As the uncrowned freebie queen of Second Life, I have tended to devote much of my time to posting about fabulous freebies in SL avatar fashion to my blog and to my Steals, Deals, and Freebies group in Second Life (more often lately to the latter than the former, as I have been slowly scaling back on my coverage of Second Life). But today I wanted to share a different kind of freebie: a limited-time opportunity to join a wonderful club I have found, before they start to charge a group membership fee to members!
I have greatly mourned the loss of Frank’s Jazz dance club, which used to be a place where you could throw on a suit, tuxedo, or ballgown, and listen to smooth jazz and golden oldies in a beautifully appointed, elegant environment. After the original shut down, several copycat upstarts popped up, but eventually all closed down. *
However, I recently chanced upon a place which I have been spending a lot of time at over the past week, and I think it is a very worthy successor to the Frank’s of ye olden days! It used to be a slightly seedy tag dance club which encouraged female nudity, but it has recently changed ownership, and imposed some new rules and standards of behaviour, and a new formal, non-sexist dress code.
I must confess that it has been truly wonderful to find a place where I can get all dressed up, and hang out in an elegant, romantic ballroom, listening to the smooth musical classics of yesteryear and more recent times: from jazz, swing, and R&B, to current adult contemporary ballads: Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Eva Cassidy, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Bublé… the list goes on and on. In fact, I often leave Vanity Fair or a similarly well-dressed avatar standing in a discreet corner of this club, turn up the volume on the stream, and have it on as some relaxing, nostalgic background music while I do something else in another Windows tab on my PC, or even while tackling the dishes or a little housecleaning!
The name of this club is, simply, Love. I am on a much-needed vacation from work this week, and have been popping in at various times of the day and night all week to check this place out. Love appears to be quite popular, with anywhere from 20 to 70 avatars at any time, both during the day with a more European crowd, and in the evening with a more North American crowd. In addition to the default Legends Jazz music stream, Love’s new owners quite often schedule guest DJs, live singers and performers, and tribute acts.
Here’s the freebie part: you can join the Love club group for free, but only today, March 31st, and tomorrow, April 1st! Starting April 2nd, 2024, Love will require a group membership to attend most events. In a recent notecard posted to the group, the new owners state:
…Pass[ing] 2500 members and still striving to provide our members with the best possible services and high-quality experiences, as well as for enhancing our exclusive offerings, we have made the decision to ask for membership fees for all new members from 2nd of April, 2024.
It means that :
- From 2nd of April, all new membership will cost L$790;
- Current members will naturally remain members without any fees;
- Access to the LOVE venue will be then [for] group members only from April 2nd;
- “Love” group members will also have special access to special Noir’Wen events, activities and offers [Noir’Wen is the name of the region where the Love club has its home].
The group membership will give us scope to schedule and plan for Live Performers (singers, dance groups, DJs and Tribute Acts), offer a stipend to our official LOVE photographer and Cigarette Girl, as well as organize specialist “themed events” on a monthly basis.
We will be arranging regular “Open Nights”, and events which will give temporary access to non group members and guests.
Under the new management team and formal dress code, we want to assure you that we remain committed to providing value and quality to your SL experience. Your continued support enables us to innovate, grow, and provide you with the quality experience you deserve.
Anyways, I have found a place I feel quite comfortable visiting and enjoying, and wanted to give Love a shout-out in my blog, and alert you that you only have a couple of days to join Love’s group for free! The name of the group is “Love” (yes, with the quotes), and here is the group’s URI, which you can copy and paste into text chat in order to join the group: secondlife:///app/group/0ecc3e77-afdf-129d-cc5a-21dd9647e9f8/about. (There’s also a group join sign at the entrance.)
Please note that, while the female dress code is now much less sexist, and any lewdness and nudity will probably get you quickly ejected, that this is a club where tag dancing is still allowed (with rules). According to “Love” group description:
Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. For flirtatious, glamorous, charming patrons with a creative sense of distinction. A stylish, sophisticated venue for intimate and romantic rendezvous. We encourage tag dancing in our ballroom dance venue, where patrons may cut in on a couple by politely touching a dancer on the shoulder. “Love” is a friendly elegant tag venue Tag Dancing, Jazz, Music, Romance and Sensual Fetish. Formal dress code applies to all,
Also, from a notecard recently posted to the group:
Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. Our new luxurious and high-class venue for dance, romance and seduction with an elegant and smart theme.
Tag Visitors, share dreams of intimacy and romance.. We respect diversity and cultural differences, whether this be relating to gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, or other identities.
Please, follow some basic rules for making this beautiful place yours and give respect to all Visitors and Staff.
FORMAL DRESS CODE : is expected to be formal dress and emphasize seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant and chic.
For Men, we suggest a smart style such as business or chic casual suits or a formal tuxedo, slacks & suit jacket, or simply a blazer. It is a must for respecting and honoring women… Yes Sir. You are here to seduce and to flirt, so look like you mean to do that!
For women, we welcome your good taste and your seductive creativity, whether formal, sexy, classic or more daring… Dresses, gowns, cocktail dress, evening suits (with pants) are encouraged. Emphasizing seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant, chic and at the same time feeling desirable if not sensual.
For fetish and more “kinky desires”, we will regularly organize specially “themed” dedicated events and activities, so during these themes you can “WEAR WHAT YOU DARE”
,,,
Please give genuine respect to all. This will be the base of our flexibility and [rapport]. This is an exclusive venue for humans, and no other living species will be permitted in the club. [In other words, adult human avatars only; no furries, dinkies, tinies, centaurs, etc.]
No nudity (showing genitals), no t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sandals or beachwear.
Wear our club tag as much as possible, please. And remove any commercial [i.e. visible group] tag such as “escort”, “prostitute” or “pimp”.
No financial dealings or operations will be accepted. As well as no harassment of any kind.
Try also to remain light in terms of scripts, as it causes lag and will jeopardize movement.
If you require a change of outfit or costume before arriving in the club, you will find a cabin at the landing space to do so.
Of course, we won’t accept weapons of any kind other than your seduction and tantalizing powers.
We will not accept or tolerate any misogynistic language, behaviour, or attitudes.
We will not tolerate or accept any child related porn, relations, childlike avatars or pedophilia.
We will not tolerate any racist abuse, language, behaviour or attitudes or any racial slurs.
So, if after reading all this, you are somewhat intrigued, and especially if you (like me) have really missed the grand old days of Frank’s Jazz club, Love might just be the place for you! I have taken advantage of the free group join to sign up both my main avatars and small army of alts. 😉 I must admit that I quite like the club, my female avatars and alts have not been pestered, and it looks like I will be regularly spending time here, listening to the oldies and looking fabulous as always!
And so, I cordially invite you to check out Love for yourself. Here’s your taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noir%20Wen/91/225/32.
UPDATE April 2nd, 2024: Well, I do hope that you took advantage of that free group join while it was available! Here is a 40-second video clip of my main male and female avatars, Heath Homewood and Vanity Fair, out on the dance floor at Love:
UPDATE April 5th, 2024: Just a couple more shots of Heath and Vanity dancing at LOVE. This is where ye olde system-layers-and-flexiprims ballgowns of yesteryear still really shine! Some things just cannot be improved upon, after all these years.
*Please note that Frank’s still has an Elite VIP club, which I believe costs L$1,000 to join as a member, but which is, sadly, a subdued echo of the original, powerhouse dance club. Vanity Fair was once a member, but as a freebie fashionista, I decided I had to keep all of Vanity’s spare group slots free for stores and events! Priorities, people!! 😉