Brainiac
Sonic Youth
Blonde Redhead
Widespread Panic/Phish/and all the other hippie bands I'm guessing.
Bands that discourage their fans from recording live shows:
Shellac
Metallica
Everything hip-hop.
Now I totally believe that the band's wishes should ALWAYS be repected.
So there is no right or wrong stance on this issue. Brainiac chose to do it one way, Shellac chooses another.
Forgive me is this makes no sense but the question for all of you is "Who is more right?" And yes I know this kind of vague - but I think you get the crux of the debate.
Is a live show a 'gift' for the fans, or is it a temporary loan?
Here is how Bob and Steve recently weighed in on the subject:
After encouraging people to start recording sets from their current tour, I received the following response:
Bob Weston wrote:Thanks for asking. Do not record us.
Best,
Bob
And when someone accused me of attempting to steal music from the band there was this:
steve wrote:not to put too fine a point on it, but we don't consider show taping "stealing," in any sense of the word. We consider it inconsiderate of those who are there to be immedately (not eventually) involved in the show.
The show is for people who are there at the moment, and not "history" or whatever.
And when I submitted that live recordings were an art documentation/preservation project, Bob wrote this:
Bob Weston wrote:A live show is just that...fleeting....meant to be experienced fully in the moment...not only the sounds, but the sights, smells (ew), the feeling of your neighbors bumping into you and the PA thumping your chest, hopefully some goose-flesh crawling up your scalp, etc.
Savor it in the moment (or hate it) and your brain will store some powerful memories based on input from all your senses. Call on these memories if they meant enough to you and you can remember the show that way. This is what a live performance is meant for: to be experienced live and then remembered or forgotten depending on how much it meant to you. I'm sure there's plenty of spare room in all our brains for this.
Feel free to let the band decide how and when they choose to present or document their art.
Meow,
bob
All valid points that I respect.
And then there is this poignant Brainiac anecdote:
DrAwkward wrote:If i may play a small bit of Devil's Advocate, i would just like to point out that i am beyond thankful that i have a (low-fi, kinda shitty, recorded on a Marantz field recorder) cassette recording of the last Brainiac show i ever witnessed, in Beloit, WI about a month before Tim died. I had misplaced the tape for a while, and then during one of my moves found it again, popped the tape into the deck in my car, and immediately was taken back to that night, and yes, to the smells, the audience members around me, etc. That recording was a heck of an aid as far as recall of the night went.
That said, the Brainiac guys had no problem with my friend and me recording their set. I'm not questioning any band's personal stance on people recording their shows...just pointing out that that recording helps me preserve the memories of that fleeting moment in time (which i'd probably give my right nut to travel back in time and re-live*).
I am a huge Brainiac fan as well and I would give BOTH nuts to re-live a live Brainiac show. They are one of the few bands which I've been unable to find ANY high quality live recordings and or video. And the kids today will NEVER know the full scope of Tim's brilliance. Think of the kids!!!
His death actually got me into the whole 'downloading live recordings' thing as I was deperate for any souvenir from those brief moments in time he shared with those of us fortunate enough to see him perform.
I'm unsure of most everything, except for the following:
1) The kids today record EVERYTHING. And within 24 hrs All of that EVERYTHING they've recorded is uploaded on to their MySpace accounts and swimming about cyberspace for all the world to see. Go to YouTube and type in anything and you'll get a billion shitty cell phone videos of whatever you typed. With the current technological advances, within 10 years we'll all be walking around with an Ipod implant up our asses that can produce high quality recordings of everything we see and hear. EVERYTHING will eventually be recorded. Right now I'd say around 80%-90% of the shows I've attended this year are available for download within 3 days of the show. It is an inevitable consequence of technological advances.
2) Africa is fucked up. Google will soon be airlifting cheap PC's pre-loaded with Linux and some form of satellite internet connection capability.
To boost their advertising traffic, Google will start dropping these computers from airplanes, (they'll have little parachutes), all over African jungles that know nothing of Western art forms.
One of those 'Click Click African guys', (like from the God's must Be Crazy), is going to open up his new computer, get online and type the following into Google Search: SHLAC BIMBO - which is 'Click Click' for hardcore porn or something.
He's going to stumble across a Shellac Live at Bimbo's recording on the internet. He's going to give it a listen and it will change his life. He will form an army, overthrow the corrupt regime keeping down all his fellow 'Click Click's' and Africa will be a better place for it.