Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Guardian gets a Second Life - Wednesday June 20th, 2007

The Guardian gets a Second Life - Wednesday June 20th, 2007
By Aleks Krotoski / Events/ Virtual worlds 03:40pm

Yes, and it's about time too. Weekend after next, after the throngs have recovered from Glastonbury, The Guardian and Intel are hosting SecondFest inside virtual world Second Life, a three-day music and performance festival chokka block with big name real-life bands and in-world talent.

Headlining on the Main Stage are exclusive performances from Pet Shop Boys, New Young Pony Club, The Aliens and Hadouken, plus many others. On the Indie Stage are exclusive sets from Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip and Rob da Bank's Sunday Best. In the Dance Tents you can tune in to Gilles Peterson, Ninja Tunes and Journey Through the Light, and more. Secret stages host Ibiza-style chill out sets from Love Supreme and Sorcerer, among the rest.

Second Life bands are strutting their stuff too, with two stages exclusively for in-world talent. Top names signed up include Slimwarrior, Clayton Road, Wiredaisies, Doubledown Tandino and Tony Moore. And the nice thing is, you can leave the music playing while you do something else. Like play a game. Or clean the house. You get to have a hot bath too.

If you get bored and don't want to leave, there's plenty to explore around the 144 virtual acres of the festival. Catch the ballet or the theatre, blag your way into the VIP area to chat with the bands after their sets, get lost in the human maze and check out the exclusive game trailers and interactive stages with personal appearances by top-name clans. Over on the cinema screen, you can catch blockbusters, BBC shorts and a special machinima animation programme. There's plenty to see.

Check out MySpace. If you're so inclined, you can sign up for twits from the SecondFest feed too.

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