Sunday, January 15th will see the 2023 edition of Hippiestock take place in Second Life. A day-long music event, Hippiestock was established in 2011 by Hippie Bowman as a way to for him connect directly with friends he’d made through the Second Life forums. and this year it is sponsored by sponsored by Corsica South Coasters and Commune Utopia.
Whilst intended as a “one-off”, such was the response to that first event in 2011, the Hippie agreed to consider making it an annual event -and 12 years later Hippie and his friends once again present an opportunity to come together with fun and music and to embrace the “hippie philosophy”, once described by Hippie himself as:
[A belief] in peace as the way to resolve differences among peoples, ideologies and religions. The way to peace is through love and tolerance. Loving means accepting others as they are, giving them freedom to express themselves and not judging them based on appearances. This is the core of the hippie philosophy.
– Hippie Bowman, January 2011
Hippestock, January 2023
The event kicks-off at 09:00 SLT on Sunday January 15th, with the music line-up as follows:
09:00 SLT – Hippie Bowman
10:00 SLT – Dimvan Ludwig
11:00 SLT – Alsund
12:00 noon – Cranston Yordstorm
13:00 SLT – The Vinnie Show
14:00 SLT – Joe Paravane
15:00 SLT – Lluis Indigo
16:00 SLT- Jed Luckless (2-hour set with particle show by Moondance Parx)
As well as enjoying the music in an outdoor setting designed to recapture the sense of Woodstock, attendees also have the opportunity to explore the Hippiestock region, there the beach, a camp site between it and the region’s river, a barn recalling Woodstock, a rendition of England’s Stonehenge and multiple places to sit and relax might be found and enjoyed. This setting will remain open to the public to enjoy through until the end of Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 – so even if you don’t make the event on the 15th, there will still be time afterwards to drop in and explore.
Songs for Ukraine is a series of concerts being organised by Jenaia Morane in support of the people of Ukraine as they face the on-going aggression from the Russian government. The idea is to encourage Second Life users to help support Ukrainians through a peaceful venue featuring live music and where they can learn about ways and means to make direct donations to recognised international organisations on the web that are engaged in providing humanitarian support and assistance to Ukraine.
The concerts are being held every Saturday within a venue that recreates a section of an underground (subway) station – such as the Kyiv Metro – where many Ukrainian people have to live and shelter from Russian bombs, shells and missiles.
The space is small and a little crowded but full of hope. It’s designed to give people a taste of what the Ukrainians are experiencing, including the incredible joy, hope, and courage generated by their music.
– Jenaia Morane
The next concert is the series will take place on Saturday, April 16th, commencing at noon SLT and will run through until 15:00 SLT. The musicians participating are:
Denny Mac (noon to 13:00).
Max Kleene (13:00 to 14:00).
Raspbury Rearwin (14:00 to 15:00).
Joining the local group will provide information on future concerts.
Songs for Ukraine – music stage (dancing also available)
Those wishing to provide practical assistance to the people of Ukraine are encouraged to do so via the following resources:
The Ukrainian Red Cross – The Red Cross is often on the front lines of war serving to help those affected by armed conflict. The Ukrainian Red Cross is currently assisting people inside the country by aiding evacuations and providing shelter, food and basic necessities.
World Central Kitchen – established in 2010 WCK),deploys chefs directly to disaster areas to provide hot meals to those in need. WCK is currently working in Ukraine and along its borders in neighbouring countries.
GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund – GlobalGiving is raising funds to support locally-led organisations throughout Ukraine. Any donations to the fund will provide essentials for refugees, from health and psychological support to education and economic assistance.
Vostok SOS – a Ukraine-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to assisting areas of conflict within Ukraine. The Vostok SOS is currently accepting donations to help aid local people, evacuate the vulnerable and provide trauma support after shelling. Credit card payments are also accepted through Libereco, a Vostok SOS partner.
Voices of Children (VOC) – created in 2015, VOC has been providing psychological support to children affected by war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine through art therapy, video storytelling, mobile psychologists and more – all of which is now being provided to children across the country.
Kyiv School of Economics – has created an initiative to provide equipment (protective wear such as kevlar vests and protective helmets) to relief and emergency organisations in the front lines (e.g. State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Paramedic Association and the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force).
Humanity & Inclusion (H&() – an international non-governmental organisation supporting people with disabilities in areas of conflict, poverty and disaster. H&I workers have arrived in Ukraine to assess how it can help distribute medical equipment, provide post-operative care for the injured and provide mental health support. Donations will go toward supplying emergency kits and rehabilitation and mental health support sessions.
Additional resources and means to support the people of Ukraine can be obtained via a note card provided at the event venue – look for the easels with the image of Paddington Bear on them both at the landing point and in the subway venue.
Songs for Ukraine – the above-ground landing point and dance area
So, why not hop along to Songs for Ukraine and enjoy the music – and don’t forget to visit the various resources to offer practical support for Ukraine.
The Singer and the Songwriter: September 19th and 20th, 2018
Wednesday, September 19th and Thursday, September 20th, 2018, Commune Utopia and The Mumbling Goat, will host The Singer and the Songwriter Music Festival.
Featuring musician/songwriters from across Second Life presenting a mix of live music throughout the two days, the event kicks-off take at The Mumbling Goat, starting at 15:00 SLT on September 19th. It will then continue through Thursday, September 20th at both Commune Utopia and The Mumbling Goat.
Organised by Shivers Productions, led by Mania Littlething and Anakin Muircastle, the festival brings together 20 headline artists and bands on the main stage across the weekend, supported by DJ sets on a separate “chillout” stage as well. With the exception of just one year, The Shivers Unleash Festival, or SUF, has been a part of the Second Life music scene since 2011, and is truly international in flavour. This year, for example, features artists from across Europe and North America and from South Africa and Japan, all of whom come together to celebrate and share a love of music with SL residents.
I had the opportunity to chat with Mania littlething in the run-up to the event, and one of the first questions I asked her was how SUF came into existence.
“It actually started while being drunk with my partner,” she replied, laughing. “We had a Halloween event at our club and we got the idea to some time host a really big cool festival. That got realised in the summer of 2011, when we hosted the first ever Shivers Unleashed Festival!”
This year sees SUF take place on a dedicated region featuring a main stage for the headline acts, a second “Psychedelic Circle” (or PsyCircle) stage for DJ parties, a small marketplace area and a beach camp site where festival attendees can kick-back and simply enjoy the atmosphere. Over the three days of the event, a quite eclectic mix of music will be presented from acoustic / vocals through to synthpop and cyberpunk rock, going by way of electric blues, rock, metal, dubstep, psytrance and more. Given this mix, I asked Mania how the festival arrived at its line-up.
“Well, the basic idea has always been to gather, in our opinion, best and most impressive artists of Second Life on our stage over the one weekend,” she replied. “Of course, because we’re looking for acts, our personal taste plays a role; but we start several months ahead of each festival, scouting around, asking those we’ve particularly liked if they would come back and perform. When we find cool acts we hadn’t previously come across, we invite them as well.”
She continued, “We’re also looking for new acts, or those who haven’t previously appeared at SUF. So this year, for example, we’re featuring Yadleen, a German composer who has only been performing in SL for the last four months. But our main objective is to create a special event with special acts. And it’s always nice when we can bring acts who are not often to see in SL; this year, for example, we’re delighted to have Nnoiz Papp and Cyberpiper performing on stage!”
All of which adds up to an interesting mix – so, if you’re in the mood for music this weekend, why not drop in to Shivers Unleashed? Check the schedule below for acts and session times (all in SLT), and check-out the artists and bands in the Festival Guide. You can also catch a preview video for this years acts on YouTube.
The first round of the SL13B Music Fest Auditions, held in Bay City
Friday, June 3rd saw the first round of auditions take place for the SL13B Music Fest. The event saw Linden staffers Xiola, Torley, Rider and Simon join music fans and local community members in gathering at an outdoor stage in Bay City to hear some of those who applied for the auditions (see my blog post on the auditions announcement).
Held between 12:00 noon and 2:00pm, as originally scheduled, the event venue hadn’t been advertised at the time of the original announcement, although SL residents were invited to attend as members of the audience. There didn’t appear to by any follow-up announcement on the selected venue (at least, none that I saw), and I only found out about it by dint of perusing the Destination Guide out of curiosity given there had been no update to the original official blog post, some 20 minutes after the event had started!
Xiola (to the front left) dances while Simon Linden (seated, front centre in his trademark top hat) listens, at the first round of the Music Fest auditions
Nevertheless, those who did get the news and had hopped along to the event were all enjoying themselves (Xiola was bopping along nicely!), with folks taking the opportunity to join the judging panel seated in deck chairs, or simply standing in the open field and showing their appreciation for the acts.
If you’re interested in attending the second round of auditions as a member of the audience, you can do so from 18:00 through 20:00 SLT on Saturday, June 4th, and the same venue. The music fest itself will form a part of the upcoming SL13B celebrations later this month.
Commencing on Saturday, May 14th and running through until the end of the month is Benefit for Bri, a fund-raiser being held at the Starlight Ballroom to help the daughter of Second Life resident, artist and photographer, Tomais Ashdene.
Bri is currently studying at Purdue University, Indiana, to become a teacher, and is doing well. However, due to corporate downsizing, her family have hit some financial issues. So, to ease the burden on them of paying tuition fees, Bri launched a Go Fund Me campaign to raise the money she needs to continue with her education and obtain her qualifications.
Benefit for Bri has been organised by those close to Tomais, notably RickJ Ewing andr Kahvy Smith, to help raise funds to be put into the Go Fund Me campaign. The shopping event featuring Consignment, Ex Machina, StoraxTree, Blue Balls, Powerdesgin, Fix Auto, Atelier by Stephano, Yer Old Gacha, Ohiomike’s Kilts, Lilliput for Tinies, Rosa Fashion, The Grey Goose, RickJ Designs, Sophie’s Choice, L.Querrien, Cake Fox, Photography by Tomais, Regimade, and Lazy Day Designs.
There will also be a benefit gala on Saturday, May 21st, featuring from 13:00 SLT, Samm Qendra, followed at 14:00 SLR by Reallymad Morpork, with DJ Kahvy spinning the tunes as well. Formal attire is requested, and the event is powered by JJ Goodman Event Photography.
Samm Qendra and Reallymad Morpork: singing at the Benefit for Bri gala, Saturday, May 21st
Commenting on the event, the organisers state:
Bri is an amazing young woman who found herself in a bit of a problematic financial situation as she is working hard to become part of the next generation of amazing teachers to our kids. All proceeds of this Benefit will go towards her Go Fund me Page after converting the lindens into USD and will be published there after the event.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 