Just As If You Were There!

Hey there:

It has taken me longer than expected to get my video from the U2 concert edited. I had quite a challenge to edit down almost an hour of footage to just seven minutes. I started thinking that it really isn't fair that most of you didn't get to go to this amazing concert. So I have gone above and beyond the call of duty to give you as close to the same experience as I had.

I took the unedited audio from my camera and created MP3 files that you can download and do with as you wish! Before your gratitude begins to overflow, there are some things you should keep in mind.



Video:

• The size of the video is about 28.1 mb so it's going to take a while to download. For some reason I haven't been able to the video to stream. Meaning it won't allow you to watch while it loads, it loads the whole thing first and then plays. SO that means you have to be patient and just wait.
• I did the best I could with the videography! I am a little shorter than the average male, so it was hard to get the best shots, but they are adequate.
• The video is not the whole concert, and it isn't even the highlights. This video represents the best sounding and looking shots I had.

Audio:

• It's the complete audio of what I recorded, not of the complete concert. There will some really good songs that will just end...I know it's frustrating, but I didn't think I was going to do the MP3's while I was video recording.
• Sound distortion...the system they had was powerful, and the small little mic on the video camera had a hard time capturing it all.

With all that in mind go to the following links to experience the concert yourself. It truly was an awesome experience.

Video: U2 Live at Fulton State Park

Audio: Concert Audio

On another note, I would like to say that the new album is amazing. There is a pretty good review on my friend's blog. You can read it here! The thing that stands out to me so far is the way Edge plays the guitar on this album. It is amazing. There are a couple of measures at 2:24 - 2:34 on the song "All Because of You" that Edge is just amazing. I encourage you get the album it's awesome.

I believe that's all, enjoy the video and audio...any comments on what you see or hear are welcomed!

PS: The "Borrowed Equipment" and "BarnYard" files on the audio page are from various performances of the band I was in during college. You may download, and laugh if you wish...just remember we were in COLLEGE!

U2 For Free!

A life long dream to see U2 in concert came true today...and it was FREE!

Joe came to work and said that on the radio they were talking about a rumor that U2 was giving a free concert in Washington Square Park. After some internet research we found out the concert was in fact going to be at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. After our staff meeting we left and drove down to the Fulton Ferry State Park in hopes of getting in. For a while things looked pretty sketchy. MTV was doing a show there so people who had "tickets" were let in first. Then they were going to let in 500 additional people after that. So we waited for about an hour and half while the line grew to ridiculous porportions. All of a sudden the once nice very long line started to become compromised, so we ditched our places in the line and made our way up to the group of people at the front gate. After some nervous moments they opened the gate and we politely squeezed our way through (we were all New Yorkers so it was just like getting on the train at rush hour). After two groups were let in we were next, all of a sudden, boom we are in the venue running to get a place to see. We ended up in a sweet spot, as you can see:

For the next two hours Joe and I waited with some really cool people most of whom skipped work, stood up their Fresh Direct deliveries, and ditched their meetings, friends, and family to see U2. Finally at about 4:40 pm U2 took to the stage, and freakin' rocked the house. They opened with "Vertigo" of course and then played about seven of their songs off the new album. They were amazing, especially in their stripped down form. To be sure there will be many more layers of sound once the tour comes, but today it was four guys, four chords, and the truth. The new songs are amazing and I can't wait to get the album tomorrow!

In addition to the new songs they played "Beautiful Day", "I Will Follow", and something else that escapes my mind right now. They came back for an encore and played two more songs off their album and ended with a NYC rendition of "Vertigo".

As if this wasn't enough, this concert will be broadcast on MTV December 8, and the footage will become a video for the song "All Because of You". But you people don't have to wait for all that. That's right I had a video camera there and captured most of it on DV Tape! I am going to edit the concert and publish it through my .MAC account. I hope to have it done and up by tomorrow night, so check back to see all the footage. In the meantime, you can see stuff from MTV, and read their synopsis of the day here.

Remember check back tomorrow to see footage from the concert. Until then..."It's a Beautiful Day!"

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself...

So much has happened since my last entry, and my last entry ended up being true....we had Baby Levi on Saturday June 12, 2004 at 7:05 am. The past five months have been amazing, sleepless, overwhelming, and the best time of my life. You can see a whole pictoral review of the past six months on his website. I have a link to it on my links column.

I have decided to start my blog up again. I have become more interested in blogging since the election is over and there is a potential to bring up things other than politics. To be sure there will probably still be some politics that will peak my interest, but I am kind of burnt out on it.

So for my first topic I would like to talk about how completely pumped I am for the release of the new U2 CD "How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb". The CD and DVD arrive on Tuesday and I plan to go and physically purchase the CD. Most of the time I purchase music via iTunes, but since this album is already getting so much criticle acclaim I want to have a copy that I can put in my hands. Check back later this week for my review of the. U2 launch their tour on March 1 in Miami and as soon as the NYC dates are announced I will do whatever is necessary to get tickets no matter the cost. I have never seen them perform live, and I have heard that it is almost like a Spiritual (that's right with a capital "S") experience.

So check back often and if you have thoughts or opinions on what I say please leave your comments!

By the way, I will from time to time feature a blog that I think has some great stuff on it. For now I would like to recommend you check out all of the blogs that I read. Each one of them are great and I especially like Joe Hays personal blog it's great :)