Baby Got Books

Shirky and Sigur Ros

One of the books that I’ve been talking up this year is Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. The book is about the power of like-minded groups being able to come together as never before due to our new-fangled internets. My mind continues to be blown by the new and ever increasing ways that we have to share information (and waste time). A recent experience brought the whole thing into perspective. Here’s the true story of my “aha!” moment – and naturally it is music related.

Last week, I was in Seattle for work. I checked the concert listings before leaving and saw that Sigur Rós, an enigmatic band from Iceland that I like, was playing the day that I arrived. Through dumb luck and a few clicks of the mouse, I stumbled across a ridiculously good ticket at the last minute. The show ended up being one of the best concerts that I have ever seen.

Back at the hotel, I posted the few pictures that I took on Facebook and then uploaded the only video that I shot to YouTube. Then I talked incessantly about the show to anyone who would listen (and a few that pretended to) for days. I was that guy. Later I went hunting around to see what other people might have posted. I found the set list (as well as complete recordings of other concerts) on the band’s web site. Using the set list, I dug up the entire concert (minus one song) on YouTube.

The videos vary in quality and location. Some end before the song does. Sometimes you can hear the person filming singing along. But I was able to cobble together an almost complete record of the show for free. I’m still keeping an eye on the message boards for a good audio recording. Maybe this is just the way things are now, but I hadn’t yet seen this kind of amateur coverage of a concert before. Mind blown.

Here are the links so you can play the home game:

Set List:

Heysatan
All Alright
E-bow
Ny Batteri
Vid spilum endalaust – OK. I cheated on this one – from Berkeley two nights earlier
Hoppipolla
Med blodnasir
Njosnavelin
Inni mer syngur vitleysingur
Festival
Vidrar vel til loftarasa
Saeglopur + Part 2 from a different camera
Gobbledigook – I’m pretty sure that I can see myself in this one…
–
Fljótavik
Popplagid

There are a stack of pictures on Flickr for a narrow search term (band + venue). I really liked this picture of the crowd. Ready to have your mind blown all over again? I found this picture of me taking this picture — remember that I was there by myself. I know, right? And their picture is better than mine.

Tags: Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody, Sigur Ros

Awesome, Books | Tim | October 15, 2008 10:43 am

2 Comments

By Mike, October 15, 2008 @ 11:33 am

An intro to a new book and Sigur Ros videos? I love this blog.
By Tim, October 15, 2008 @ 9:21 pm

Thanks!

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