Live Music In Second Life: MoShang Zhao at Fleure's Enchanted Corner

Getting up late on a cold and windy Saturday morning I made some coffee, sat bleary-eyed in front of my PC and logged into SL. Always when I arrive I check through the recent notices from Live Music Enthusiasts to get an idea of who is playing, when and where. Today an unexpected name appeared from an even more unexpected location. MoShang Zhao from Taiwan !! The notice said he would play a unique blend of downtempo electronica he likes to call Chinese Chill. Well it's just three days after Chinese New Year and in the spirit of the year of the rabbit I rubbed my eyes and pricked up my ears.

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I teleported to Fleure's Enchanted Corner, another new music venue for me, not really knowing what to expect. We were spread all around the clock - 4am Saturday morning SLT, noon here in Scotland and 8pm Saturday evening in Taiwan. MoShang stepped up onto the stage and after a few brief words of introduction in impeccable and educated english began to play.

He describes himself as a sound jeweler and plays all original mixes. For me he is a master craftsman and technician and more descriptive words which came into my mind for his music are - atmospheric, ethereal, magical, misty, seamless.

This is a beautiful venue owned by Fleure Homewood. It is located on the sim of Tol Galen which is described as the home of Elven Free University, and the home of the Elven Museum of Art and Science. I spent some time exploring this exciting and interesting place with its beautiful sculptures, art gallery and planetarium. I love the sculpture - a metaphor on human evolution called Primolution :))

MoShang made the point that like patrons of the arts in the real world venue owners in SL are also patrons of the arts as they rarely get back in tips what they spend. A very good point MoShang :))

He is certainly very entrepreneurial taking many opportunities to plug his MP3s and Podcasts. I didn't hear him mention the titles of the music he played until the very last when he played out with Chillbird.

His gig attracted an audience of about 20 people. Around me were interesting and exotic avatars - elves, winged and eared dancers, and a horsewoman with a dragon on her shoulder. These added to the magical atmosphere created by his music and the place.

I didn't find the flavour of his music very chinese although in places there was some quiet chinese singing in the background. Without doubt his music was enjoyable and relaxing and met my mood for a quiet Saturday morning :))

I have to admit that I wouldn't normally seek out this genre of music - lounge music but it is certainly good to drink coffee by or read a magazine or put your feet up and unwind. While it's a moot point whether this was live music or not MoShang gave a professional and smooth performance of the music he created. I'm glad I went along to watch and listen !!

He thanked us all by name at the end and then incorporated his own words into a long cool, repetitive, echoing fade-out. Very smooth MoShang :))

Like many pure instrumentalists MoShang didn't say much about himself. His website tells us that originally from South Africa, he has been living in Taiwan since 2003 and became a “son-in-law of Taiwan” in 2009. He has released four full-length albums and an EP and has been featured on a number of compilation- and collaboration-albums. His most recent release is Suncake Lounge Vol. 1 with Australian guitarist, Chris Bailey.

Here is the link:
http://moshang.net/soundjeweler_blog/

Here's the SLURL to get to Fleure's Enchanted Corner:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tol%20Galen/55/55/40/

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