Crowbar Blues

By Bixyl Shuftan

Clubs in Second Life often concentrate on today's pop tunes. But what if you're a fan of blues music? Fortunately for people who prefer this genre, there are clubs that have it for their playlists. One such place I stopped at recently is "Crowbar Blues," located in Business District Kilo. Just outside the brick building, there's a crow glancing at the entrance, next to a neon sign of a crow perching on a crowbar. Going inside, there's a small bar just past the entrance, which had a bartender. And in the back is the dance area with a small stage where a band plays, "The Old F*rts Blues Band," along with the DJs and performers. They were obviously bots looking at their names and observing them for a while. On the wall are pictures of several blues musicians.

JB Raccoon, whose outfit while DJing resembles the "Blues Brothers," was the one who told me about the club. He was impressed by the people who ran the place, and praised it for it's willingness to be open to all who weren't causing trouble. He also plays at the club on a twice a week basis, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10AM to Noon SL time. The club plays some rock music, but is best known for the blues.

I didn't see the owner, Danno (Affa Crazyboi). But I had a chance to talk to one of the staff, Suzi Skute. She told me the Crowbar had been open for about six months, "the owner, Danno had a club by the same name a few years ago and we talked him into reopening. Danno is my Uncle in the real world. He is a blues DJ in the real world as well." When I asked how long he has been playing, "as far as i know since he was in his 20's so late 1980's. Before that, he was in a band with my Dad. But that was before i was born (laughter)."

Since reopening, "It's been a slow build up as we have had a few DJ's come and go. But I think things take time. ... we are a friendly little club open to all. We have DJ's each day from 4pm  and we have been doing open mic live stuff at the weekends. We have had people like MadMaxx Huet here. But the open mic we have had all sorts of people come to that." Asking her what the best event was, "Well for me, I like the Tuesday nights and any day that DJ Gypsy plays. She rocks (laughter). We get good crowds in most nights, and I know Danno is planning more live shows. ... I think Danno is looking to find a Manager to help with the later sets and open later into the night as we are both in London, so (we) are eight hours in front of SL."

Of the thirteen sim area the club was in, Suzi admitted she didn't know much about the rest of the area other than, "I know there are some cool stores here." I brought up the band, and Suzi laughed, "all bots with a built in AI so you can talk to them." I talked to one of them, adressing her by name. She did respond, though it seemed random at times.

So if you're in the mood for the blues, head on over to Crowbar Blues, "We are a friendly little club open to all."

Business District Kilo (51/120/24)

Bixyl Shuftan