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Closing night at Parkade - a fitting swan song
I know I've been gone from posting on this blog for a long time. It was kind of a blog death -- combined with me spending less and less time on Second Life over the past year. A lot of the folks I used to hang with have left SL and so there weren't so many people I wanted to share things with. About the only time I'm in-world these days is to work, and even that I've had to cut back (recently going from two nights a week down to one at Club Mutation). Mostly because I'm just busy with other aspects of my life. It happens.
But last night something big happened in SL and I wanted to share it with you. Last night was the closing night party for Parkade. As I've mentioned before, Parkade is why I joined SL in the first place.
Parkade is (was, now) one of the longest-running clubs in SL. It changed location from time to time from the Pontiac-sponsored Motorati sim to Motorability Island to Kara Zor Isle and finally a rented Parkade sim. But from the get-go there was a lineup of DJs and a family of regulars that simply could not be beat.
And the music? Yeah. Their entire lineup was pure genius. Amanda Shinji aka Miss Cyberpink, Topher Delcon, Krystal Devonshire, TheDiva Rockin, Andy Asylum, Walton Viera, the incomparable DJ NoNo Ulysses (and more who I should remember but don't) are the best you're going to be lucky enough to hear on SL. Hell, you're lucky when you find a DJ in a real club that comes close. And if the music being spun live from the club wasn't enough, Parkade was the exclusive host of BootieSL! How cool is that? Can't make it to Bootie in San Francisco? Just fire up the broadband and head on down to the Parkade every other Saturday night and you get the best in boots and mashups, streaming live. Awesome.
In the meantime, a couple things were going on -- The Lindens kept monkeying with pricing structures for sims (I guess they want to make everything a big money-making mall) and there seem to be fewer and fewer people coming to SL for the novelty that is in-world clubbing. We've all seen what the results have been. A big crowd nowadays is a dozen or 20 people in the club. A lot of clubs are mostly empty rooms with mirrored disco balls reflecting no one, and lonely lasers blinking on and off. Surrounded by mostly empty shops.
Call me crazy, but SL club culture is one of the driving forces behind the economy in SL, isn't it? If it weren't for a thriving faux nightlife, why go spend your hard-earned lindens in a shop to buy new boots, or hair, or a skin, etc? When the clubs thrive the stores will thrive and the sim-owners will make the money they need to keep the sims open.
I'm getting way off topic.
In this atmosphere, Amanda decided it was time to close Parkade. After two years in its current guise, with declining attendance and increased economic pressures it was time. But rather than a funeral, Parkade went out with a party. Andy Asylum, DJ NoNo, Topher Delcon and Amanda broke the floor. There were Daleks and more. It was an epic night, plain and simple.
Below are some photos from the last night. Click each photo to read the caption. For more, go here for NoNo's amazing set and some photos of the night, including the club coming down. Amanda, Andy and Topher should be posting their sets soon. I'll post links here when they have them.
There is a happy ending. Parkade the building may be gone, but Parkade the ethos and the people behind it will go on. At Republik. Please go there and support this club, you won't be disappointed.
Comments
Remember giving out loads of free-copy tshirts, I hope some people wear them sometimes and remember the club in future.
Now he can count on me as another part of the fanclub/stalker, hehe!
My impression of him before I realized who he was? Egotistical yet zany and talented!
My opinion of him since he allowed me to befriend him and I see how busy he could be? Nix the egotistical yet up the anti on the rest!
P.S.S. Will miss you when you take that break, but hope to see you lots when you return. You're STILL my fave dj, but now you have competition, lol!
Had a lot of fun, and made me miss it even more. In talks with Amanda about possibly coming back in the future at the Republik. Don't want to promise anything though, since lack of time was partly the reason for stopping at the Parkade...
As I've said elsewhere, closing Parkade was wrenching, but in the current climate, it had to happen.