U2 bring their amazing and extravagant stage show to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena tonight, and the show will be streamed live on YouTube.
You can see it here.
So far, the quality of the stream is excellent. After the live show ends, YouTube will rebroadcast it at the U2 channel page.
Update: Apparently the show generated 10million live streams.
Tonight (Oct 30) the Foo Fighters will stream a show via Facebook. Details and links here.
These are the early days of what seems to be a groundbreaking new potential revenue model.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
'Bring on your wrecking ball..'
So, we make the trek out to the Meadowlands for the first two of the run of "final" shows at Giants Stadium. I thought last summer's shows here would take some beating, but the second night this time around turned out to be probably the best Springsteen stadium performance I've seen in the 28 years since my first show.
A big part of the reason for that was 'Darkness on the Edge of Town', the album Bruce and the band were playing in its entirety. The first night, they ran through 'Born To Run', but it's eight iconic songs are staples within the setlist in any case, so the novelty was hearing them in order.
With 'Darkness' though, there are tracks you rarely hear live, but which are among some of the most powerful and beautiful songs he's written. It was a wonderful timewarp. The songs sounded as fresh as ever and the band were clearly relaxed and into the show as much as the Friday night crowd.
The opener on the first night was brand new. 'Wrecking Ball' spoke to the unique connection between band, audience and place. It was great. And it was the first time in thirty-odd shows that I'd witnessed the debut of a new song. There was a bit of a glitch with the lyric teleprompter, which was displayed on the backdrop behind the band, but no-one minded.
The second night was perfect.
(There's a cool video - not the one below - on iTunes now, which strangely has edited in Bruce's wife Patti Scialfa, who didn't play at either night, and edited out Curt Ramm's trumpet solo).
Here's the first night's setlist, including 'Born To Run' straight through...
Wrecking Ball
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River
Jungleland
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Into the Fire
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender
Encores:
Raise Your Hand
E Street Shuffle
Growin' Up
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Hard Times
Rosalita
Here's the second night, with 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' straight through...
Wrecking Ball
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
No Surrender
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Something in the Night
Candy's Room
Racing in the Street
The Promised Land
Factory
Streets of Fire
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Raise Your Hand
I'm Goin' Down
Be True
Jailhouse Rock
Thunder Road
Long Walk Home
The Rising
Born to Run
Encores:
Cadillac Ranch
Bobby Jean
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita
And this - this - is simply the music of the Gods. Unsurpassable. It's one of my absolute favorite Bruce songs anyway, but tonight it was just magical.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
'Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey..'
Nice story in The Guardian the other day about how Jude Rogers became a traditional balladeer at the Sidmouth Folk Week.
She also wrote a good essay a couple of months ago, "Music is not dead" about the changing musical environment and how we as consumers and music-lovers fit into it. It read, in part:
"..especially in a world in which music is as ubiquitous as wallpaper (..) It is our duty to the music we first loved as young people, and still adore now, to try to live in the moment, and to engage with it properly. The difference is that we have to work harder for it."
*************************
In a similar vein, the NYT has a feature about the outlook for traditional record stores and the 100th gathering of Vinylmania.
This gives you a flavor:
"Mr. Martignon said he got a customer or so each day; sometimes they just browse, but sometimes a whale comes along. “I get these Japanese guys that spend a few thousand bucks,” he said. “All out-of-print rockabilly stuff.”
*************************
We don't cash checks, you don't sell music..?
While Bob Dylan may have left his fans a little bemused by the announcement of his first-ever Christmas album, now comes news that it will be distributed initially by.. a financial institution?
Citibank said that "Christmas In The Heart" will be available for download to 13 million customers enrolled in the company's rewards program, during the week before it hits stores on October 13.
It's a virtual deal only. The bank also said the album wouldn't be available for sale in its branches.
Dylan is donating proceeds from the album's sale to organizations that work to alleviate hunger and poverty, so much can be forgiven, but I hope he at least negotiated a big pay-off from them. And got the money upfront.
*************************
From a music-making perspective, two contrasting guitar-related stories: A good weekend for Paul Reed Smith guitars in Maryland, who held an open house that landed about a million dollars-worth of orders.
Meanwhile, after plenty of online controversy, Gibson may be be back-pedaling on the idea of a Jimi Hendrix tribute model which initial photographs indicated looked very much like Hendrix's signature Fender Stratocaster. Hendrix also played a Gibson Flying V, of course, so I don't know why they didn't just go for a special edition of that model.
We'll see what eventually emerges, I guess.
*************************
Reclusive musician Daniel Johnston has had his music turned into an iPhone game. Although he doesn't seem overly enthused by the idea:
"I don't even know what an iPhone is," he said. He did not remember "much" about playing the game. "If they make it into a real video game, [with a joystick,] it might work out," he told the New York Times.
************************
Finally, am off to New Jersey again tomorrow - provided that mythical NJ Transit bus from Port Authority to Meadowlands actually runs - to see the opening night of Bruce's latest stint at Giants Stadium. U2's show last week apparently set a concert attendance record, with 84,000 people seeing the show in the round.
I can't think of anyone more appropriate than The Boss to close out the venue, though. It's being demolished at the end of the football season, and the new structure has already risen alongside.
He'll be playing "Born To Run" in its entirety. We also have tickets for Friday night, when the featured album will be "Born In The USA". A little relieved we didn't get both nights for either album, although you'd figure that the rest of the three-hour setlist will be mixed up to compensate.
She also wrote a good essay a couple of months ago, "Music is not dead" about the changing musical environment and how we as consumers and music-lovers fit into it. It read, in part:
"..especially in a world in which music is as ubiquitous as wallpaper (..) It is our duty to the music we first loved as young people, and still adore now, to try to live in the moment, and to engage with it properly. The difference is that we have to work harder for it."
*************************
In a similar vein, the NYT has a feature about the outlook for traditional record stores and the 100th gathering of Vinylmania.
This gives you a flavor:
"Mr. Martignon said he got a customer or so each day; sometimes they just browse, but sometimes a whale comes along. “I get these Japanese guys that spend a few thousand bucks,” he said. “All out-of-print rockabilly stuff.”
*************************
We don't cash checks, you don't sell music..?
While Bob Dylan may have left his fans a little bemused by the announcement of his first-ever Christmas album, now comes news that it will be distributed initially by.. a financial institution?
Citibank said that "Christmas In The Heart" will be available for download to 13 million customers enrolled in the company's rewards program, during the week before it hits stores on October 13.
It's a virtual deal only. The bank also said the album wouldn't be available for sale in its branches.
Dylan is donating proceeds from the album's sale to organizations that work to alleviate hunger and poverty, so much can be forgiven, but I hope he at least negotiated a big pay-off from them. And got the money upfront.
*************************
From a music-making perspective, two contrasting guitar-related stories: A good weekend for Paul Reed Smith guitars in Maryland, who held an open house that landed about a million dollars-worth of orders.
Meanwhile, after plenty of online controversy, Gibson may be be back-pedaling on the idea of a Jimi Hendrix tribute model which initial photographs indicated looked very much like Hendrix's signature Fender Stratocaster. Hendrix also played a Gibson Flying V, of course, so I don't know why they didn't just go for a special edition of that model.
We'll see what eventually emerges, I guess.
*************************
Reclusive musician Daniel Johnston has had his music turned into an iPhone game. Although he doesn't seem overly enthused by the idea:
"I don't even know what an iPhone is," he said. He did not remember "much" about playing the game. "If they make it into a real video game, [with a joystick,] it might work out," he told the New York Times.
************************
Finally, am off to New Jersey again tomorrow - provided that mythical NJ Transit bus from Port Authority to Meadowlands actually runs - to see the opening night of Bruce's latest stint at Giants Stadium. U2's show last week apparently set a concert attendance record, with 84,000 people seeing the show in the round.
I can't think of anyone more appropriate than The Boss to close out the venue, though. It's being demolished at the end of the football season, and the new structure has already risen alongside.
He'll be playing "Born To Run" in its entirety. We also have tickets for Friday night, when the featured album will be "Born In The USA". A little relieved we didn't get both nights for either album, although you'd figure that the rest of the three-hour setlist will be mixed up to compensate.
Friday, September 25, 2009
'The wheels fly and the colors spin..'
We went to Giants Stadium last night to see U2. Remarkably, this Irish boy had never seen them play live before. The stage set just looked incredible - even from the top tier - the extent of its complexity shown by how many equipment flight cases were stacked around the mezzanine level.
A couple of decades ago I'd seen David Bowie's 'Glass Spider' show at Wembley, and tonight's spaceship setup reminded me a bit of that stage, but on a much, much grander scale. Weirdly, the stadium PA was playing 'Space Oddity' just as the lights started to go down.
This was the second night for the band (Jon Pareles' review of the first night in the NYTimes is here) and the boys were in fine form, matching intensity and emotion in a way I'd experienced only rarely at a show this big (there were about 80,000 people in the stadium, hardly what you'd call intimate).
But there were definite moments of connection - 'Walk On's dedication to Aung San Suu Kyi, featuring supporters of Amnesty International encircling the stage, as well as Bono's running with a child during 'City of Blinding Lights' and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's uplifting oration on the 360 screen before 'One'.
The whole show was brilliantly impressive: professional, and perfectly paced. But for me the songs that really stood out were a couple of new ones: 'Unknown Caller' and 'I'll Go Crazy', as well as a couple of oldies that have maintained their power for more than 25 years: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' - its point as sharp as ever, despite being transposed from Derry to Tehran - and 'The Unforgettable Fire', its timeless riffs make it one of the most perfect of pop songs.
While the crowd hung on Bono's every word, The Edge kept his guitar tech busy: a Les Paul for the opener, then a Telecaster and a Rickenbacker before the Explorer for 'Beautiful Day', then an SG and a Strat, another Les Paul.. you get the drift.
Here's last night's full setlist:
Breathe
Get On Your Boots
She Moves In Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
No Line On The Horizon
Magnificent
Elevation
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/Stand By Me
Unknown Caller
Until The End Of The World
Stay (Faraway, So Close)
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
Encores:
One
Amazing Grace / Where The Streets Have No Name
UltraViolet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender
This compilation clip gives a pretty good flavor of the evening (props to kskobac for a great job and a quick turnaround)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
'These two lanes will take us anywhere..'
Bruce Springsteen turned 60 today.
One of few artists responsible for the enduring soundtrack to my adult life, his songs and energy and passion have been constants for me, from the time I heard 'Born To Run' when I was a sixteen-year-old kid in Ireland; to the time I first saw him on TV eighteen months later; to the first time I saw him play live in 1981; all the way up to next week, when I'll see him twice at Giants Stadium.
It's been a great ride, Bruce. Thanks for everything.
*************************************
Congratulations also to Lucinda Williams, one of my wife's favorite songwriters, who married her manager onstage at her show in Minneapolis the other day at the start of her 30th anniversary tour.
*************************************
If you haven't seen this very cool video of the 'Birds on a wire' yet, check it out. According to a post by the composer, Jarbas Agnelli, the shot isn't photoshopped.
*************************************
Finally, here's a really great and timely video by Paul Hipp. If Tom Lehrer and Joey Ramone wrote a song together, it might sound something like this...
One of few artists responsible for the enduring soundtrack to my adult life, his songs and energy and passion have been constants for me, from the time I heard 'Born To Run' when I was a sixteen-year-old kid in Ireland; to the time I first saw him on TV eighteen months later; to the first time I saw him play live in 1981; all the way up to next week, when I'll see him twice at Giants Stadium.
It's been a great ride, Bruce. Thanks for everything.
*************************************
Congratulations also to Lucinda Williams, one of my wife's favorite songwriters, who married her manager onstage at her show in Minneapolis the other day at the start of her 30th anniversary tour.
*************************************
If you haven't seen this very cool video of the 'Birds on a wire' yet, check it out. According to a post by the composer, Jarbas Agnelli, the shot isn't photoshopped.
*************************************
Finally, here's a really great and timely video by Paul Hipp. If Tom Lehrer and Joey Ramone wrote a song together, it might sound something like this...
Friday, September 18, 2009
'When you go through the flood..'
For a lot of folks this week is college move-in time. We're on our way back from dropping stepdaughter at the University of Cincinnati. We'd thought it would be a sad time, but we had a nice ride down and while separation is always tough, she's so happy to be there - and we're happy for her to be where she feels welcome - that I think it'll probably hit us in a few days when we realize she's not around.
We stopped last night at Somerset in Pennsylvania, not far from the West Virginia border and in the heart of coal country. The town isn't far from the site of the Quecreek mine, where in 2002 nine miners were rescued after being buried underground for three days while the nation held its collective breath and feared the worst.
A couple of months later, I moved from New York back to London and the following summer I went to see one of my favorite guitar players, Buddy Miller in a solo show at the Borderline and he played a remarkable song that his wife Julie had written, called Quecreek.
In the year after September 11 - and Somerset is also quite close to Shanksville, where United 93 went down - when we were all looking for any clue that events in our world weren't always destined to end badly, the mine rescue gave us all some hope.
Quecreek was also referenced in another beautiful song last year by another of my favorite musicians, Mark Erelli. 'Hope Dies Last' from his album 'Delivered' takes you from a feeling of powerlessness to affect world events, to a place where we can appreciate the things we can change in our own lives. Take a listen.
We stopped last night at Somerset in Pennsylvania, not far from the West Virginia border and in the heart of coal country. The town isn't far from the site of the Quecreek mine, where in 2002 nine miners were rescued after being buried underground for three days while the nation held its collective breath and feared the worst.
A couple of months later, I moved from New York back to London and the following summer I went to see one of my favorite guitar players, Buddy Miller in a solo show at the Borderline and he played a remarkable song that his wife Julie had written, called Quecreek.
In the year after September 11 - and Somerset is also quite close to Shanksville, where United 93 went down - when we were all looking for any clue that events in our world weren't always destined to end badly, the mine rescue gave us all some hope.
Quecreek was also referenced in another beautiful song last year by another of my favorite musicians, Mark Erelli. 'Hope Dies Last' from his album 'Delivered' takes you from a feeling of powerlessness to affect world events, to a place where we can appreciate the things we can change in our own lives. Take a listen.
Monday, September 14, 2009
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