June 30, 2009 at 11:03 pm
It’s 11:03 pm PDT, and I’ve spent the last 90 minutes listening to a U2 concert that ended about eight hours ago: fan-taped, uploaded, and posted online. U2 is cool with this. The audio is on Kevin’s site. He has lots of bandwidth.
I don’t normally listen to bootlegs but this is the opening concert of the tour. Right now, I’m wrapping up a 14-hour day that I spent updating two web sites, posting the setlist live as it happened on Twitter, digging through YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic, Yfrog, and any other source possible for photos and video, sending out emails to U2 fan mailing lists, and so forth. You can see the results on U2tours.com and @U2 (scroll down through “Bits & Bytes” updates). And I’m not tooting my own horn; I’m tooting my friends and co-workers horns — the @U2/U2tours.com crew was amazing today — posting the setlist in @U2’s forum, spreading the word on Twitter, sending me stuff they found first, and so much more.
All of this made possible by technology that, if I stop to think about it, is mind-blowing. This was my humble setup today:
Probably hard to see, but on the main monitor there I have Tweetie open and a web browser. On the web browser I’m watching live / almost-live concert video streamed by fans via Qik.com. Srsly. There were four fans (that I know of) sending video right from Barcelona to my office. That’s frakkin’ crazy. And then I take what I saw and heard and post it on Twitter and on U2tours.com, and Lisa Z. (from @U2) posts it in the @U2 forum … and tens of thousands of U2 fans know what’s going on immediately. Bono says something, it’s online a minute later (if that). At the same time, I’m watching Twitter and dozens, maybe hundreds of fans inside the stadium are also posting updates. Retweet that stuff, and the world knows.
In 1997, my first “online U2 tour,” we would rush to the hotel room or our house after the show and post the setlist on the web and send it to the U2 fan mailing lists. You’d get the news within a couple hours after the show, maybe the next morning in the worst case scenario. It was amazing.
In 2001, friends inside the arenas would call and you’d get to listen to a few minutes of the show (and the audio was terrible, frankly), then they’d call again on the way out of the arena and recite the setlist. Fans would know what happened within 15-30 minutes of the end of the show. It was amazing.
In 2005, friends inside the arena called and you could listen to the whole show, and the audio was actually listenable. On opening night, three friends at the show called me, Michael, and Scott separately so we could hear. Then the three of us not at the show hopped on AIM together and chatted together about what we heard over the three separate phone lines. It was amazing – one of the most fun nights of my U2 fan life. You could pretty much post the setlist as it happened — literally within seconds of a song starting, it was on U2tours.com. But you had to wait until the next day for audio and/or video.
And today, live video (and audio) from inside the stadium as the show is going on. Photos all over Twitter and Flickr during the show. Thousands of fans giving and getting the scoop on every detail. The setlist posted as it happened, and broadcast to tens of thousands of fans around the world.
During the concert today, Sean pulled up a chair and sat next to me so he could watch everything — the videos, the pix, the live updates. I know I was more amazed by what was going on because I remember what it was like years ago. I hope I explained it well enough that he could appreciate it, too. I imagine someday, 10 years from now perhaps, he’ll be updating some web site (will they still exist then?) with links to every fan’s personal video/audio/photo web channel (we’ll all have them for our daily lifestreaming) and maybe he’ll look back and remember what it was like “in the old days” when he sat next to his dad to experience a U2 concert that was happening 5,407 miles away, but seemed like it was right in our hometown.
Technology is amazing.
May 17, 2009 at 12:38 am
You’ve probably heard the Coldplay song, “Fix You.” Great song. It’s a relationship song, and Chris Martin is presumably singing to his wife about how he’ll take care of her and make things better when they’re bad. Thus, the title of the song.
Now, Chris Martin’s not the world’s best lyricist, but there’s a line in this song that never fails to make me gulp:
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I….
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will look for my mistakes…
That line in bold kills me. Shivers every time I hear it. Sometimes tears. Because sometimes you have to fix yourself before you can fix anyone else.
I think the world would be a helluva lot better place if more people looked for their own mistakes rather than looking for someone else’s.
January 19, 2009 at 12:36 am
Still can’t decide if I like the song, but it’s not for lack of listening….
That’s my Last.fm music profile….
August 25, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I have a pretty big credit on my account with the iTunes Music Store. Cari’s been wanting to buy music lately, so I suggested she tell me the songs she wants, and I’ll use my credit to “gift” the songs to her. That’s where I buy the song, but she gets to download it.
We did that last week, but a couple days later I noticed a charge from Apple on my debit card. So, after searching the online help and not finding an answer that satisfied me, I sent this email to customer service:
I have a credit of nearly $40 in my iTunes store account. On August 19, I gifted a song to my wife (order #__________). I believe the $1.07 was deducted from my credit balance AND also billed to my credit card. Can you explain why this happened, and can you please fix it?
I’d like all gifted music to be billed against my store credit.
Thanks.
Matt McGee
The next day, John replied back to tell me that the gifted song was only charged to my credit card, not to both the card and my store credit. He also explained that gifted songs can’t be bought against existing store credit, only against the credit card on file. Then he said this:
Matt, as a small way to show Apple appreciation for your doing business with us, I have issued five song credits to your iTunes Store account. You can use these to buy the individual songs of your choice from the iTunes Store.
How sweet is that? Ask a simple question, get a simple answer … and five free songs. Nice job, Apple.
June 24, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Viva La Vida. Didn’t really care for the previous Coldplay album too much — too bland, too predictable, too Coldplay-by-numbers. But I was glad to see them choose Brian Eno to produce this one, and hopeful he’d steer them on a new course.
He did. I’m a big fan of Viva La Vida. Here’s why:
1.) After seven listens, there’s not a song I dislike and many that I love. “Lovers In Japan / Reign of Love” is terrific, as is “42″ and “Death and All His Friends.” Those are the current faves.
2.) It sounds new, different, adventurous. They have a new lease on life. It’s not a hugely dramatic change in their sound, but it opens up some new directions for them. That’s a Good Thing.
3.) It’s not over-produced like X&Y was.
4.) It starts with an instrumental. Seriously, how many rock albums even have an instrumental these days? How many start the album with one?
5.) There’s a medley in the middle. Again, not a common thing on today’s rock albums.
6.) There are three songs over six minutes long. The last track is technically supposed to include a “hidden song”, but the hidden song begins almost immediately after the actual track ends, so it plays like a a single, long song.
7.) The song order is perfect. They did a marvelous job putting together the track list. Each song flows perfectly into the next. It makes this feel like a real album, not just a collection of random songs.
That’s it. Seven reasons I love the new Coldplay CD.
April 27, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Just got an email from Coldplay.com telling me that they’re giving away the band’s new single, “Violet Hill,” as a free download beginning Tuesday on Coldplay.com. The free download will be available for a week.
The new album is called Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, and (as you can almost see on the image at right) it has some artwork with a half-nekkid woman on the front. So, not exactly the most fan-friendly album cover when you have a 10-year-old at home who likes Coldplay.
I’m really curious to see what this album will sound like. I’ve been a fan since their first album, but didn’t find the most recent album all that thrilling — it was almost like Coldplay-by-numbers. I’m looking for something that sounds different, something new. They need to find a new path and explore it. With Brian Eno producing, I’m optimistic they’ve done that. But we’ll see…..
February 24, 2008 at 11:53 am
We all have different tastes in music, and I don’t pretend to think everyone should like the same artists I like. But maybe you’ll check some of these bands out and agree that you should be paying more attention to them.
Vib Gyor
Official site | MySpace | YouTube channel
They formed in 2004 in Leeds, England, and their 2006 single, “Fallen”, got a lot of airplay in England and the U.S. — particularly on the West Coast, where the song was popular in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Portland, especially. I saw them last summer when they did a brief West Coast tour (photos from Seattle). They’ve released a couple EPs and are working on their debut album right now. Free Music: Visit their Last.fm Profile and look under the Listen Now section. Highly recommend “Fallen,” a great rock song, and “Church Bell” is great, too.
Reamonn
Official site (English) | MySpace
Reamonn is a five-piece band from Germany, but with an Irish singer who has a terrific voice. They’ve been around for about 10 years, I think, and have a handful of albums and at least one DVD out already. Some of the songs are bit cheesy and melodramatic, but those are few and far between. They do mostly mid-tempo rock/pop songs, with a few high-energy rockers and a few ballads mixed in. Free Music: A top Reamonn fan site offers an acoustic version of their hit, “Supergirl” from a radio performance.
The Last Goodnight
Official Site | MySpace
You’ve probably heard the incredibly catchy “Pictures of You” on a TV commercial. The other stuff is good, too. This is a group of friends from Enfield, Connecticut, that originally called themselves Renata. The Last Goodnight now has their debut album out, Poison Kiss. It’s really good. Free Music: Sign up for their mailing list, and get a free MP3 of “Pictures of You”.
Beat Radio
Official Site | MySpace
Their official web site is straight out of 1995, and that’s surely on purpose. They wear the “indie rock” label proudly and call their sound “lo-fi.” I just call it pretty good — kinda quirky and interesting. Their debut album is called The Great Big Sea. Free Music: You can download the entire album (and several additional songs) on their web site. Recommended: “People Are Talking” and “Treetops”.
Agiven
Official Site | MySpace
An Irish band that I love despite/because they have very little U2 influence. In fact, more recently, they tend to be making music more in the vein of Dave Matthews Band, a band I don’t particularly like. But I like Agiven’s sound. They have a new EP coming out soon called Legible Words for the Morning, and a new web site, too. Free Music: To get some free music, you’re gonna have go old school. They used to give some songs away on the old web site, so use Archive.org and you’re all set. I recommend all three songs there, but especially “Forgive Yourself”. Great track.
Honorable Mentions
The Changes – “When I Wake”
Official Site | MySpace | YouTube
No free songs to download, but check out “When I Wake.” Good, bouncy pop song.
Foreign Born
Official Site/Blog | Myspace
No free songs to download, but check out “We Had Pleasure” or “In the Shape”.
Know of some other great artists that offer free music? Tell about it in the comments, please…
(I have to thank Cara, whose blog intro’d me to three of the above.)
December 26, 2007 at 2:09 pm
My son, Sean, just turned 10 and is becoming as big a music fan as I’ve been since about the age of 12. Up until recently, Sean has mainly followed Dad’s musical tastes: He loves U2 and has even been to one of their concerts; he listens to Coldplay; and he’s taken a liking to some of the CDs on my shelf like Snow Patrol and Keane.
All of that is fine from a fatherly perspective because I know the music he’s listening to, and with only a couple exceptions, don’t mind his young ears hearing these lyrics.
For Christmas, he put several CDs on his list from artists that I know nothing, or almost nothing about: Nickelback, The Bravery, and even Blake Lewis (the kid from American Idol).
That’s the first sign I’m getting old: When my kids start listening to bands/artists I don’t know. A week or so ago, Sean asked me if Lupe Fiasco’s real name was Lupe Fiasco or that was a fake name? I had to confess I’d never heard of Lupe Fiasco. The shame.
Then comes the lyrics issue. Do I worry about what these singers are saying in their songs? Of course I do!
That’s the second sign I’m getting old: When I worry about what my kids are hearing in the music they listen to. Should I listen to every song first to make sure it’s acceptable?
After thinking about, I decided to go ahead and buy some of these CDs even though I don’t know the artist and don’t know what they’re singing about. Here’s why:
- It’s not realistic to think I can listen to every song my son wants to listen to before he does, and approve or disapprove it. Who has time for that?
- As he gets older, and as kids grow up faster than they did when I was young, he’s going to be exposed to a lot more in the schoolyard, at his friends’ houses, etc., and I have to accept that’s just part of growing up.
- Most importantly, he’s a Good Kid and I have to trust the job we did as parents and trust him to adjust and mature in an appropriate way as he experiences new things.
But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m getting old, does it? 
