Grace Loudon and Wes West at The Mystic Muse 27/01/2022

Listen up ladies and gents and take note, there's a new dual streaming team on the block and if tonight's set was anything to go by they are going to take SL by storm.

Wes West (say that real fast 5 times) is one of my best friends in SL so when he told me that he would be doing some dual streaming with another friend of mine Grace Loudon I thought " Hmmm this should be interesting" and when I saw that they were performing their first set at The Mystic Muse - Lodge, owned by another 2 great artists Velvet Rose and Sully VonSwag there was no way that I was going to miss it. ...plus Wes made sure to remind me 7 minutes before they started.

Grace and Wes are both accomplished and established performers in their own right and I have seen them play individually many times so I was prepared for great, I was prepared for awesome but what I wasn't prepared for was the sheer beauty and magic that they created by coming together. It was without a doubt one of the most mesmerizing sets that I have been to in a long time, and at the time of writing this I am listening back to the recording and finding it hard to pull myself away from the place they they have once again taken me to and focus on writing.

Grace has a voice that I can so easily get lost in and I have said more that once that for me she is one of the best female performers in SL and Wes is so mellow and laid back that when they started out with Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones I was a goner. Wes was just a little soft on backing vocals for that first song and when it was pointed out (not by me) he quickly adjusted his level and was spot on for the rest of the set.

Love song by The Cure, Holy Ghost Fire by Larkin and Poe and Aint No Sunshine by Bill Withers were thrown into the mix, but it was Fleetwood Macs Dreams, which Grace looped, Wicked Games by Chris Issac and my favourite Love Will Keep Us Alive by The Eagles that showcased their voices beautifully. From their vocals to their guitar playing they just complemented each other so well and for their first time playing live together it was truly a joy to listen to.

Jolene by Dolly Parton was one they had just learned that day, although you wouldn't have known if Grace didn't say so, and then she threw Wes a curve ball (maybe after seeing me begging and pleading in local) when she decided to do my favourite Grace song and an original Just Like Water. Wes hadn't played this one before so with a quick discussion on what the chords were he jumped in with both feet and did a stellar job of it

Finishing up with Joey by Concrete Blonde I think both Grace and Wes were surprised at just how fast the time went and how well they performed together. The ease in which they communicated and laughed with each other is a testament to their friendship and I think something that made their set extra special.

Grace and Wes please do not stop dual streaming, every one in the SL live music scene needs to witness the magic that I did tonight.