Duran Duran to give virtual gigs

News/Music/Web Culture/Second Life
Found on: news.bbc.co.uk

British band Duran Duran are to create a virtual island within online game Second Life, on which they will perform actual live concerts.

The band is the first major group to announce a virtual world presence in the game.

Second Life is an online 3D digital world, which is imagined, created and owned by the residents.

More than 370,000 people have Second Life characters, called Avatars, who exist in the world.

Earlier this year, BBC Radio 1 rented a virtual island in Second Life where it held music festivals and BBC Two's Newsnight hosted an interview inside the game.

One Big Weekend In May, Radio 1 recreated the One Big Weekend event - which took place in Dundee in reality - inside the game so people could participate virtually.

Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes told the BBC News website: "When I first discovered Second Life a few months ago, I was astounded by the possibilities that were there.

"When I started looking at the figures running around, chatting and interacting, I thought this is somewhere between a bizarre virtual reality TV show, a surreal real-life experience and a video game.