Sat-Sun, July 18-19
RFL weekend covered 37 sims with multiple events and stages on four of them. Performers played from 2pm on the 18th through 10 am on the 19th. The list of performers is quite long, but some of the musicians showing their support included Quinton Whitman, ELiz Watanabe, Scarletta Roux, Shannon Oherlihy, Tone Uriza, Kim Seifert, Dominick Manatiso, Mike00 Carnell, Mason Thorne, Steely DeCosta, Dann Numbers and Buckley Moonwall, to name just a few. I was approached by the lovely Ms. Bourque Rau to put my hosting talents to work for an hour segment, and I hosted Tone Uriza.
I arrived early to catch Nad Gough on the Entertainment Bay Fest sim. Nad performed tunes by Burt Bacharach and Cole Porter, and sang with a voice and style that reminded me of Johnny Cash. Although he didn't quite pull off the Johnny Cash imitation, it was all for a good cause.
At 6 SLT, Mr. Blues himself, Tone Uriza, took the stage at RFL Shire and entertained us for an hour with soft, sweet blues. Tone chose to support RFL because of his mother's experience with cancer, and he can be found at many of the RFL events throughout the season. In speaking to the crowd about the experience with his Mom, his emotion nearly got the best of him, but he continued his performance with style and grace. Tony Uribe aka Tone Uriza is a 29 year veteran of the Tucson, Arizona blues scene. He has developed an eclectic style of blues drawing from the traditional & contemporary blues styles of the last century. He covers other blues artist only with the intent of bringing more blues and it's rich history to the world. An ambassador if you will, Tone loves spreading the blues wherever he can.
Following Tone was Kim Seifert, who opened with one of my favorite Alannis Morrisette's tunes. She sang beautifully with a resonant voice with a Southern lilt. Very nice indeed. Look for Kim in events, she is worth a listen.
At 7 pm it was back to Enterainment Bay Fest for Steely DeCosta. Always a treat, Streely is a great show to relax to, a very soothing sound and great guitar solos.
A guitarist from Kentucky, he plays a variety of covers, including CSNY, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Ben Harper, James Morrison, Firefall, Jason Mraz, U2. Benny King, Eagles, Plain White and Sam Cooke. He also does original jams with a loop station and prerecordings.
Steely was followed by Buckley Moonwall at 8 pm. Buckley plays harmonica and acoustic guitar with a southern flair. He plays a blend of roots-rock, Americana, folk and blues. Buckley is always a pleasure to see. Make a point of checking him out .
Sunday, July 19th
7 am SLT
Dann Numbers performed at Entertainment Bay Fest. A great entertainer in his own right, Dann can often be heard on the IndieSpectrum stream [http://81.169.149.182:8016 (SL Artists Music)]. Dann is reportedly very shy at first, you would never know it when he takes the stage. He gives an awesome performance. At one point, he broke his G string (again!) and while fixing it, he did a song for us a capella. Who needs guitar??
Next up on stage was Soundcircel Flanagan, who played a mix of covers and original songs, with accompanying backing tracks recorded in his studio. He opened with a Michael Jackson tribute, playing several songs from his Thriller album. Sound does a completely electronic set and has a great sound.
CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster performed at 9 a.m. SLT on the An Inema sim at Long Journey. What a cool place it was! The stage was a giant mushroom and smaller mushrooms were scattered about providing seating. I have had the pleasure of hearing Celtic numerous times and always thoroughly enjoy her. Celtic has a beautiful voice, loves her audience and is prone to giggling. She is a great performer to kick back and relax too. This was a perfect fit for a Sunday morning.
I split my time between Celtic and Mike00 Carnell so as to take in as much as possible. Mike performed at the RFL Courage sim at Buckshot Bend. He has played guitar for 18 years and has been performing in a RL band called Jazzmanix. He plays a Fender Strat USA Deluxe, as well as acoustic guitar. In addition to some original tunes, he plays classic and soft rock covers from The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd and Jack Johnson, to name a few.
The weekend event was successful in its fundraising, raising over 270,000. Congrats and applause to the Relay Teams for their untiring efforts to raise funds to support cancer research and the families of cancer victims.
Shellie Sands
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