Sunday, August 23, 2009

SUZAN LITTLETHING "A Big Deal"

by jenny heying

I don’t know why I get surprised; I thought nothing in Second Life® would surprise me anymore. But dropping down to the beach setting at Slounge to catch Suzan Littlething I was surprised to hear the incredible guitar playing she offered. Opening with “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” showcased her talent as a guitar player. She led in to the song with determination and it was an amazing way to start. She continued with “Bad Moon Rising” and “Looking Out My Back Door” showing that she can master classic rock with the best of them. I don’t see many female performers rocking with the classics, but Suzan can be that forerunner. “Can’t Buy Me Love” continued the trend.

Hailing from Germany, Suzan is more than just a great guitar player. While her voice didn’t blow me away on the opening few songs, it came to light on “Chasing Cars”. Here her voice shone and the guitar dropped to the background nicely. It was a fitting song for her voice that is normally strong and raspy but here it was more subtle. On “Love The One You’re With” her voice again at the forefront and dominating with a forceful guitar behind her.


A Suzan Littlething show is about having fun. Evident with “Puff The Magic Dragon” and a few other choice songs in her repertoire. Browsing through her set list, she primarily plays a lot of classic songs from a few genres. While not a real life performer, she occasionally plays for friends and parties. Shame, unless you’re a friend.

Slounge is an outdoor venue on the beach and just past the dock. It’s a fun little place where you can romp or relax next to the ocean. It’s unobtrusive and does give you the feeling of being at the lake during summer break.

Suzan provides a great atmosphere to have a whole lot of fun. A varied set list and the capability of playing just about anything gives you an idea of how. With the number of artists in Second Life® growing, it’s only logical that the quality keeps getting better. Suzan is one of those.

She continued her lively show with “City Of New Orleans” then showed us a softer side with “Angel”. Personally I like her voice so much more on the softer songs. While she does have a tendency to want to rock, it’s here that I think her voice shines and together with her guitar provide a wonderful sound. They come through clearly and loud enough to hear without being overbearing. It’s a perfect mesh.

There are a lot of songs that I just can’t get enough of. “Walking in Memphis” is one of those. Suzan’s version left me speechless. Well, SL speechless. I’ve heard it done by a lot of performers and hers was one of the best. Forceful when it needed to be and calm when appropriate. The guitar was brilliant making this song probably one of the highlights of her show.

Suzan gives you a lot during her show. Aside from the guitar and voice, she chats between every song, not overly long, but enough to give you the info on her songs a bit more. She gets the crowd acknowledgments out of the way early and leaves you to concentrate on the performance. And in case what she has offered so far isn’t enough, she does write as well. I was surprised when she announced an original song “Father”. Well written and performed, it was a perfect choice for her. It lied somewhere in between a slow and fast pace giving you the best of both Suzan’s worlds. It’s the only original listed on her song list, but I hope there’s more in store.

Also included in her performance were “You Don’t Know”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Bei mir bist du schoen” and “Oh Darling” each showing her talent and diversity. She closed her set with “Leaving On A Jet Plane” and “Mercedes Benz” (done acapalo) making you realize she’s no little thing, she’s a big deal.

2 comments:

Suzan Littlething said...

Wow!!! What an article!
Thanks very much and I am very glad and proud you liked it! :-)
Love
Suzan

Eragon Siemens said...

Heya Jenny...

a very nice article. Tyvm for coming to the show and writing about Suzan and her great voice and music..

Love, Eragon
Suzan's Manager

Suzan's Tour Calendar:
http://calendar.yahoo.com/suzan.littlething