Jago Constantine

The Top 10 DJs in Second Life's Gay Scene - 2011

2011-06-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last few weeks surveying 250 DJs from Second Life's gay club scene, asking them to pick their favourite DJs for a follow-up to last year's Top 10 list.

As with last year, voting was close, except for the front-runner, so several DJs have tied at different levels of the list.

A year is a long time in Second Life, so there have been some significant changes, with some names dropping off, and others rising to take their place.

Here are the top 10 DJs in the gay grid, followed by their DJ name, fan group name* and some brief commentary.

Equal tenth place:

Jared Palianta (aka DJ Jared, Friends of DJ Jared): making his first appearance on the list. Jared DJs at Inferno, Tadd's Cabaret and Dance Club, The Rusty Nail and Club TBone
Romeo Reardon (aka DJ Romeo Reardon, DJ Romeo Reardon): was a runner-up last year.
ツTrickyツ (aka DJ Tricky, Dj Tricky Drool Mob): making his first appearance on the list. He DJs at Vibez, Bounce, Oceanstar Beach Club, and Unity... and helps manage at Oceanstar.

Equal ninth place:

Ritch Nicholls (aka DJ Ritchie Rich, Ritch-a-Holics): making his first appearance on the list. Ritch DJs at Blu Dancebar, Gay Riviera Beach, Boystown Beach, SET Event Sound Stage Boystown, Cabria Party Zone.
Šђěpĥėŗɗ (aka DJ Shepherd, DJ Shepherd): Shepherd DJs at Blu Dancebar and owns Pure Sound.

Eighth place:

Sasch (Sasch Petrov) (aka DJ Sasch, * * * DJ SASCH GROUPIE * * *): Sasch DJs at Club TBone, Tainted Boys, Starfall, Studio 777, Chilipepper, Club Universal, AquA Lounge.

Equal seventh place:

Arc (aka DJ Arc, DJ ARC): rose from runner-up last year. Arc DJs at Sanctuary, Q Lounge, The Den, The Forgotten, Retro-Active (Cabria Landing).
Kaj Juutilainen (aka DJ Kaj, DJ Kaj's Groupies): Kaj DJs at Starfall and Aqua Lounge.

Sixth place:

Merrick Kayo-Ying (aka DJ Merrick, Dial M for DJ Merrick): rising three places from ninth last year. Merrick DJs the Week-End Street Jam in Boystown.

Fifth place:

Dextrum Boucher (aka DJ Dex, DJ Dex's Filth and Fury): Dex DJs at Blu Dancebar, Impulse and Gay Riviera Beach.

Fourth place:

Dehrynn Shepherd (aka DJ Dehrynn, DJ Dehrynn): rose three places from seventh last year. Dehrynn owns and DJs at Starfall, and DJs at Jungleboys and The Black Dragon Tavern.

Third place:

Wesley Spengler (aka DJ Wesley, DJ Wesley Spengler): rising two spots from fifth last year. Wes DJs at The Pavilion. He's the top real life DJ on the list.

Second place:

Hotboy Lockjaw (aka DJ Hotboy, DJ HOTBOY): number two (with a bullet as he didn't appear on last year's list). Hotboy DJs at Folsom, Blow Buddies, Bull Ring, 3Bears Resort, The Barnyard, Teej's Castle, Honcho, Cox Leather and Hubs Cargo City.

First place:

InsyX Piranha-Botanical (aka DJ InsyX, InsyX's Fan Club): for the second year running InsyX has easily topped the list. InsyX owns AquA Lounge and DJs there. He DJs at Arsenal, Milehigh Club, Engine Steampunk Gay Club, Hidden Door, Club TBone, Tainted Boys, Tadd's Cabaret and Dance Club, Jungleboys, 3Bears Resort, Inferno, and Club Universal...starting next Saturday he will add Impulse Club Splash.

Runners-up this year include ⒶⓁⒺⓍ, Cooper Janus, Dov Watanabe, Kev Anton, ɱɪƈɦєʅʌɲʛєʅσ, ოίκεdɐςσoκ, ...Regi Yifu..., Sy Whitesong, Thorn Andel, TinaMarie Beck, Tralos De la Cruz and Graves Bloodwyn.

*Unfortunately I had trouble linking to the fan groups this year, so you have to search for them yourself!

LGBTDJ Survey 2011

2011-06-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

Last year I surveyed almost 200 DJs from Second Life's gay community to create a top 10 list as chosen by their peers.

The results can be found here.

It is time for the 2011 survey.

If you are a DJ on the Second Life LGBT scene, you may vote. I've been sending out notes but it is a slow process, so I'm asking people to submit by themselves too!

IM or notecard are both fine.

Please send your IM or note card to me, Jago Constantine (not Eddi!), and let me know:

1. Your name

2. Which LGBT club(s) you have played at.

3. Your top three choices. You can vote for yourself if you feel you are one of the top 3 DJ's in Second Life who plays as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transexual club.

Please note: feel free to contact me with any questions.

The Top 10 DJs in Second Life's Gay Scene

2010-06-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

Following on from my list of the Ten Coolest Gay Clubs in Second Life, I decided to investigate another major factor that makes a club great: the DJs. I didn't want to make this an easily rigged popular vote so I decided to go with a peer voting system.

A famous example of a peer voted award is the Oscars. Movie industry professionals recognize the achievements of their fellows at the Academy Awards.

There's no Academy of Disc Jockey Arts & Sciences in Second Life, so I tracked down 193 DJs to survey and collated the results.

Voting was close, with the exception of the number one DJ, so several people tied for a certain number of votes. I decided to make these equal place getters, so we have ended up with 16 people in the top ten list.

Without further ado, here are the top DJs in the gay grid (followed by their DJ name and fan group):

Equal tenth place:

nash Gearhead (DJ Gearhead, DJ GEARHEAD'S GROUPIES)
Vanyel Dreamscape (DJ Vanyel, PARTY VaN)

Equal ninth place:

Gregster Kidd (DJ Gregster, -:Force Midnight:-)
Merrick Ying (DJ Merrick, Dial M for DJ Merrick)

Equal eighth place:

DaddyAdam Gartner (DJ Daddyadam formerly DJ Darkangel, Bear Entertainment)
Vortmax Mumfuzz (DJ Vortmax, DJ Vortmax)

Equal seventh place:

Dehrynn Shepherd (DJ Dehrynn, DJ Dehrynn)
Zann Baxton (DJ Zann, DJ Zann)

Sixth place:

Syriana Paine (DJ Syriana, DJ Syriana's Group)

Fifth place:

Wesley Spengler (DJ Wesley, DJ Wesley Spengler)

Equal fourth place:

Dextrum Boucher (DJ Dex, DJ Dex's Filth and Fury)
Kaj Juutilainen (DJ Kaj, DJ Kaj's Groupies)
Rocket Jefferson (DJ Rocket, DJ ROCKET)

Third place:

Sasch Petrov (DJ Sasch, * * * DJ SASCH GROUPIE * * *)

Second place:

Aeschylus Shepherd (DJ Shepherd, DJ Shepherd)

First place:

InsyX Piranha (DJ InsyX, InsyX's Fan Club)

As I mentioned above, DJ InsyX was far ahead of the pack in the voting tally, which is a measure of the high regard in which he is held by the DJ community.

Congratulations, InsyX, and to all in top ten positions!

Finally I'd like to mention the following runners up, each of whom attracted a significant number of votes: Arcangelo Hellmann, Atreyu Witrial, Blaise Pooley, Braden Darkstone, Bren Betts, Esmiel Posthorn, Jarrod Fitzpatrick, Queen Edman, Ralphy Triellis, Romeo Reardon, Rylan Sirnah, Kadie Pinkenba and Scary Jester.

Tadd's Cabaret & Dance Club

2010-06-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Eddi and I dropped into one of our favourite party venues, Tadd's, the other night. They've literally just moved into some stunning new premises in tropical Castro Beach sim and were celebrating. DJ Johny Alderton played a great set for us while we admired the emerald green decor and the sexy dancers!

Seen at the club: Adamina Adagio, Addy Babii, Alexi Fromund, Bill225 Westland, Carlos Bernstein, Charlurs Carpool, Chay Silvercloud, Clay Tobias, Cool Jonesford, Dafydd Sodwind, Diamond Flow, Eddi Haskell, Enzo Melune, Frank Bremer, Gatekeeper Gustafson, Gorken Baxton, GYMSTUD Swords, Jago Constantine, Jeno Loire, JohnathanLuke Larkham, Johny Alderton, MikeTom Carter, Nica Sellers, Rosetto Erin, scaciota Sparta, Tadd Rives, TinaMarie Beck, unicornio Axel, Vedrina Claven, Wayne Ascot

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Castro%20Beach/74/126/23

The Ten Coolest Gay Clubs in Second Life

2010-06-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Second Life is home to so many great gay dance clubs, and with a high rate of churn it can be hard to keep track of the best ones. I don't go clubbing much, but I when I find a club that distinguishes itself from a design sense, it sticks in my mind.

So I thought I'd post a list of my favourites: those that stand out for visual style and character. Here are the first five in alphabetical order:

BLU Dancebar
http://slurl.com/secondlife/BOYSTOWN/61/79/22

Boystown is the urban gay lifestyle capital of Second Life, so it's not surprising that the chic BLU Dancebar appears on this list. The stylish build shows that a Second Life club can be an exciting architectural experience.

The Bull Ring
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cargo%20City/23/123/24

I don't think this is officially a dance club, or that it ever has events, but it does have a dance ball and a tip jar, and it's simply a great build - industrial and sexy like everything in Hubs Howlett's Cargo City.

Club IX
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Club%20Road/132/180/24
One of the newest clubs on the gay grid, Club IX is a stylish converted warehouse built by renowned virtual architect Patch Thibaud.

Erotes
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hinterland/184/32/10

Hidden away beneath the Red Lion pub in Kirkness Village, a quaint Scottish community, is The Den, home of Erotes. Blending traditional stone architecture with a high-tech nightclub vibe Erotes has an intimate and clandestine feel to it.

Engine Steampunk Gay Dance Club
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rendezvous/118/68/23

A fun construction, the Engine is a detailed and eccentric steampunk factory. Like the Bull Ring above, it illustrates that clubs can have character and in this case charm and whimsy.

Jake's Club Resort
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jakes%20Club%20Resort/146/99/24

Jake's is renowned for their gala events and for the elaborate sets they produce for these. Seen below is the set for their annual prom night.

Pasha

http://slurl.com/secondlife/House%20Legendary/156/111/22
Probably not so well-known to the wider gay community, this femboy club is the heart of an opulent sim the aesthetic of which is a kind of steampunk baroque. The club and sim are rewarding to visit and sadly often deserted.

The Slot
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Folsom/170/57/41

Another fairly new club in Wendell Thor's San Francisco, The Slot is as raunchy as the Bull Ring in a lavishly textured and detailed industrial warehouse.

Week-End
http://slurl.com/secondlife/BOYSTOWN/196/54/23
An expansive and glamorous Week-End nightclub gives Boystown a second entry on this list (if they still had the Ambient Ultra Lounge they might even have taken up three slots!).

Zeus
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gay%20City%20Cologne/65/159/22
Built inside a colossal Greek temple, the popular Zeus is one of the seven wonders of the Second Life gay club scene. It's another example of the kind of not-possible-in-real-life architecture that Second Life can provide.

There are so many great clubs with differing strengths. I recommend these for their appearance, but encourage you to explore and find which ones suit you - beauty is only prim deep after all and the real assets of a club are the tireless and talented staff and owners and the community of regular patrons.

Suggestions? Feedback? Let me know in comments!

The Ten Coolest Gay Clubs in Second Life (Part 2).

2010-06-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

Continuing from last week, I present the second half of my list of the ten coolest club builds in the Second Life gay scene.

I've visited about fifty clubs in the course of the last couple of weeks and the diversity is remarkable - producing my target of a list of ten was difficult.

Again in no particular order, the next five clubs:

Club IX

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Club%20Road/132/180/24

One of the newest clubs on the gay grid, Club IX is a stylish converted warehouse built by renowned virtual architect Patch Thibaud.

Pasha

The Slot
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Folsom/170/57/41

Another fairly new club in Wendell Thor's San Francisco, The Slot is as raunchy as the Bull Ring in a lavishly textured and detailed industrial warehouse.

The Ten Coolest Gay Clubs in Second Life (Part 1).

2010-05-30T21:33:00.000-07:00