SPOTLIGHT ON SAPPHIRE BEACH CLUB: THE GEM OF SECONDLIFE – Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) Reporting

I recently had the very real pleasure of visiting Skyhill Island, home of the Sapphire Beach Club.  Newly arrived on the SL Grid, Skyhill is the brainchild of Claudine Jewell and her business partner , John Sinclair. Together with Live Talent Manager, Amber LeFavre, they have built a region uniquely suited for the Music Lover in Second Life.  In addition to the Club, Skyhill has a beach area for swimming or sunbathing, or just enjoying good conversation with friends. Complete with Beach House and waterfall, Gaming events, and a Yoga and Meditation place to come and refresh and relax.

I was fortunate to spend a delightful afternoon in the company of Claudine Jewell and Amber LeFavre.  My visit proved most informative as they shared perspectives on Skyhill Island and the Sapphire Beach Club.

Josh (thomas1.bellic): Claudine, what is it that drew you to Second Life in the first place?

Claudine Jewell: Well….I always liked to play computer games and I read a magazine article at the gym about Anshe Chung, SecondLife land baron and its first millionaire.  When I got home I registered to see what this is all about ...that was 2007. I showed it to John later and he joined too

JB:   And Sapphire Beach Club?  How did you decide to build that?

CJ:   Well, John co-owned a club in RL and loves clubbing here and he talked about it all the time.  So, so I suggested we should get a full region, since full regions are more stable than individual Sims and with a Region you can host up to 100 people

JB:  There are dozens, if not scores of Beach clubs in SL.  How is Skyhill Island different from the others, and how will Sapphire Beach Club make a distinctive contribution to life on the grid?

CJ:   Well, I don’t know if you remember the old clubs back in the day.  John wanted it to be similar to Sleek which was beach themed....I wanted something classy like Elements,  so we hope we can provide that to the people. We also don’t want to compete with 24 hour clubs. We just want to organize some quality Live events that people won’t forget.

JB:  So Amber, are there sizable numbers of live music lovers here?

Amber Lefavre: Yes there are.  DJ people and live singer people are different.  One way to help get maximum exposure for the club is to do both. ... live singers performances are not perfect,  expect something happening or not working... but its live...its personal….it shows the person. With DJs you know you are getting the exact song you thought you would.  But its the same every time...Lots more gestures used… chatting etc. Its just different...neither is wrong...or better.

JB:  But seriously. Are live singers really that much better than recorded music? I have heard live singers who...well..their hearts are certainly in the right place….but you can see that their passion greatly exceeds their ability.

AL:  Laughs.  True. BUT when a venue pays a singer up to 7000 lindens for an hour, they are going to be what the  the Club owners hope, and the crowd is going to love them as much as they do, because they will never make their money back.   You do not do live music to make money. You do it for the love of music. Live musicians are a real draw for their personality, interactions and talent.  

JB:  One of the first things I noticed when I landed here was that Skyhill is rated “M”...it is only rated Mature.  Many, if not most beaches here are rated “R”. Most beach clubs allow..and in fact encourage, nudity. You do not.  Can you share with our readers why you are different from the pack? What is it that sets you apart from others?

AL:  Claudine does not want sex and nudity here.  That is not why they did this. The emphasis will be that it is a quality sim with quality acts.  That will help it appeal to folks who are tired of seeing public sex and naked avis everywhere.

CJ:  Yes. Its that simple :-) I think SL is full of those places...lots and lots of adult clubs.  Besides, why would you spend 1000s of lindens on clothes and then you go party at a nude beach :)))   No, we don’t want people to run around naked all the time. We want to do formal events too..classy, but also modern.

JB:   Tell our readers about your event scheduled for May 31.  What can we expect to see there?

CJ:  On May 31 at 1:00 PM SLT we will host Gabriel da Silva.  Hes a great live singer and his specialty is Rock. The stage will be on the beach close to the pool and after that DJ Tabasco will stream at the pool.   We have other great musical talent lined up as well. On June 8th at 12 PM we have a Lynard Skynard tribute by Lightning Strikes, June 14th at noon we have David Hauptman with a formal dance event and June 23rd at noon we have Toxic Darkmatter.  Additionally, there will be various DJs performing around these scheduled live musicians.

AL:   For Gabe, his stage will be on the water and dancing will on the beach.  In June for the formal dance with David Hauptman we will place his stage on the beach and cover the water with a clear dance floor...so people can dance on the water.  

JB:   Is there anything else you would like to say?  Anything else you want to tell our readers?

CJ:   I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to share our space and music with people here in SL

There you have it folks.   Second Life’s newest venue for Live entertainment kicks off on May 31st with Gabriel da Silva at 1:00 PM SLT.  This is one show you do NOT want to miss.

Be there!  Aloha! - J.B.