to scoop them all up and hug them. I was so happy when I was asked to participate with Brique's shows earlier this year and it's just an amazing feeling to know that you have made such a difference to someone's life just by singing a few songs and getting people to donate.
I asked Brique if I could put on a show at Sinner's a couple of months back and it has snowballed into something else. I think that if you want to capture an opportunity to raise money, even for such a good cause then it pays to make a bold statement. I want something that people will enjoy and remember for quite some time, and in doing that perhaps create a lasting link in their minds to the cause. It was also partly a conversation I had with a friend about how we undervalue our experiences here in Second Life and don't spread our wings far enough. If we can't reach for the sky in SL, where can we? So here we are, with everything hopefully just about in place...lavish sets, cool costumes and the most gorgeous dancers I know to back me up. Not only that but Pepper has agreed to welcome people in and MC the start of the show for us. Please make a note in your diary! We would so love to have you there. Bring your friends and make a party of it. Lets all reach for a little bit of sky for ourselves and give some back to the children in Kenya at the same time! <3 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Naughty%20Naughty/52/96/26 |
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