Lyndahere And More Piracy Revised...Some research.

@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle Love the beautiful brand new song you debuted last night at @PTBOMusic Fest Yes, you are a sailor. 30 June 2013

As @lyndahere or Lynda Elstad loads up a new Alan Doyle song from Great Big Sea that no one has heard before I am struggling to understand why people pirate music, television series, movies or anything. There is nothing like a continual spoiler on social media. But also @lyndahere has made another decision about how this music should be heard by the world. Because she has the technology to do so doesn’t make it right.

The recent newspaper articles and Internet sites around the world reporting the current piracy trends in television shows have interested me. The reports from Torrent Freak and newspapers describe Australians as the biggest pirates of Game of Thrones television series followed by Americans and Canadians. The television show has seen it as a complement rather than as a criticism. Torrent Freak wrote “Interestingly, many of the people connected to the show saw it as a compliment rather than a major threat that needs to be dealt with…The most outspoken position was taken by David Petrarca, the show’s director, who noted that unauthorized downloads actually do more good than harm. According to the director, pirates are partly responsible for the “cultural buzz” the show needs to thrive and survive”.

Others like the American Ambassador to Australia were less complementary. “ After the season got underway some critical notes also appeared. “The Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia recently complained about the “plain theft” being carried out by Australians”. Unless a person is familiar with how television operates in Australia and has operated then it is difficult to understand why Australians are the biggest pirates of the television show Game of Thrones. Television and social media have been intertwined as people jump online to discuss the latest happenings. Australians are no different but as events like series 3 of Game of Thrones appears in the US they are excluded. Social media screened elsewhere throughout the world can destroy story lines if it is not shown simultaneously. And the moment is lost when it finally does appear.

Australians have been left out of participating in significant social and cultural events for years through no fault of their own. In America and Canada it is different. They are able to watch television programs before anyone else. They don’t have far to travel to significant cultural events and if they choose to spend their time doing other things and their money on other things why should they use piracy as way to participate in things for free by people like @lyndahere who have made a career out of piracy. If she is concerned at people missing out then I am kind of interested why she doesn’t respond to many people who contact her one social media.

There are many reasons people illegally download either television or music. They range from getting something for free in the here and now rather than waiting until it is screened on television after the event, constant advertising  and social media. Also I believe there are many television viewers like me totally unaware of the options now available online for watching the latest television programs. Research shows illegal downloading has been over all decreasing and there are a number of reasons why this is happening. And it seems a lot of people are willing to pay for television programs in particular from subscription television and other TV streaming sites. Other issues like ethics, extreme fandom and the thought that piracy may affect the networks to make expensive television series is combating piracy as people choose legal means.  I bought the DVDs.

In the U.S. the situation is not much better, and to a certain degree one could claim that HBO is to blame for Game of Thrones’ BitTorrent record. They want to keep access to the show “exclusive” and even Netflix wasn’t able to buy the rights no matter what they offered. However companies who produce programs like Game of Thrones and Foxtel sign agreements that prevent viewers from buying it legally until they have finished viewing it on their own network in the US. It seems while Australians and others continued to be excluded from simultaneous viewing because of various legalities and philosophies of the companies that produce the programs they will find creative ways both legal and illegal to watch television shows.

At the same time results from the piracy were being published on Torrent Freak.com The Australian the national newspaper in Australia published some interesting results on a survey conducted on piracy. The APRA (the Australasian Performing Right Association) surveyed 1000 people on piracy. What I found interesting about the research was it challenged stereotypes of who committed piracy. “The research confirms the stereotype that illegal downloaders of content are younger, with 44 per cent of the 210 people who admitted to it being aged under 30 (and over 18)” when in fact a large amount of piracy was being committed by people who were older, educated and financially well off.

The Australian writes “However, it also throws up the unedifying prospect that the concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material is not getting through to educated professionals and is perhaps even knowingly being flouted”. While this may be true of some of the Australians surveyed it seems to be that way for people across a range of countries like America and Canada. @lyndahere tells us she is educated yet she has no concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material and has clearly flouted the laws. There seems to be a whole range of people who tweet and retweet her bootlegged and music pirated videos that they are promoting illegal material to publicize people.  

The research provided an interesting way to combat the piracy…Two-thirds of respondents agreed in principle to action to discourage people who repeatedly download copyrighted material illegally, although only 37 per cent of those who download illegally agreed. This aligns broadly with research by Sycamore Research in 2011 that showed 72 per cent of respondents would stop accessing illegal content online if their ISP sent them a notice. It would be great if this also applied to people uploading and distributing illegal content.

'Record' by Ernesto June 10, 2013 Torrent Freak.com (no copyright infringement intended).

The season finale of Game of Thrones has set a new BitTorrent record with more than 170,000 people sharing an episode simultaneously. In just one day more than a million people have downloaded a copy of the show, figures no other TV-show comes close to. Despite the invasion of pirates, HBO wants to keep the show as an exclusive and is not expected to put it on Netflix anytime soon.

game-of-thrones3 Yesterday evening the season finale of Game of Thrones aired on HBO and shortly thereafter the first unauthorized copies were uploaded online.

In recent weeks the hit show has been shared millions of times online, but never before have we seen this many people sharing the same file.

Within a few hours after it was released hundreds of thousands grabbed a copy of the show via The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites, breaking the old record Game of Thrones set just a few weeks ago during the premiere of the third season.

At its height the Istole tracker reported that 171,572 people where active on a single torrent, 128,686 sharing a complete copy while 42,886 were still downloading.

Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that, within 24 hours, the season finale has been downloaded a million times. This could increase to more than five million during the weeks to come and means that unless a miracle happens, Game of Thrones will be crowned the most pirated TV-show of the year once again.

As previously revealed, Game of Thrones downloaders come from all over the world. Most downloaders come from Australia, followed by the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Australia stands out in this list as it also has the smallest population, and this hasn’t gone unnoticed.  The Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia recently complained about this “plain theft” by Australians. However, since the local cable provider has chosen to decrease instead of increase availability next year, things are not going to change anytime soon.

In the U.S. the situation is not much better, and to a certain degree one could claim that HBO is to blame for Game of Thrones’ BitTorrent record. They want to keep access to the show “exclusive” and even Netflix wasn’t able to buy the rights no matter what they offered.

It’s clear that HBO prefers more exclusiveness over less piracy, a stance that is reflected in recent comments from HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. He sees piracy as a compliment and doesn’t believe it negatively impacts DVD sales.

The huge numbers of unauthorized downloads don’t bother the show’s makers all that much either, quite the contrary.

David Petrarca, the show’s director, noted that these unauthorized downloads actually do more good than harm. According to the director, pirates are partly responsible for the “cultural buzz” the show needs to thrive and survive.

Game of Thrones will be back next year, and if most torrent sites are still unblocked in in most parts of the world, we can expect another record to be set.

'Top 10 Most Pirated TV-Shows of the Season' by Ernesto, published in TorrentFreak.com on June 22, 2013. (No copyright infringement intended)

With more than five million downloads for a single episode, Game of Thrones is by far the most pirated TV-show of the spring season. Thanks to the continued worldwide hype around the show and its high piracy rate, the number of downloads via BitTorrent show a 25 percent increase compared to last year. Aside from this HBO success story, several new series did well among pirates too, including Vikings, Hannibal and Arrow, with over a million downloads each.

game-of-thrones3Game of Thrones has the honor of becoming the most downloaded TV-show of the spring season 2013.

The achievement comes as no surprise since the show has broken two piracy records in a few weeks, and the high number of unauthorized downloads has been widely covered in the press.

Even before the third season started there was already a lot of talk about Game of Thrones piracy. Interestingly, many of the people connected to the show saw it as a compliment rather than a major threat that needs to be dealt with.

The most outspoken position was taken by David Petrarca, the show’s director, who noted that unauthorized downloads actually do more good than harm. According to the director, pirates are partly responsible for the “cultural buzz” the show needs to thrive and survive.

After the season got underway some critical notes also appeared. The Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia recently complained about the “plain theft” being carried out by Australians.

This was countered by many self-confessed pirates including Timo Vuorensola, director of the Disney movie Iron Sky. The Finnish director told HBO that their legal service “sucks” and promised to download the show from The Pirate Bay instead.

The end result is that the most shared episode of Game of Thrones, the season opening, was downloaded by 5.2 million people all over the world. This dazzlfing statistic represents a 25 percent increase compared to last year and three times the amount achieved by several of the TV shows further down the top 10.

The increase in viewers wasn’t limited to the pirated channels though. HBO also saw ratings for Game of Thrones increase by roughly a quarter, driving many new customers to their paid subscriptions.

Whether the number of legal viewers would be higher or lower without piracy is hard to measure, but it could go both ways.

Looking at the full list we see that it contains many household names that have done well over the years, such as The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, which are listed in second and third place respectively.

There are also some notable newcomers. In fact, three shows in the list of most pirated shows just completed their first season – Hannibal, Vikings and Arrow. All three achieved between one and two million downloads per episode.

Below we have compiled a list of the most downloaded TV-shows worldwide (estimates per single episode) for the spring season from March up until June 2013, together with the viewer average for TV in the US. The data is collected by TorrentFreak from several sources, including download statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers.

It is worth nothing that online streaming and cyberlocker downloads are not included since these can’t be measured accurately. The full piracy numbers will therefore be significantly higher.

Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, Spring 2013 US TV viewers torrentfreak.com

1 Game of Thrones 5,200,000 5,500,000

2 The Big Bang Theory 2,900,000 20,000,000

3 How I Met Your Mother 2,850,000 10,510,000

4 The Walking Dead 2,700,000 12,420,000

5 Hannibal 2,100,000 4,380,000

6 Vikings 1,900,000 6,210,000

7 Arrow 1,850,000 4,140,000

8 The Vampire Diaries 1,800,000 3,180,000

9 Modern Family 1,750,000 12,520,000

10 Revenge 1,700,000 9,740,000

'Online piracy appeals most to those who are better educated' by Michael Bodey published in The Australian on 10 June, 2013. (no copyright infringement intended)

THE more highly educated and affluent an Australian is, the more likely that person is to engage in online piracy. 

New research commissioned by APRA (the Australasian Performing Right Association) and a number of other content groups shows a striking demographic trend in the 21 per cent of adults who say they engage in online piracy.

The quantitative survey of 1000 adults aged 18-plus, shows that 30 per cent of those who admitted to illegal downloading of digital materials (including music, movies, television, books and games) earned more than $100,000 a year.

The proportion rises across annual household incomes, from a low of 14 per cent for those earning less than $40,000 to 27 per cent who earn $60,000-$100,000 and the 30 per cent earning more than $100,000.

That result correlates with the highest educational qualification earned -- with 17 per cent of illegal downloaders achieving a primary or secondary qualification, 21 per cent a TAFE or trade qualification and 25 per cent of whom had a university education.

The facts on illegal piracy

The obvious conclusion is the better-off a consumer, the more likely they are to have access to media allowing them to download material.

However, it also throws up the unedifying prospect that the concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material is not getting through to educated professionals and is perhaps even knowingly being flouted.

The research confirms the stereotype that illegal downloaders of content are younger, with 44 per cent of the 210 people who admitted to it being aged under 30 (and over 18).

Again, this figure decreased with age, with a quarter of the downloaders in the 30-49 age group and only 11 per cent aged 50-69.

Metropolitan respondents were also more likely to download than rural respondents.

When asked if they engaged in online piracy, 65 per cent of respondents said they "never downloaded pirated material" and 10 per cent said they had "completely reformed".

Of the 21 per cent who did engage, 7 per cent said that they did it weekly, 6 per cent monthly and 8 per cent "every six months".

However, it also throws up the unedifying prospect that the concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material is not getting through to educated professionals and is perhaps even knowingly being flouted.

The survey did not ask for the quantity of downloading, with anecdotal evidence in this country suggesting frequent downloaders do so in high volumes.

Questions regarding attitudes to retail downloading showed some disturbing results.

Seven per cent of all respondents disagreed the work of musicians, authors, filmmakers and other artists should be paid for if the creative work were made available for sale in a retail store (and 13 per cent among illegal downloaders).

That figure increased to 8 per cent (and 15 per cent for downloaders) if the works were for sale on the internet.

Two-thirds of respondents agreed in principle to action to discourage people who repeatedly download copyrighted material illegally, although only 37 per cent of those who download illegally agreed.

This aligns broadly with research by Sycamore Research in 2011 that showed 72 per cent of respondents would stop accessing illegal content online if their ISP sent them a notice.

Earlier this year, the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association released figures showing Game of Thrones and True Blood were the most popular legally downloaded TV shows last year and The Hunger Games was the most downloaded or streamed movie, suggesting younger viewers are more comfortable with the process of digital downloading or streaming, legal or otherwise.

Lyndahere, Concerts And Bad Behaviour...A reflection

I recently read an article in my national paper about a US journalist, Kevin Williamson’s recent experiences at the theatre in New York in which he threw the phone of an annoying fellow patron. The original article was published in the National Review Online on 15 May 2013. It is copied below.

The response to this article has been phenomenal as people from all walks of life are becoming increasingly annoyed by others using electronic equipment throughout theatre, concert and movie performances. I too have empathy with this journalist as have others as people use their mobile phones and other technical equipment, constantly making a nuisance of themselves to the people around them.

“The person clicking or buzzing or ringing in the far corner of your vision is not respecting certain basic principles of civility” (Alexandra Petri). 

@lyndahere or Lynda Elstad has annoyed people around her using her camera and video camera and they have on occasions said something to her and she certainly is ignoring the no photograph and video policy of venues. @lyndahere certainly is not “respecting the basic principles of civility” as Alexandra Petri describes the event in the Washington Post written in response to Williamson’s experiences. 

In another article by John Del Signore in 'Arts and Entertainment' on May 16. 2013 states “that photography and mobile phone use were not allowed during this performance”. The Arts and Entertainment blog awarded a certificate of commendation to Williamson for “his exemplary protection of theatres from annoying patrons”.  

Alexandra Petri makes a valid comment when she states reacting in the way Kevin Williamson did is understandable yet not an effective way to address the issue. “The glowing screen and the faint cricket clicking of a text being composed is enough to make the hardiest theatergoer’s skin crawl, although both offenses pale compared to the ringing. There she is, ruining the expensive suspension of disbelief you paid $50 for. If you wanted to see people texting, you’d have gone to a movie” (Alexandra Petri).

'Theatre Night: Vigilantes 1, Vulgarians 0' by Kevin Williamson published in the National Review Online on 15 May 2013.

I had a genuinely new experience at the theater tonight: I was thrown out. 

The show was Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which was quite good and which I recommend. The audience, on the other hand, was horrible — talking, using their phones, and making a general nuisance of themselves. It was bad enough that I seriously considered leaving during the intermission, something I’ve not done before. The main offenders were two parties of women of a certain age, the sad sort with too much makeup and too-high heels, and insufficient attention span for following a two-hour musical. But my date spoke with the theatre management during the intermission, and they apologetically assured us that the situation would be remedied.

It was not. The lady seated to my immediate right (very close quarters on bench seating) was fairly insistent about using her phone. I asked her to turn it off. She answered: “So don’t look.” I asked her whether I had missed something during the very pointed announcements to please turn off your phones, perhaps a special exemption granted for her. She suggested that I should mind my own business.

So I minded my own business by utilizing my famously feline agility to deftly snatch the phone out of her hand and toss it across the room, where it would do no more damage. She slapped me and stormed away to seek managerial succor. Eventually, I was visited by a black-suited agent of order, who asked whether he might have a word.

In a civilized world, I would have received a commendation of some sort. To the theater-going public of New York — nay, the world – I say: “You’re welcome.”

There is talk of criminal charges. I will keep you updated. 


'National Review writer actually throws rude theater patron’s cell phone — do we applaud?'
By Alexandra Petri. May 16, 2013.

As someone who has been in theaters where people have not turned off their cell phones, I have many long, elaborate fantasies about what I would like to do to those people. In some of these fantasies, I merely clear my throat loudly or poke them a little with a sharpened umbrella. In my more grotesque imaginings, I shout, “FIRE!” “Where?” everyone else in the theater asks. “Right here,” I say, touching a lit match to the hem of the offender’s coat. And then there are the ones where I pluck the phone from their hands and toss it dramatically out of reach.

Well, National Review writer Kevin Williamson actually did just that. He seized a patron’s phone “utilizing my famously feline agility” and tossed it across the room. She slapped him. He was escorted from the theater. “There is talk of criminal charges,” he adds.

It’s an impulse to which I am intensely sympathetic, even if Williamson’s dismissive description of the cell-phone-using offenders as “two parties of women of a certain age, the sad sort with too much makeup and too-high heels, and insufficient attention span for following a two-hour musical” does little to endear him to the reader.

People are already hailing him as a hero, although the situation raises a few questions — she was texting, not talking, which I consider a lesser offense, and he did throw her phone, which given the amount of stock people place in our phones these days is almost but not quite like tossing someone’s right hand across the room, except that your right hand’s screen might not break when it landed.

Still, who hasn’t wanted to do something along these lines? To take the offending cell phone and toss it away, not caring where it lands! What rapture! What bliss! Why not? The person clicking or buzzing or ringing in the far corner of your vision is not respecting certain basic principles of civility. Why should you? At that moment when you are sitting in the third act of Hamlet as he tries to decide whether to be or not, and suddenly you grow aware of a faint buzzing noise, crescendoing to one of the more noxious default ringtones, who has not wanted to seize the offending instrument and toss it as far as possible, preferably into a large body of water? “Please silence that thing,” you think, “or you’ll push that poor Dane over the edge.”

The whole expensive illusion shatters. The glowing screen and the faint cricket clicking of a text being composed is enough to make the hardiest theatergoer’s skin crawl, although both offenses pale compared to the ringing. There she is, ruining the expensive suspension of disbelief you paid $50 for. If you wanted to see people texting, you’d have gone to a movie.

Then again, with phones almost second limbs these days, maybe this is unrealistic. Maybe glancing down to check a text midway through the third act is the price a doctor pays to go to the theater at all. Maybe that kid who appears to be ignoring the performance in favor of his phone is actually live-tweeting it and ginning up interest in the play and will Singlehandedly Save Independent Theater. Maybe, you think, as steam pours out your ears.

Maybe the people who are being rude with their phones would still be rude if phones were denied them, crinkling their candy wrappers and loudly whispering, “I DON’T UNDERSTAND — WHICH ONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE TOSCA?” to the people who brought them there in the first place and are just as mortified as you.

But how awful those cell phones are. Maybe as Alyssa Rosenberg suggests, there are better ways of discouraging people from using them than slapping them out of strangers’ hands. It’s a lovely visual.

But for most of us, this sort of dream stays in the realm of fantasy. Williamson might call it cowardice. I would call it politeness. The way to fight rudeness is not with vigilante rudeness of your own. But how much one wants to.

Heroic Theatergoer Smashes Cell Phone, Gets Thrown Out Gothamist.htm by John Del Signore in Arts and Entertainment on 16 May 2013.

We can't count the number of times we've wanted to enact vengeance on some inconsiderate audience member whose cell phone goes off during a performance. But, like most people, we just bottle that fury up deep down inside and take it out on the break room vending machine later. Not Kevin Williamson. Last night the National Review writer was in attendance at the marvelous new musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Commet of 1812 when one theatergoer's incessant cell phone use finally drove him over the edge... into vigilantism.

The stellar production—a swinging cabaret-type musical adaptation loosely adapted from Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace—takes place inside a luxuriant carnival tent nestled next to the Standard High Line. The audience is closely clustered at small tables throughout the room, and while there is food and beverage service before the show and during intermission, the performance itself takes place with zero table service interruptions, and the atmosphere is as quiet and attentive as any other conventional stage play. At least it's supposed to be.

Although each table is explicitly told that photography and cell phone use is strictly prohibited during the performance, the people seated around Williamson were, he says, unbearable. "They were carrying on a steady conversation throughout entire show," Williamson, who also writes a theatre column for New Criterion tells us. "They had been quite loud and obnoxious the entire time. There were two groups, one to the left and one to the right who were being loud and disruptive."

 During intermission, Williamson's date complained to the theater's management, but he says he didn't personally witness the theater managers admonish the disruptive audience members. And once the performance resumed, the woman sitting to Williamson's right on his bench would not, he says, stop using her cell phone. "It looked like she was Googling or something," Williamson tells us. "So I leaned over and told her it was distracting and told her to put it away. She responded, 'So don't look.' 

Blood boiling, Williamson says he then asked her, sarcastically, "whether there had been a special exemption for her about not using her phone during the play. She told me to mind my own business, and so I took the phone out of her hands. I meant to throw it out the side door, but it hit some curtains instead. I guess my aim's not as good as it should be." Asked if the phone was damaged, Williamson says, "It had to be; I threw it a pretty good distance."

According to Williamson, the woman then slapped him in the face and, after failing to find her phone, stormed out. Soon the show's security director asked to "have a word" with Williamson, and they stepped out into the lobby. "I told him I would be happy to leave," Williamson recalls. "They tried to keep me there. He said the lady was talking about filing charges. So I waited around for a bit, but it seemed to be taking a while. He did try to physically keep me in, and was standing in the door blocking me, telling me I couldn't leave. I inquired as to whether he was a police officer and I was under arrest, and since I wasn't, I left."

A publicist for the production did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But if the cell phone user decides to press charges, Williamson says he's willing to face her in court. "I doubt that will happen, but if it does, that'll be fun. If I have to spend a night in jail, I'll spend a night in jail. I don't want to suggest I’m Henry David Thoreu protesting the Mexican –American War but I'll do a day in jail if I have to."

Kevin Williamson, you are indeed our Thoreau. And if you need help raising bail money, we'll totally start a Kickstarter for you, just like Emerson did.

Lyndahere And Sharing On Social Media...

@lyndahere “I really like people who know how to share. Or who are at least willing to learn how to share. Sharing rocks. 18 June 2013 on Twitter.

@lyndahere or Lynda Elstad definitely likes to share however, there are various conditions attached. Her sharing is selective, irrelevant of the law and the feelings or wishes of those involved.

·         @lyndahere shares others creative work she does not have approval to share.

·         @lyndahere fails to recognise and observe the laws that protect creative works and sharing.

·         @lyndahere believes she is above the rules and regulations of sites like Youtube that promote the sharing of creative works.

·         @lyndahere has selective sharing and based on what she feels like.

·         @lyndahere doesn’t share other fan’s bootlegs or photographs. If she does it is usually a cut and paste tweet with her photo on it.

·         @lyndahere doesn’t provide tweets or links to live recordings in opposition to her own including those by Great Big Sea.

·         @lyndahere loves to share when there is something directly in it for her for example a hit on her Youtube site or a response on Twitter.

In my search I found @lyndahere’s illegal bootlegged live recordings of Great Big Sea shows are now available for free on ringtones, are used embedded into other sites as advertising for promoting concerts with links to Youtube (without acknowledging her) and for free downloads. And I would like to allege all without the permission of Great Big Sea. 

Lyndhere, Great Big Sea XX, Winnipeg and leaving it on the stage…A review.

As @lyndahere floods her Twitter site with photographs and probably bootlegged videos of the Great Big Sea show in Winnipeg Canada I decided to Google and find out what the fans and professionals had to say about this concert. Not much is written about this concert on St Patrick’s Day in 2013 one of the most sacred days on the Irish calendar. There does not seem to be anything written by the journalists in the area although they have attended the concert to take photographs. Perhaps it was a busy day for them covering other significant events. There was a few photographs from fans, amateur bootlegged videos on blogs and comments on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

On Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites fans raved about Sean McCann singing Danny Boy. So I went in search of some bootlegged videos. I found one on a site called WhatIexpectin. The video was not acknowledged so I watched it. It was a beautiful and soulful rendition as the caption said and sung and played beautifully by Sean McCann. The video broke down a couple of times. And as soon as Alan Doyle played a note the camera was there and I knew it was @lyndahere video from Between the Rock. Which spoilt to a certain extent the mood and feel of the performance and was totally unnecessary. The site was full of her videos.

Alan Doyle often tweets that he leaves what happens on the stage on the stage when he goes home or moves on. What is totally brilliant and extremely special about what happened at this concert is that it seems to be truly between Great Big Sea and the audience and remains in their hearts and memories. 

I love the fact that in this day and age with the Internet and social media there are still some events that do remain largely between the audience and performers and the community decides primarily how they are recorded and what importance they play in the scheme of things.

I found this brief mention in the Metronews in Winnipeg.

"No Ordinary Day as Great Big Sea Celebrates St. Patrick's Day in Winnipeg" by Shane Gibson 18 March, 2013.

Alan Doyle and the boys from Great Big Sea celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with just over 4,000 very jolly Winnipeggers at the MTS Centre Sunday night.

The band from Newfoundland and Labrador brought their energetic brand of Canadian folk-rock through Winnipeg as part of their North American tour marking the band’s 20th anniversary.

And another article published earlier by the Metronews in Winnipeg on March 13 2013

"Backstage Pass: Great Big Sea celebrate 20 years with anniversary release" by Jared Story.

Newfoundland folk-rock band Great Big Sea celebrates its 20th anniversary with XX — a two-disc compilation and box set — and a great big tour of Canada and the U.S.

“It’s great looking back, it’s great looking ahead too, but we’ve never really been big fans of stopping to pat ourselves on the back,” Alan Doyle says from Anaheim, Calif., where the band recently kicked off its tour.

“It felt like, ‘It’s 20 years, we should just do this for a moment,’ like actually stop and pat ourselves on the back one time. So here we are doing it.”

XX’s first disc showcases Great Big Sea’s pop side, containing fan favourites like When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down) and Run Runaway, while disc two covers the band’s penchant for playing folk and traditional music.

Given Great Big Sea’s practice of putting pop songs alongside sea shanties, it’s probably safe to say Doyle, Bob Hallett and Séan McCann have introduced a few folks to folk music.

“That’s a weighty responsibility, but it’s been a joy to be the bearer of such good news,” Doyle says. “It’s like, ‘Guys, guess what, I’m going to play you a Paul Brady (Irish singer-songwriter) song you’ve never heard’ or ‘I’m going to tell you about a band called The Chieftains (traditional Irish band).’

“That’s been a real joy, going to places that are well versed in American bluegrass and Irish Celtic music and going ‘We have songs like that in Canada, in Newfoundland.’ You sing them a couple and they go ‘How many more are there?’ Well, hundreds and this is just one little place, one little island.”

Doyle says introducing people to folk and traditional tunes is one of his favourite parts of being in Great Big Sea.

“We’ll get stories like ‘My four-year-old’s favourite song is Old Black Rum.’ Oh dear, really? Or ‘My little guy wants to be Captain Kidd.’

“He wants to be a murderous pirate? One who gets shot and dies of gangrene?” Doyle says.

“But it all comes from the right place. People make the music part of their lives, part of their families and their weddings, their celebrations. It’s crazy.”

Lyndahere And A Blast From The Past...Blogspot 2006.

This is Lynda Elstad's or @lyndahere’s first venture into blogging with blogspot. Blogspot of course allows it’s users to update posts without changing the date. This post was dated March 2006.

Nothing seems to have changed much for her as she speaks with authority of Newfoundland and for Newfoundlanders continues today and her less than respectful opinion of Great Big Sea fans who have a different opinion than her own. One thing I learnt during the time I was in Newfoundland is that Newfoundlanders can speak and write for themselves better than anyone else can. They are prolific storytellers in what ever medium they choose whether oral traditions, music, literature or non fiction. They do not need you or me to defend them or speak for them. They will continue to protect their own cultural heritage from the colonisation of others whether it be Canadians or an American from California.

Thank you to the person who has been leaving search clues on this blog for me to follow. The interesting thing about this post is some nouns like mainlanders and the world of fans have been written with capitals. Which suggests this post may have been updated since 2006 reflecting more current than original aims. But thanks for sharing anyway.

Hello. My name is Lynda, and I am a Great Big Sea fan. Does that admission count as the first of the twelve steps, I wonder. Perhaps not - perhaps no more and no less than one small step, and maybe I'll find some middle ground during my own walk on the moon.

First things first, a photo that I think perfectly expresses how I feel about starting this new venture, though it will still likely be followed by those thousand words it is worth so much more than:

This is my very first try at a blog, and I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing or if this is going to work. The people who run this place claim their blogging tools are more or less idiot-friendly, but I've found that this claim is usually about as reliable as "one size fits all". I have little doubt that I am more "idiot" than they are "friendly"; please be patient with the inevitable stumbling about I'm likely to do as I learn by trial and error and error and error and error. And error.

I've resisted past suggestions that I start up a blog, mostly because some of the ones I've read have come across to me as being a bit too much like poseur diaries. I've really no compelling urge to tell the cyberworld all of my innermost secrets or share all of the particulars of my personal life, nor can I imagine very many inhabitants of that cyberworld being overmuch interested in those secrets or particulars.

This is not to say I am immune to imagining at least a few of those inhabitants might indeed be interested in some of where and what and who I too am interested in, as well as in my opinions about those places and matters and people. This could be a completely erroneous assumption, but if so, it would certainly have plenty of company with all of those other erroneous assumptions currently residing in the cluttered space between my ears.

In the past, I've spent most of my time talking about these people, places, and matters of interest to me on various message boards, but I seem to keep getting my arse in hot water on those message boards, mostly because of non-conforming behaviours and non-conforming opinions. Hence, the brand-new blog.

Also hence, a bit of upfrontness-in-advance, so those whose noses are prone to going out of joint and whose panties tend to twist with small provocation can know ahead of time what they are going to be reading here, or what they are going to be avoiding here, as the case may be.

A large chunk of my affection and my loyalty is now in the possession of Newfoundland, which makes scant sense given that I grew up in Southern California and now live Stateside in the Pacfic Northwest, but then, "sense" is occasionally overrated. I have strong opinions about how Newfoundlanders are sometimes treated by Mainlanders; this this is one of those non-conforming opinions that has gotten my arse in the aforementioned hot water.

I behave with self-confessed unflinching eccentricity when it comes to that also-aforementioned GBS fandom. I attend many of their shows (for an understanding of "many" in this context, think of a number in your head and then add the exponent of your choice), for reasons that next to no one is ever able (or willing) to understand. Suffice to say, I enjoy their shows. That enjoyment has led to yet more immersion of the nether regions in hot water, as has my insistence on the band members' fundamental status as human beings both fallible and endearing, each in his own measure. Not "liking" the "right" band member "best" can get one into the hottest water of all.

This is probably the place that I should say that I think very highly of Alan Doyle - the songwriter, the author, the performer, the guitarist, the singer, the producer, the collaborator (this is where the Russell Crowe connection is going to come in, and I think quite highly of that fellow as well), and the man. His potential for all of the other possibilities as well. Another large chunk of my loyalty and affection is in his possession, or perhaps it's the same part of my heart that has been appropriated by the place he calls home. Yet more hot water, I have discovered, scalding hot in this case.

This blog is also going to focus not just on Great Big Sea, but very much on Alan, what he does in his "non-GBS" endeavours as well as what he does with his primary band. And whenever the Premier of Newfoundland lists Alan as being among those who can elevate Newfoundland's profile across the country, I am going to mention it here, since this is is going to be the place where those who complain about my mentioning that level of praise for Alan will be told to "deal" with it not having been "their" band member who was included in that list, though if "their" band member ever were so praised, I would certainly mention it here too. Fair warning again, fair treatment as well.

Fandom can be a weird and scary place, probably true of any group of fans, though this group of GBS fans has been the only one I've ever been closely involved with. It can also be a sweet and inspiring place, though, to be honest, apparently nowhere near so often as it is a weird and scary place. Even though I am currently in the midst of writing a book about Newfoundlanders at home and away, there are times I wonder if maybe I should be writing instead about some of what I've encountered in the World Of Fans over the past three or so years. Maybe next book.

A few other fair warnings...I take quite a few photos, mostly but not all at GBS shows (though the show photos may wind up being all that I share online since the others tend to be more personal and the storage space here is a little limited). You wouldn't think there would need to be a "warning" about photos, but, as I said, Fandom can be a weird and scary place. I'm also very wordy, and that genuinely does merit a warning, I suppose. This will probably seldom be the place to come for a quick read.

I want to allow comments here, but the hard, cold truth is that I have had several obsessed shrews pecking away at me for a few years now (threats of violence and the like - back to that "weird and scary place" notion), and if I leave the comments option wide open, I have a feeling they will do to this blog what they have done to my email account, or what they have done to a few of the message boards I once posted on. This blog has an option of holding comments until they are reviewed, and I think (hope) that is how I have it set up. For anyone who would like to comment in a constructive way (disagreeing is always acceptable - talk of disposing of body parts is distinctly less so), please do so and when I have a chance to review comments I will add them in as soon as I figure out how to do it. Please don't forget my intital plea for patience during the learning process.

That's it for the first hello. My plan is to wait until the 11th of March for my next entry, though I am planning to add pictures from the recent ECMA Songwriters' Circle in the next day or so. But the next entry will be on the 11th. That will be the 13th anniversary of Great Big Sea's first performance, and I have something special I want to post here for that day, again, if I can figure out how to do it. Fingers crossed.

Lyndahere… A review of the fan reviewer.

In the past two months Lynda Elstad or Lyndahere has loaded up on to YouTube approximately 100 videos or approximately 400 minutes of bootlegged Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea videos. So I have decided to write a review of those videos and her blog posts. Much of what has been bootlegged has been done many many times before. They are not mentioned in the reviews so I am wondering what relevance this has to increase our understanding of the music and the evolution of their music.

Lyndahere wrote “There were two Calgary GBS XX shows, following immediately on the heels of the two Edmonton shows, all of those shows taking place in the pair of mirror-image Jubilee Auditoriums - North and South, respectively. All four shows were very good, which is to say that each of them rose to the consistently high standard of the XX Tour overall, but, as I said in here in an earlier blog, the first night in Calgary was the most memorable. And, yes, I was smiling as I typed the word "memorable".

There are the endless words and photographs of Alan Doyle. Even the Great Big Sea reviews of concerts have turned into tributes to Alan Doyle. They are flooded with photos of him only and videos declaring her love and admiration for him and his music with little reference to other musicians or music. There were less than 5 photographs of the band and over 30 of Alan Doyle in two posts. @lyndahere “The best part of each XX show I saw was when Alan went into his earnest, purely Petty Harbour Boy intro for What Are You At, talking about how this song led to the TV commercial (which was then shown at each show, to much amused delight) that was GBS's first Big Break. What I loved most each night was watching Alan's ever-expressive face as he talked”.

As I have read other reviews of the Edmonton and Calgary concerts I read nothing of the honest criticisms recorded elsewhere re the quality of the sound. “Both Jubilees have gorgeous acoustics. It seemed an excellent opportunity to video the encore song that was growing more powerful each time out”. But I guess a person wouldn’t experience the problems with the sound sitting eternally in the first row or have any empathy with other fans sitting in the crowd. Or she may not be willing to be honest or as not honed in on the quality of music as one would expect with her experience.

This combined with her endless bias towards Alan Doyle undermine her own credibility and professionalism as a reviewer. After spending years and decades in the front row of hundreds concerts taking photos I would expect a half decent shot which is not always the case. She seems oblivious to their body language or perhaps maybe she isn’t and puts up particular photos to take a little dig rather than the endless declaration of love she possesses in the accompanying information. Her blog is difficult to load due to large amount of photographs and videos and difficult to follow.

After all @lyndahere knows what to expect. It is not like she is a first time bootlegger of this band. It is years and hundreds of shows. Yet as I venture around the world of bootlegging and the photography of fans I find that is not the case. Other than a video that seems remarkably clear of any extras such as the back of someone’s head or shoulder there is not that much difference that other concert goers. I am still wondering how these videos will improve my understanding and appreciation of the music.

When I put in a CD to listen to music there are songs I like more than others and play more than others. I would expect that on Youtube for any artist or musician. If I look at the hits of the recent Great Big Sea CBC music videos some songs are more popular than others in the number of hits they have.  However, all of the bootlegged music put up by @lyndahere in the last couple of months have had approximately the same number of hits so it makes me wonder if people are watching them or she is actually spending her free hotel internet creating revenue for herself to cover the costs of the tour.

The copyright act is clear and people can claim a copyright disclaimer under “Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing”. There are hundreds of bloggers and reviewers who review concerts without bootlegging videos.

Finally @lyndahere don’t beat yourself up over it promising to return to it in the future. “What follows after is in no way meant to be any sort of comprehensive review or report or recap of these shows; I hope I can eventually find/make the time to do just that for these and other XX shows, including all of the photos /videos of everyone who made those shows so special. But for now, this will be only a partial view of the shows themselves, with the current focus still on sharing a few of the (multitudinous) magnificent moments of Alan's past birthday year”. With the number of shows you attend it would be difficult to distinguish one from the other. If it was special as you state then you would have written about but what ever was special and our need to know about it was not as important as your need to put photos of Alan Doyle. @lyndahere move on as the professionals have it on the record both in writing and photographs looking at it through fresh eyes even though on the surface the reviewer from Calgary has had his fair share of booze rather than a large overdose of infatuation. I was interested in the comments made by the reviewer for the Edmonton show“For a band that’s seen their platinum records long behind them, Great Big Sea still come across as a group of friends who get a kick out of what they do”. Great Big Sea XX went gold within a couple of weeks.

Review: Great Big Sea brings anniversary party to Calgary by Mike Bell, Calgary Herald March 15, 2013

Supping from the sea will only increase your thirst.

You don’t need to be a windburned fisherman to know that particular truth. You don’t even need to be Maritimer who’s tasted the salt with every one of your breaths since birth.

You just need to spend some time with those who can conjure the ocean, can bring the tides to the landlocked with their stories and their songs, raise the waves with their energy and their ability to entertain, and, more importantly, make you want to drink.

You need to sup from the bottomless well of Great Big Sea.

Good thing, then, that the veteran East Coast Collective were in a particularly celebratory mood on Thursday night, marking their 20th anniversary with the first of two shows at the Jubilee Auditorium, generously ladling out the musical memories from two decades of defying the odds and expectations in mainstream pop.

They served, we drank, we got drunk on their free pours.

And even two excellent, high-energy sets from the touring five-piece — built around the core of Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann — weren’t enough to slake the thirst of the sold-out soft-seater, turned, for this night, and presumably the next, into a community hall where everyone was in the mood to stand, sing and clap along to the songs that have, despite their regional bent, become part of the collective Canadian consciousness.

(It should be noted and lauded that it was one of the few Jube shows that nary a complaint was heard when the crowd chose to stand in unison for most of the concert.)

From the very first strains of Ordinary Day, the party was on, with the minimalism of the stage show allowing for band and audience to connect on the most basic and fundamental level: With their enduring charm and their music, and how much a part of our lives both have become without us even knowing it.

It was all about that, from their lengthy song introductions and interactions with the audience — particularly entertaining was McCann’s lead-in to the rather salty shanty The Mermaid and promises of an entire evening’s tribute to the music of Michael Jackson — to the hits and forgotten which kept coming unabated, including a raucous reading of Billy Peddle, The Night Pat Murphy Died, Goin’ Up and What Are You At.

Even when they slowed things down, as with the lovely England, the crowd sat, but did so rapt, soaking up the music and its unassuming, unpretentious performance. There were no bells or whistles or foghorns to distract.

In fact, the stage, empty except for a drum riser and microphones, and the backdrop, a large screen showing two large Xs — to commemorate their 20 years and to nod to their current greatest hits collection XX — and the odd old photo, album cover and other visuals such as a flickering candle and even a telecom commercial they filmed in their early days, barely even registered.

What did, though, again, was a show by an act that has an effortless and easygoing aura.

Perhaps it’s because they’re remarkably familiar with their surroundings, no matter where they play across this land — something alluded to by the million mentions of Calgary and the fond reference to their first show in the city at the Republik, which they lovingly called a “cement block ... a bunker.”

Or, more likely, they and their audience know exactly what to expect from one another.

That could also explain the need for an intermission, which allowed their fans to, as Doyle suggested “refresh” themselves, which many, many did several times over.

When all parties returned, the energy was indicative of that, with the second half being even more amped up than the first, and the songs taking the celebration to the next level, with swigging and swinging versions of The Scolding Wife, When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Consequence Free, an extra-proof Mari-Mac and, of course, their trademark Celtic cover of Slade’s Run Runaway only a taste of the bar service Great Big Sea offered on this intoxicating night.

Who’s ready for another round?

"Great Big Sea surge into Edmonton with good-time party music" by Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal March 13, 2013.'

EDMONTON - The band is twenty years old and touring around with a greatest hits collection, but it’s not as though Great Big Sea need an excuse for a party.

That’s already built into the folk-pop and traditional Celtic fare these Newfoundlanders have been pumping out since 1993. Good-time music, free of worry, with a tinge of old-world melancholy shimmering around those sea shanties and East Coast folk songs. As pop savvy as they’ve been through ten albums, they’ve always maintained a foothold in that world, and it calls to mind noisy taverns, all-night living room jams, shots of whisky.

Even a high-class joint like the Jube can’t destroy the mood when they get down to a stomper like Heart of Hearts or Concerning Charlie Horse. There’s little propriety to be found in an audience of nearly 2,500, full of Newfoundlanders and fellow travellers clapping away and surging toward the stage. That’s one of the fine things about Great Big Sea, whether you like them, hate them or are completely indifferent — they’re quintessentially Canadian, almost to the point where they don’t make a lot of sense outside of our borders.

That means a lot mere days after the death of Stompin’ Tom. You can take issue with the vapidity of radio hits like Ordinary Day, which they burst onto the stage with, but the band can really lay it down when it comes to a gorgeous a cappella number like Safe Upon the Shore. England and The Night Pat Murphy Died were also highlights, and excellent vocal showcases as well; in comparison The Mermaid suffered from goofy stage interplay while When I Am King teetered into cheesiness, highlighted by Alan Doyle hamming it up on the electric guitar.

It’s probably unfair to slam their performance of The Mermaid for being goofy, since goofiness is part of the band’s charm, at least when it’s not overdone. The brief apocalyptic fusion of fishing song I’se the B’y with a Goth/glam radio hit of the ’90s (I won’t reveal which) was fairly inspired, nicely underlining the story they told of their first gig here at the old Sidetrack Café. They also played an old Newfoundland television commercial that featured them performing one of their early “hits,” which was then presented in full. A nice piece of nostalgia, it’s possible they’ve done better work since.

Going Up was another harmless folk-pop trifle, the part of the band that always sounded like they were aiming to be a little brother to the Barenaked Ladies. This is the sound that got them to where they were, radio-friendly fluff that sounds fine in the background but can become tedious when heard too many times. Still, immaculately played; Great Big Sea by now have developed the kind of telepathy that only a long-term band can, one that depends as much on personal empathy as musicians’ chops.

Two decades equals two sets for this tour, and they certainly gave the audience their money’s worth, even in their choice of covers, which were as enjoyable as they were unexpected. Set two opened with a version of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door, played fairly close to the original but played with verve. If anything, these guys have the instincts of a bar band in them, knowing the line between pleasing the audience and themselves and shamelessly pandering to them. Actually, strike that — there’s pandering, but it’s done in such a loose-limbed fashion that you can’t take offence, unlike at many Rexall country shows, where you can feel your soul leaving your body in response to the patent insincerity.

For a band that’s seen their platinum records long behind them, Great Big Sea still come across as a group of friends who get a kick out of what they do. They could probably knock out another When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down) or Ordinary Day into the Canadian charts if they put their minds to it, but somehow they seem at their best when they quiet down and let the minimum instrumentation and five-part vocals do the work. At least to these ears, anyway. Maybe they’ll get another twenty years out of it.

Bootlegging From A Musician's Perspective...

I was interested to see a video of Neil Young finding a bootleg recording of a CSNY live show and others including Bob Dylan in a store and then confronts the store employee. Neil Young asks the store employee what he thinks about bootlegged records and he answers “I don't listen to records as I can't afford a record player...I only listen to tapes”. He pretends to be oblivious to what is happening in the music industry around him. And there seems to be no such thing as a bootlegged tape. Neil Young attempts to resolve the issue with the store owner.

Comments left by people justify their reason for turning to music piracy and bootlegged material while others by Quentin Rogers recognise the acceptance of and irony of bootlegging in the world today with programs like Youtube. “There is irony in this clip being on Youtube, the biggest bootlegging operation in the world”. What ever the view of the musician and whether it changes over time there will always be fans who do exactly what they want to satisfy their own needs regardless of what is in the best interests of the musician or music and justify it with explanations like I got sick of going to the store and not getting what I wanted.

The bootlegged video had had approximately 28 000 hits and was registered to Shakey Productions. They claimed exemption from copyright under the Copyright Act. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.  

 

Bas2135
How would you feel if you walked into a store and found one of your performances on a recording and you never authorized the sale of it? I think he handled it in a very cool, calm manner-better then most people would. Artists today all have to put up with this and it is wrong.

Canyongirl100

I worked on this shoot.This was a record store on Melrose Ave. in LA. and this wasn't a set up. We did it while working on the film that became Journey Through the Past. The record store guy was visibly nervous and Neil was contentious because he was pissed that people were putting out the music and it was badly recorded. He ended up taking all the records so the public wouldn't be ripped off by buying music that wasn't up to the level Neil wants.

Quentin rogers
there is irony in this clip being on youtube, the biggest bootlegging operation in the world...

ColebrookProductions
At least this is a fair use video. But aye, you have a point matey, YouTube is an ocean full-o pirates!

omarskats3000
i dont pay for any of the music i download online, but i do buy a lot of albums (and probably pay more than their worth). so i guess I am paying for the music i listen to. it all evens out. i don't think neil's being harsh. artists have principles

Artloats
ugh -- he did not just walk in this was well planned! this is 1971 and thats not a video camera, its a 16mm Film camera which at that time was very expensive per minute to Shoot / Process / Edit and you had to have skills to shoot at night like that. neil young was already rich famous rock star and he is treating these poor common retail people like dirt. and back in the day the people who bought bootleg records of concerts did it because they LOVED MUSIC .

djwragg3
Neil didn't treat the guy "like dirt"; he treated him very respectfully, especially considering that the guy was participating in ripping him and his friends off by selling their work without remunerating them.
Now don't tell me, let me guess: you think it's perfectly all right to rip people off by selling their work without paying them, right?

archibaldcuntiblast
file sharing is not the only reason record shops failed - I was one of their best customers - but I got fed up going into my local shops and not finding what I wanted - only the obvious stuff - so I gave up trying and bought online or downloaded illegally as it was the only way to get what I wanted - then there were the grossly overpriced cds putting people off buying!

Ambulanceblues83
This is classic! I've read about this being an outtake from the pseudo-doc Journey Through The Past and always wanted to see it. And I've read countless interview w/ Neil where he has no problem with bootlegs of his shows, as long as they're traded freely among fans cause he says that that's what his art thrives on, live performance. I agree w/ other posts about how well & casual he seemed to handle it. :) Long may u run, Neil

Joost van kommer
Anybody knows what bootleg that is?

Doug Van de Zande
Today we just download the misic for free rather than buy bootleg records. (I've bought more than my share of Neil Young music.)