I recently got an email from a man that Nick and I had met online a while ago, when we used to perform live music within the virtual world called Second Life. It’s been over four years since we played our last show there though, and we’d had little contact with this online friend in the interim, so I was surprised to get the message stating that he would be in town and asking if we would like to get together while he was here.
I was surprised, yes, but I was also happy for the chance to meet. I recalled that he had been a good guy who had been a great and loyal supporter of our art.
So, a week ago Sunday we headed out for a blind-date with Pablo.
He had another friend in Toronto, who was playing in a band that evening at The Painted Lady, (on Ossington just south of Dundas), so that was where we planned to meet.
That morning it dawned on me that I had no idea what he looked like, so I requested a real-life picture of him. Second Life had been a world populated by avatars — people could be anyone they wanted to be, including animals, so we knew him as the parrot who used to perch at the back of the room and sometimes fly around during our shows.
The band at The Painted Lady was very cool. They were called Good Enough Live Karaoke, and Pablo’s friend was the drummer. This group of five awesomely talented musicians knew how to play hundreds of songs, and the kareoke part came in the form of audience members singing along with them, just like regular karaoke, but so much better given the live band! It was fun and entertaining, for sure.
It ended up being a really good time. We discovered that he had once lived in Toronto, and had hung out in the same circles as Nick had, back before he and I first met. It was freaky how many of the same people they both knew.
Cheers to friendship, both in real-life and online!
Thanks for checking out my post.
xo loulou
