A day at the races-Reviews-July 28th 09

My intention with these reviews is to give you a picture of the performer with a little background, the show itself and talk about the venue. I use the eventslist in SL to pick an act and then I just go there and experience while taking notes.


Eponine Dench at Falling Waters - 2PM slt

The first show of the day was a promising one judging from the eventslist and normally I would refer to the backgroundinfo from there but I cannot do that in this case because even though it was listed it simply didnt happen.
I don't know what led to this but at least they could have taken it out of the eventslisting so people wouldnt arrive in a big vacuum of wasted time.
I see it as a clear example of poor or no communication what so ever between staffmembers: Who does what?

Falling Waters is a big open spacethemed venue which gives you plenty of room to manouver. They even have a second floor for the crowded days but I doubt many people will notice it is there unless they are told so personally I would save the prims.

Stage is also in a good size as you probably can judge from the picture so there is enough space for the performer to put anything they would want on there.

Walking around the floor you do notice that the texturing is not what they thought about the most so that needs some adjusting.

The most positive thing was a fountain of notes far to the right of the stage which I found very neat and maybe..instead of hiding it back there I would use the size of the stage and put it in the middle behind the performer on stage...but that is only a second opinion.

You may wonder what falling waters has to do with a spacethemed venue but I did find a lovely picture behind the bar with some falling waters in the woods which made me think that the build of the venue may have been somewhat different in the past.


Maxx Sabretooth at Sunset Jazz Club - 3PM slt

Maxx is from Oklahoma and his performance includes genres like R&B, Blues, Jazz, Motown and a little Contemporary Country.

All in all he would be presenting some familiar songs in his own style using backingtracks. He should be a real crowdpleaser so off we went to experience that.

The show was set to start at 3PM slt but already 3 mins before that the stream was put in and revealed a very energetic guy all ready to perform and witn a voice to go with it.

My partner pointed that out very well later in the show when she said: "This is a countrysong....and he makes it sound good!"

Maxx did a good job in staying in touch with his audience with talking to us and a few times during his songs he moved out on the floor and danced with some of the ladies while singing. A nice touch and he did make it back to the stage before the song was over which was an accomplishment as we were approx 48 people at the spot.

Technical difficulties will without a doubt occur once in a while when you perform and in the middle of the show the player with the backingtrack wouldnt start. It lastet for a minute or so which is a very long time. Many would have panicked and feel embarrased but not Maxx. Instead he talked to the audience, telling stories while waiting for the bleeding thing to start because when it comes to the technology you cannot do much else but wait for it. If it won't start, it won't start. Simple as that.

All in all my partner and I was having a great time with Maxx Sabretooth and we wouldnt hesitate with spending another hour with him in the future.

Sunset Jazz Club


The Sunset Jazz Club has been in existence and hosting music in SL since 2004. The picture does not give the venue the credit it deserves because already when you enter you are amazed by the egyptian theme over the place and the use of some wonderful goldtextures makes this a very impressive venue.

In many venues you see the traditional "stage-in-the-middle" build but this stage is placed in the corner. It is not big but big enough and adds to the open feel of the dancefloor so even though we were many people there it did not feel overcrowded at all.

Again this is a venue with a second floor and except from adding to the looks I don't think it is very usefull afterall. No one would notice it unless they already knew it was there.

The venue is run by Circe who has been supporting and helping performers in SL a lot during the years. When you look at the walls you can see posters with a lot of names showing their appreciation to what she did for them and the music scene in SL.

As mentioned above the show began 3 mins early and when we landed there was some discussion about what stream to use between Maxx's people and Circe. Maxx's stream was thrown on the land and off we went.
I don't understand why the discussion had to take place in public chat but I guess it was all about marking off your territory. I didnt need to know about it so to me it was unnescessary and bad judgement from whomever started it.


Haruno Watanabe at Australian Musical Dreaming - 4PM slt

Haruno is of Japanese origin but living in United States and has been classically trained since childhood. She was a member of Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Chorus Group for Boston Symphony and Boston Pops for more than 7 years.
With that introduction I went off to the venue with some high expectations and I was not disappointed...for the most part.


Haruno starts with telling us that she is not feeling well today but she has never cancelled a show and will go on as long as her voice permits it. The talk was very low in the beginning but with the always helpful audience that was fixed. She also told us that she was going to use backingtracks even though some person had tried to tell her that it was a bad thing to do...well, too much info...now get on with it, please.


She started out with "Fields of Goal".....and forgot to plug the backingtrack in....bummer!...but the 20 secs showed us that here we were listening to a wonderful and powerful voice. If she had decided to continue singing "Fields of Goal" accapella I would have been with her all the way! It was amazing. After that she could do anything and I would just smile and applaud like crazy.


"Ave Maria" was served in a very lovely way and if this is how she sounds when she is not well I am certain she would blow me away when she is at full power.

Halfway through the show Haruno wanted to introduce her new piano to us and played 2 pieces on it which showed some skills but if the piano is supposed to be used at a performance it should be much closer to the mic. Furthermore she tried to do "Edelweis" with both piano and song...she lost and had to stop after 30 secs of it...more practice needed.

Back to what she did best...the singing...and the last 20 mins of the show was just as enjoyable as the first 30 mins.

All in all a fine performance except for the little offtrack on the piano and I would love to listen to her when she is all well again.

Australian Musical Dreaming

This venue is beautifully placed in a mountainious area which adds to the dreamy athmosphere that they want to have there.
Looking at the picture you may think that it is a basic venue and you are quite right but please go there and look at the colorchanges of the backdrops on the stage and you will experience a little bit of magic. Works best with midnight setting though.
Dancefloor is a bit dominating almost like a club floor but I guess it's supposed to add to the magic feel again of the place.

The show was run smoothly and some gadget was greeting the new visitors when they arrived and you even got a shoutout when somebody left...hehe...why is that important to know?
It's the same when someone has been standing in a corner all day and has to proclaim to the whole area that now rl is calling and they have to leave.....don't know about you but I really don't care why they leave...just...leave.;o)

Anyway, it is a nice venue to visit and perform at so I would recommend to try get a gig on their stage.;o)