I’ll warn you all now that this is another 15-minute post coming your way. I had the pleasure last night of attending two concerts in SL. The first concert of the evening was Kafka Dinzeo at the Firefly Cafe. I’d heard of Kafka and seen him around in the audience at other concerts, but I’d never heard him perform. I decided to check him out when I got a notice from the Firefly Cafe because I was in the mood to hang out in the cafe again. The second concert was Keiko’s weekly performance at the Blue Fusion Jazz Club, so the night was a nice mix of something new and an old favorite.

When I arrived at the Firefly Cafe for Kafka’s concert, I realized he is a hip-hop artist, and I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to like it much because while I do listen to some hip-hop, it’s not one of my favorite styles of music. However, I ended up really enjoying the entire performance, and it made me think a little bit about what makes or breaks an SL concert for me. A big factor for me is simply originality. I prefer musicians who write at least some of the songs they perform, and if they’re willing to give a little a little insight into the making of the song, then that’s even better. Kafka last night introduced each of his songs with a little story of how it came to be, which I gather is different from his usual concerts, and I thought it added more interest for me.

So what else draws me in? A live performance is vastly preferred. In fact, I’d probably leave a pre-recorded concert just because it seems kind of flat to me, and unless it’s something like Kafka’s hip-hop with the mixed music, I’d rather listen to someone who plays an instrument over someone who depends solely on backing tracks. Again, it just gives a certain spontaneity to the performances that I like so that even if I hear the same musician play the same song a hundred times, it’s not the exact same song. Speaking of spontaneity, Kafka did a really cool thing last night where he freestyled using words that people typed into chat for one of his songs, and I really loved that. It definitely showed off his creativity and style and was a great way to involve everyone.

This might seem odd after me talking about the joys of spontaneity, but I also like when a performer has some signature thing he/she always does like Keiko‘s bucket of chicken and waffles for her tip jar or Winston Ackland singing “All the Little Fishies” as his last song in every set and dedicating it to his wife Sesi. With the locations changing all the time, it’s nice to have something that the “regulars” can count on, and I think it shows the personality of the musicians a bit as well.

Location isn’t as big a deal to me in SL as it would be at a face-to-face concert simply because I’m always comfy in my computer chair no matter what venue I’m at in SL. Granted, there are some venues I prefer for ambiance like Firefly Cafe, but I can’t think of any SL venue that bugs me so much that I wouldn’t go hear one of my favorites perform there. Speaking of favorites, I’ll make another quick plug for two of mine – Keiko and Winston Ackland. These are the only two SL musicians whose groups are part of my limited 25 that we’re allowed, and I’d recommend them to anyone. They’re good people as well as entertaining musicians, and I’ve met some terrific people in the audiences at their shows, which is really just the icing on the cake.