Ephemeral Pixels and Lasting Memories

They say it's only a pixel moon

Sailing over a cyber sea,

But it wouldn't be make believe

If you believed in me.

-Lyndon Heart, "Pixel Moon"

Virtual space is an ephemeral thing by nature.  Formed of pixels, programming and the pulse of electricity, the web is as ever-changing as the minds that drive it.  Second Life is no exception.  Sims grow, move, change hands, languish, or disappear just as, say, blogs do.  I've been there for a matter of months and I can already provide examples of each.  And yet, the loss (or, clinging to hope, potential loss) of Molaskey's Pub was an idea that never quite occurred to me.

As of St. Patrick's Day, 2011, Molaskey's Pub is four years old.  As virtual space goes, it's an institution.  And, as far as I can tell, it's iconic among Second Life live music venues.  How can it not be?  Visually, its anchor is the pub itself, built on sturdy pixel bricks on the shore of a tideless digital ocean.  Surrounded by beaches, rivers, shops and galleries, it's a beautifully detailed gathering space.  My favorite stage floats in the water just off the Bonfire Beach, overlooked by glittering palm trees and the pub's shining golden signs.  A circular stage with cushioned seating, it encourages an intimacy that the  rectangular area above and behind it doesn't quite accomplish.

Chapman Zane on the Bonfire Beach stage.  21 February, 2011.

Molaskey's was created by Katydid Something, Apple MacKay, and Nasus Dumart.  It has been run with love and enthusiasm by its founders and Mia Kitchensink, host, shop-owner and long-time supporter of the venue, for all those years.  Stace Silvercloud, also a host, joined the Molaskey's family about five months ago or so.  I'm a host now, too, and after two short months, that hasn't sunk in and probably never will.

I've blogged about this place before.  How my first time there wasn't for a concert, but for a set of Celtic tunes spun by Molaskey's DJ, BJ Farlight.  It was just what I'd needed at the time, and I'll remember that as clearly as the first live concert I heard at the pub.

I went to my first concert there on a whim.  It was a Sunday beach stage lineup of Tone Uriza, Lyndon Heart, and Gypsy Quixote, which left me expecting a more bluesy venue than it really turned out to be.  Going to the concerts two or three days a week quickly got to be a habit.  It was a routine escape into consistently good, wonderfully live music by a long list of great artists, and all of that in the company of friends.  Virtual space it may be, but the interaction between the audience and the performer is real.  It's not just the singer/songwriters, streaming across states, continents, and oceans, that bring the music.  A good crowd brings it, too.  If you've ever heard John Cage's 4'33", you know this especially well.  My favorite times, as an audience member, have been when the group gets quippy, laughing and building on a joke that may or may not be tangentially related to the music.  Having fun, as we let the notes wash over us just as surely as the warm cyber sea washes over the sand pixel beach, makes the concerts real.

Virtual space is ephemeral.  Individual memories often are as well.  Shared memories, however, live on, and whatever happens come May, we have the rest of April to make them.  I have to believe they'll be glorious.  See you at the pub.

Lyndon Heart performing "Pixel Moon" back in October, at the first concert I heard.

Molaskey Thursday (30 December, 2010)

Sometimes a musician takes time to grow on you.  But sometimes, within a few chords, a few measures, you just know you like the artist.  CraigLyons Writer fell into that latter category this Thursday at Molaskey's, when he dove right into a catchy tambourine-backed guitar driven song called "Underwater."  Okay, so that appealed to the mer in me, but honestly, Craig has my favorite sort of male voice.  Sensitive but masculine, the kind that works perfectly for pop acoustic or folk and stays so real.  Yeah, this guy must have his share of fangirls, don'tcha think?

He followed on the heels of EvaMoon Ember, whose comedic songs are always, well, funny (How about that UPS man, huh?), and would fit right in on the Bob & Tom Show.  The Rom music, with which she closed her set, made my night.  You really can't go wrong with gypsy songs!

Working backwards, the night opened with Somerset Oh & Rhode, who were missing one of their number but who were nevertheless as entertaining as usual.  Between-song banter involved statistical observations of avatars dancing, and mid-song banter was to the tune of how serious certain songs were.  (Nom, nom, nom!)

But Craig.  He made my night, live studio audience and all.  I'll have to put his albums (he has them) on my mental to-buy-eventually list.

Molaskey's Pub

The first time I visited Molaskey's Pub, it was Celtic music night.  A friend had teleported me there, and BJ was DJing.  I remember dancing.  I believe Mia was hosting.  I also believe that this was the night I started falling out of love with Divinity, another club I'd been frequenting.  That's not a bad club, by the way, but when there are three or four couples dancing and you're the odd one out, you tend to feel more alone than usual.  So my friend rescued me.  Strangely enough, I ended up slow-dancing at Molaskey's with someone I hadn't met before.  No, we didn't hook up or anything, but events circle around in interesting ways.

Wait, that was my first time there?  Yeah.  Yeah, I guess it was.

At some point, I joined the group there, and soon found myself going to many a live concert there.  Hunts are habit forming.  Live music is addictive.  And Molaskey's books great live music three days a week!  I spend a lot of time there, an easy thing to do between the staff (all of whom are very welcoming, and fun to converse with, though I haven't spoken as much to Nasus and Apple for some reason), the music, and the sim itself.  The pub, the beach, the floating stage, the ice rink where the winter concerts are held…  It's beautiful.

Anyway, today's concert included AMForte Clarity, an acoustic guitarist and vocalist with an excellent pop voice.  I hadn't heard her before, and enjoyed her sense of humor.  And her Alanis Morissette covers.  Looking forward to hearing her again!

AMForte on stage at the ice rink.  I do believe that's Katydid (co-owner of the pub) in red!

I also got to hear Maximillion Kleene, who I have heard before.  I love his voice, and his sense of humor.  He draws a crowd, and there's a reason for that!  Between the covers and the originals…  Gotta love Max!

And there is Max on stage, with his cow tip jar.  (I love that tip jar.)


Sunday's show was interesting in that both AMForte and Max are from Canada.  Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite musicians are from the south (and the pub has introduced me to quite a few of them!), but as a Yankee who has never been farther in that direction than about Morgantown, musicians who know what real snow looks like are somehow relatable in a different way.  No, I don't know why, either.


So that's my favorite live music venue on Second Life.  Hope to see you there!