nyctaper posts

Neil Young:
We had a very nice offer of a ticket for last night, which was unfortunately the one night that was not possible. However, this morning we scored! Ticketmaster opens up cancellation tickets on the morning of the show for many events and this morning we got a ticket for tonight’s closing night of Neil’s United Palace stand. Its a second-tier (i.e. cheaper) ticket in the rear of the Orchestra, so we’ll see what kind of recording we can capture.

Article about our compadre baltimore-taper:
Our friends at the Baltimore taper blog received some excellent press today (here) in the local arts newpaper from Baltimore, the City Paper. This is the Baltimore equivalent of the Village Voice writing an article about nyctaper, and is a great honor for Jeff who has been a fine cooperative and supportive co-taper-blogger to us. Kudos!

nyctaper Archives:
In the fairly quiet remaining days of the year, nyctaper will dip into the archives. First up will be the long-promised Richard Thompson performance at the Fleadh in 1997. Expect it later today. The second post will be a Sigur Ros concert from 2006. If readers have any requests or suggestions for archive posts, please send us an email.

We attended 85 concerts this year, recording 75 of them. Of all of these many shows, these 5 concerts below are the most memorable experiences of the year for a variety of reasons.

nyctaper’s Top Five Concerts of 2007:

1.  Yo La Tengo December 6, 2007 Maxwell’s
An absolutely amazing YTL set, with legendary openers the dBs. We had a great time, with a great atmosphere and an excellent taping experience.

2.  White Stripes July 24, 2007 Madison Square Garden
Jack and Meg fill up the big room with a sonic masterpiece. Two hours of intense blues rock and nine encores. nyctaper enjoys the concert and records from the perfect location.

3.  Fiery Furnaces August 26, 2007 Socrates Sculpture Park
This concert was like seeing your favorite band at a family picnic. Eleanor, Matt and company rock through the final live performance of the Bitter Tea medley in a beautiful park on a beautiful day with the scenic East River and Manhattan skyline behind them. nyctaper sits on the grass and records from the ideal spot.

4.  Bruce Springsteen October 18, 2007 Madison Square Garden
The only 57-year old in rock history to perform a non-stop concert of such intensity for two and a half hours straight. The Meeting Across the River / Jungleland was the highlight of any Bruce concert of the entire 2007 tour.

5.  Pylon November 7, 2007 Mercury Lounge
1980s Athens legends tour for the first time in 17 years, and miraculously sound as tight as if they’d played together all that time. Vanessa and company seem thankful for the fans in attendance that night, and are incredibly gracious to nyctaper before and after the show.

Honorable Mention:
Dinosaur Jr. June 6, 2007 Irving Plaza
Regina Spektor October 16, 2007 Hammerstein Ballroom
of Montreal March 9, 2007 Irving Plaza
Richard Thompson June 21, 2007 Prospect Park
Meat Puppets August 30, 2007 Knitting Factory

Venue of the Year:
Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ
Without question, the most enjoyable location to attend a concert in the NYC area. From top to bottom, Maxwell’s offers the music fan every ingredient for a positive experience — fine sound system, excellent sight lines, excellent beer selection, and the venue does not include any of the negatives that often detract from enjoyment — the staff is friendly and professional, there is no power-drunk security, and concert goers are permitted to freely mingle and move around inside the venue. nyctaper attended 3 shows at Maxwell’s this year (Fiery Furnaces, Figgs and Yo La Tengo), and each experience was as positive as the last one.

Pylon, the best band ever produced by Athens Georgia (at least according to Billy Berry from R.E.M.) comes to NYC for two shows later this week in celebration of the long-overdue CD release of the post-punk masterpiece Gyrate.

Pylon were an active band from 1980-83, and produced two seminal albums, Gyrate and Chomp. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, they reformed for Chain, and toured briefly. I was fortunate to see Pylon at a club in the back of the Palladium in 1988.

Pylon has agreed in advance to permit my recording of the Mercury Lounge show. As I do with most acts, I contacted them through their website. Instead of a formal reply, I received a quick and friendly personal response from bass player Michael, which is much appreciated.

Pylon will also perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 8.

PLEASE SUPPORT Pylon and visit their website.

The Decemberists have canceled both the November 1 and November 2 concerts at Terminal 5.

This just got announced about an hour ago:

“With much regret The Decemberists have canceled the remainder of “The Long and Short of It” tour.

One of our band members has been ill for a while but we thought all would be well in time for these tour dates. After a couple shows, though, it has become clear that the illness is much worse than we had initially realized. We need to return home so our friend can mend.
It saddens us to disappoint our fans. We hope everybody understands it is only because of an extreme situation that we had to cancel a tour we’ve all been excited about doing since the idea was originally hatched.

Our deepest apologies but at this time no plans are being made to reschedule the dates. Ticket holders should seek refunds at point of purchase.”

NYCTaper is looking for a show to record on Friday night. Email or post suggestions in this topic.

Update: nyctaper will be recording Gary Lucas and Gods & Monsters at the Bowery Poetry Club this evening.

How to sell your release on-line, Part II:

When Radiohead released In Rainbows as a pay-what-you-please download, a somewhat revolutionary concept in online music distribution, there were understandable kinks in the implementation.

Saul Williams new release The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust is produced by Trent Reznor, and features the perfect execution of the Radiohead distribution model. The user has a choice, download for free a 192kb mp3 version of the album. Or, for $5, the user can download the album with a choice of 192kb, 320kb, or FLAC. All downloads include pdf artwork, lyrics, and are DRM free.

Saul Williams is an immensely talented performer who combines rap, poetry, beat, and rock into a powerful mixture of performance art and music. It remains to be seen whether an artist of this level of popularity can effectively utilize the Radiohead model. His website contains Saul’s unique interpretation of his revolutionary release.

Again, nyctaper* feels a kinship with the artists that have taken the next step into the new paradigm of music distribution on the web. Kudos to Saul and Trent. We’ll be paying our $5 on November 1, 2007 for the FLACs!

*nyctaper has no “stake” in this release, other than philosophical support.

There’s a lot to talk about this morning.

The Shins

Apologies to Shins fans waiting for the recording from last night. I did not attend, and wasted my ticket. Between the rain, my not feeling well, and lackluster reviews of the show and the venue, I did not really feel up to attending.

Server Outages and new Server Limits:

The Springsteen and Morrissey recordings have brought users to this site in record numbers. The total number of visits the day after the Springsteen concert was 118,000, roughly 5 times the record number of hits for a day on this site. The record number of visits have continued throughout the week. Those numbers have essentially crashed the server on multiple occasions, and have brought download speeds down to a trickle.

Unfortunately, my host has now put limits on my server capacity. The total number of visitors at any given time is limited to 150 distinct ip addresses. The total number of files one user can download at once is now limited to 5. And upload speed from the server has been capped at 2.5 megabytes per second. That’s a lot of speed if you’re downloading alone, but a slow speed if you divide it by 150.

There have been complaints and frustrations communicated in various forums on the web about the crashes and the speed reductions. I understand these complaints, but want users to know that these limits come from the host, and are a direct result of the popularity of the site.

Support the Artists:

I am capable of tracking the total number of purchases of official CD’s that are made through links on this site. I must say that I am profoundly disappointed at the number of people who download from this site, and the subsequent lack of purchases of official releases. I understand that of the 5000 people who downloaded Springsteen, most if not all of them already own Magic, or of the 3000 people who have downloaded Bjork, most or all already bought Volta.

It is the goal of this site that those 8000 people be exposed to other artists, and support those artists. Springsteen fans would be more than happy with the music of The Hold Steady, or The National, and Bjork fans would love Regina Spektor, or Animal Collective, or Kria Brekkan. In other words, if you already own Volta, click on the link and buy Begin to Hope!

nyctaper is currently considering implementing a limitation of downloads, where access would only be granted if confirmation of purchase of the official release is offered. This is something that we don’t want to install, but may be forced to do if users do not support the bands.

Support the Site:

The plan for this site was that donations and ad revenue would make it a not-too-expensive proposition. nyctaper was willing to operate at a loss in order to be able to implement a new model of music exchange and artist promotion. In this regard, the site has been a complete failure. The total number of donations thus far has amounted to $134. That represents less the price of the ticket for Springsteen. Commission ad revenue has generated zero. We did not envision being in the hole for roughly 12 thousand dollars within six months of the opening of the site.

Ironically, today we were accused of being bootleggers.

Plans for the Future:

At this point, nyctaper will continue to exist until the end of the shows listed below. We can not continue to afford to operate past that period without any significant user support.

Upcoming Events:

The Decemberists:
November 1, 2007
November 2, 2007, Terminal Five, NYC

Fiery Furnaces:
November 3, 2007, Hiro Ballroom, NYC

Pylon:
November 7, 2007, Mercury Lounge, NYC

Phil Lesh and Friends:
November 8, 2007, Phil Lesh Tickets at Nokia Theatre Times Square

mum:
November 9, 2007, Church of St. Paul NYC
November 10, 2007, Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall NYC

Yo La Tengo:
November 16, 2007, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Pierce Turner:
December 2, 2007, Joe’s Pub NYC
December 9, 2007, Joe’s Pub NYC

Yo La Tengo:
December 6, 2007, Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ (12/6 sold out, click link for tickets to other nights)

I will not attend Neil Young at the United Palace because I can not afford the ticket price, and no user has offered to sponsor my attendance.

Recordings will be posted at this site for each of those concerts that nyctaper attends and records. As with any future plans, some of these concerts may not be attended or recorded by nyctaper, for reasons out of my control. Please check back to the site often for updates as other concerts will be added.

I have received numerous requests to attend and record certain specific events. Please bear in mind that my time and energy are limited. Specific requests are more likely to be successful if accompanied by a guest list pass, complimentary ticket or other incentives.

The Meat Puppets are back in New York in a continued triumphant return to performing. The release of Rise to Your Knees, their strongest album in years, and the rave reviews of the 2007 performances, have established the “Pups” as one of the most unlikely and rewarding comeback stories of the rock era.

When I saw them at the Knitting Factory in August, I was aware that the tour was being viewed as a success, but I had no idea that the band would be so tight and powerful. My recording of that night is in the nyctaper archives (here).

On Wednesday and Saturday this week, our friends at the BrooklynVegan blog are sponsoring a free CMJ party at Pianos (158 Ludlow). The Meat Puppets are performing downstairs at 3:45pm on Wednesday (10/17), and I will be there to record. The complete schedule for all of the BrooklynVegan performaces is (here).

The Meat Puppets are also performing at Lion’s Den on Wednesday night at 11pm.

(photo credit)

When I was denied entry with taping equipment (ticket in hand) into Sonic Youth’s July 28 concert at the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn, I left the venue with the belief that the band had reneged on an email that permitted access to record. I arrived back in Manhattan tired, sweating, and pissed, and wrote an ill-advised rant blaming the band, and in particular Lee Ranaldo, for what transpired.

That rant was unfortunately reposted in several places on the web, and as a result, nyctaper has had many email, forum, and in person discussions with people about the situation. Several of those people spoke directly with Lee Ranaldo about what happened, and to his eternal credit Lee has expressed regret about what happened to me at the gate, has expressed no anger towards my rant, and has quite clearly stated that no security person spoke to him about my situation.

At this point, it has become obvious to me that I was jerked around by the security personnel at McCarren Pool, and that Sonic Youth and Lee Ranaldo were the unwitting victims of my misdirected anger.

And for that, I offer my sincere apologies to Sonic Youth, their soundman Aaron Mullan, and in particular to Lee Ranaldo.

I have learned a few lessons as a result of this fiasco–namely, don’t trust venue security above the musicians, don’t publish to your blog something written in the heat of anger, and that quite clearly, Sonic Youth are extremely cool people. Support them. Please.

Additionally, Thurston Moore is playing two local NYC gigs in the next couple of weeks (click dates to buy tickets):
September 24, at Maxwells in Hoboken
September 26, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn

In the most recent Upcoming nyctaper Events, I added the Hold Steady concert scheduled for September 17. The very act of typing “World Trade Center” evoked an odd set of emotions. Even six years hence, the very idea that 7 WTC will host a concert series is both empowering and bittersweet. As have many New Yorkers, I directly witnessed, and was personally, physically and financially effected by 9/11.

Music Downtown is the brainchild of Wall Street Rising and Knitting Factory founder Michael Dorf. In a well-guided effort to help revitalize the WTC downtown area, Music Downtown is producing three free concerts in the week after the 9/11 anniversary. The site is straightforward in its mission: “not only will Music Downtown increase critically needed foot traffic to the area, but it will also help to plant new seeds for Lower Manhattan’s economic and cultural growth”. This is a mission which directly touches nyctaper, as my office is one block from 7 World Trade.

All three of these concerts feature outstanding artists of varied genres. nyctaper has received permission to record the first night, September 17, which features The Hold Steady, Old 97’s, and Illinois. Artists featured on the 18th and 19th include Victoria Williams, Nick Lowe and Ollabelle.

Brooklyn-based The Hold Steady produced one of the best albums of 2006, Boys and Girls in America, and were indeed Blender Magazine’s 2006 Band of the Year.

Originally from Texas, Old 97’s are veterans of alt-country’s pop wing. They have produced 8 major releases, and are a rollicking live band.

We’ve had our first visit from a representative of a music industry entity, in the comment section of the Squeeze recording. Read here.

This is a post that I emailed to Bjork’s management, and posted in the bjork.com 4Um earlier this year. I feel it pretty much summarizes the current position with regard to the free share and trading of unofficial live recordings:

Over the last several years, it has become apparent that the transfer
of music through the internet will eventually become the primary means
by which performers will promote and ultimately distribute their media.

One of the interesting by-products of this move to internet distribution
has been the free share of fan-produced live recordings through networks
such as bit torrent (www.dimeadozen.org),
direct connect, and ftp/http downloads. The ultimate realization of this
phenomenom is the huge archive of live material shared, with artists’ consent,
at www.archive.org.

Among the fans of Bjork, the internet distribution of her live material has
been a reality since the early days of low bandwidth distribution. Such
fan sites such as etoile polaire, the dwave ftp, and the Bjork trading
group set the stage for the current high bandwidth distribution of lossless
audio and DVD’s of fan produced recordings at the Bjork Hub.

As Bjork now embarks on her first tour in nearly four years, many
realities have changed in the world of live music, fan recordings and
internet distribution. The rapid free share of unofficial live recordings
has essentially eliminated the market for illegal bootleg selling, and has
created an atmosphere where the artist and the recordist can work
cooperatively to archive the material, promote the artist’s official product,
and satisfy the demands of a fan base who seek a particular artist’s
output beyond that available in the official catalog.

Within the last two years, the policy in the bjork.com 4Um has permitted
the free share of fan-produced unofficial recordings. In this atmosphere,
the Bjork Hub has thrived in its goal to archive all available unofficial
recordings, catalog the archive, and share those recordings among the
dedicated fan base in a cooperative and friendly environment.

It is in this context, that the Bjork Hub sincerely requests that
unobstrusive, discreet fan recording be permitted during the anticipated
2007 Bjork Spring Tour. With artist permission, fan recordings are
generally of a much higher quality, since the recordist does not secrete
the equipment in fear of security, and the surrounding fans are often
cooperative in their behavior. Additionally, any attempts to bootleg any
recording from the tour (as occurred with multiple recordings of the 2001
and 2003 tours) will be completely frustrated by the free share and easy
distribution among the fans.

We hope that this sincere request will be considered and approved.

And a summary of the nyctaper site:

“My site exists as a experiment in a new paradigm of promoting artists, and encouraging fans to support them. I do this at a substantial cost to my own pocketbook because I believe in live music, I can afford it, I get to attend many excellent concerts, and believe that ultimately sites like this will help artists adapt to the use of technology to spread their music and further their careers.

Its discouraging, but ultimately not surprising, that a representative the music industry would take such a negative approach to my site. However, I continue to be motivated by the incredibly positive reviews of fans, and most importantly the cooperation, encouragement and participation of the artists themselves many of whom take an active role in the distribution of their music through my site.”