Interview: Rebel Yell – behind the scenes

Established on January 1, 2012, REBEL YELL CONCERTS has been recognized for producing the best and most realistic Second Life Tribute Shows and the industry’s #1 entertainment tribute company. ABBA, Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode, GREASE the Musical, Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan are just a few names among the long list of spectacular shows they have given so far – and you can read more about them in this article.

With their passion for music and their artistic madness to create beyond the limits, Rebel Yell is a reference in the world of Second Life Entertainment – the proof that virtual can complement the real life in an absolutely fantastic way, that if you really want something and are willing to work hard, to try to overcome challenges and dedicate yourself to that dream, you will succeed in seeing it come true. Join me for an inspiring interview with Maksim Byriukov (GuiltyAngel Rhapsody), producer and owner of Rebel Yell Concerts.

Moga: REBEL YELL – How did you come up with this idea? How it all started?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: I am a music lover, especially hard rock and heavy metal music. I play guitar and i’ve been to a lot of concerts in real life, so when I arrived in Second Life for the first time together with 2 friends, we immediately started to be very interested in Tribute concerts – we used to go to a lot of concerts rocking all over Second Life.
In 2010 we joined a couple of Tribute bands and started performing tribute concerts. It was fun but after a year we really felt like we wanted to do our own shows with a different approach: building recreations of real life original stages, using custom animations, making accurate real life musicians look alike avatars and perform Theater Musicals as well as Tribute shows. At the time we didn’t have much experience in building so my friends were a little concerned, but i was willing to learn how to build in SL and involved them in the project of opening our own Entertainment Tribute Company. That’s how the adventure began at the beginning of 2012 and brought Rebel Yell Concerts to have the biggest fan base in SL with a group of over 4.300 people plus over 2000 social medias and o’matic members winning 10 gold AviChoice awards and 2 Outstanding band Awards in 10 years of activity.
The name Rebel Yell Concerts came up cause we really loved a cover of Billy Idol song Rebel Yell performed by the band HIM and we were playing it everyday 10 years ago – lol -. Our first show was a private concert for a friend’s birthday and it was a HIM Tribute.

Moga: How many performances you had so far?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: So far we had about 1900/2000 performances. We started with tribute concerts only – but soon added productions too, from concerts involving dancers like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rihanna – to Musicals like Grease, The Greatest Showman, The Rocky Horror Picture show and Rock of Ages.

Moga: I have no doubts that every event is very dear to you, because i know how much work is behind what we see on the stage. However, what was the moment that impressed you the most? That made you feel a stronger emotion?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: I always worked with passion on my shows, but there are 2 moments that moved me the most:
First one was during “Michael Jackson History World” tour work because i always liked Michael Jackson as a complete and wonderful artist, so what was more important for me was to pay respect to Michael Jackson with a show that would be a great tribute to the memory of one of the greatest artists of all times. To do a good Michael Jackson show you have to use the exact dances for each song and the perfect animations to move like him – and not use other different animations or dances you may like as you can do for other shows, so it was not the easiest show to produce – but I’ve been very satisfied with the result.
The second moment that moved me most was during “The Greatest Showman” musical work because that is one of my favorite movies and i loved it so much the moment i watched it for the first time, it is an amazing movie that combines a wonderful story with amazing music. There wasn’t a stage version of this musical as i believe there isn’t one now, as well at the time i worked on “The Greatest Showman” musical for Second Life, so i had to adapt movie scenes to theater stage scenes. It was a challenging and very inspiring kind of work that made me feel so very proud of the result.

Moga: One of the main problem in staged events is what we call “Lag”, witch affects both sides: the show, because there are so many objects that must be rezzed with no delay, and the guests. What could we explain more so that people can better understand how they can help with the smooth running of staged shows?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: Scripts are the problem. Every sim has a memory and it’s better not to make that memory full with many scripts running. Venues and stages have scripts already, so it is very important that people coming to the events de-script themselves as much as possible removing any AO or HUD that is not necessary, like mesh bodies or mesh heads HUDs, RPG huds, AOs…. everything that runs scripts, this will help more than you think.

Moga: You have a great team – I had the pleasure to meet a part of them. Tell us about the people who give life to your ideas.
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: Thank you!! And you Moga are part of it! My team is composed by over 30 people, some of them are working with me since 8/9 years, some others joined later. Many of them are well known models and bloggers, others are long time performers, they are all very professional and it’s amazing to work with them all because they not only do a job, they have passion and put themselves into the role they are making in the show. You really can see they are artists and they love what they do.

Moga: What inspires you in everything you do? What motivates you?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: I am inspired by art, in general. I always went to theater shows and concerts since i was very young and Second Life gave me the opportunity to be a performer and work on what i love. My goal is to bring SL performances to a perfect level, this is what motivates me: i want to do always better and the best possible, i am inspired by the amazing Broadway musicals and i love to bring them to Second Life, to let everyone here enjoy good quality shows.

Moga: What are the biggest challenges you face when staging a show?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: Despite how much you organize your show perfectly and have everything under control, there are things that you’re just not able to control. One of them is Second Life itself with all it’s bugs and maintenance that can easily destroy all your efforts for a good show – lol – and than there are other variable events that may occur like internet problems for the performers, streams server problems etc… I usually work 3/4 hours a day x 2 months for biggest productions like musicals, 2/3 hours a day x 1 week for new tribute shows.

Moga: DUA/LIPA – You had a fantastic premiere show! She is quite amazing in her real shows: Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards so far! What was the reaction from your fans?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: What fans loved the most of our Dua Lipa show was how much the show was resembling the real “Future Nostalgia” show not only for the stage but for choreographies, movements on stage and outfits. There aren’t Dua Lipa dances in SL yet so I had to mix and match many dances to have movements as much as possible similar to the RL Dua Lipa show.

Moga: What are you planning for the end of the year?
GuiltyAngel Rhapsody: We are going to have a couple of Premiere shows, a KPop band and an American rock artist – and beginning of 2025 there will be a new Musical that people is so much expecting and suggesting since at least 5/6 years… they all will be like “OMG FINALLY!!? ” 😄

This is really exciting! With that in mind, I personally can’t wait to see the next musical made by Rebel Yell! Their shows are the best i saw so far in Second Life – and if you want to join their Fan Club, here is their page: Rebel Yell Fans Club. You can also check REBEL YELL CONCERTS VIP ROOM for photos from their shows and updates on their upcoming events.