Maximillion Kleene Packs The Peg Leg Saloon

Any of you who have been to one of Maxillion’s Kleene’s concerts will know that he has some of the most devoted fans in SL. Well, last night his fan group reached the milestone of 1000 members just in time to celebrate his last regular appearance at The Peg Leg Saloon, in Transylvania. Since I did mention him in my initial post as the performer who introduced me to my current home in Colonia Nova, I thought it only fair to devote to him my first SL live performance review.

I arrived there just as the show was about to start. The lag was terrible: I could barely get from the landing point to the Saloon without crashing. The Saloon itself is a large, square barn-type structure with a sizeable dance area, including pose balls as well as tables and chairs on the sides for those who prefer to just sit and listen to the music. By the time I finally settled into a chair the Saloon was overflowing with 74 guests eager to enjoy the evening’s performance.

Maximillion Kleene hails from Niagara Falls, Canada and is one of the most entertaining live performers I have seen in SL. His repertoire ranges from acoustic rock to old classics (Billy Joel to Johnny Cash), alternative and contemporary music, emo, pop, straight up rock, some Canadian folk rock and even some acoustic hip hop. His songs include hits from groups such as Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Bare Naked Ladies and many others.

Maximillion’s bright, clear, soft voice, reminding at times of Cat Stevens and Air Supply, comes though particularly well in his slow ballads, Hallellujah, My Song, Heyah, What a Good Boy, Loving Angels Instead which he accompanies carefully with his acoustic guitar without allowing its tones to overshadow the mellow, sad, inspiring words of the songs.

Always accompanied by his faithful sidekick, a black-and-white Hostein-Friesian cow, Max is a true performer who always talks to his audience, recognizes his regular fans, makes comments and literary references to his music –he is a by Leonard Cohen fan – and is always willing to take requests. Although his concert was scheduled for an hour, he went on playing for another 30 minutes for this last regular appearance at The Peg Leg Saloon. He will go on performing on an almost daily basis at other venues throughout SL and introduce his own songs, such as Never Despair – based on his favorite heroes: people who have been to hell and back and can still smile.

Make sure you catch one of his shows – alone or with a special someone. You will thoroughly enjoy it and be left wanting for more.