I think in the past, he's mentioned that as long as no money is exchanged and it's free, it's cool...and if money is being exchanged, it's theft/unauthorized sale of intellectual property and definitely not cool, not to mention a terrible thing to do to a musician. Thr full Taping Policv is stated at the top of the "Trading Post" area in the forums.

Sometimes, venues want to cover their backsides, and forbid taping across the board at all their concerts. That's fine...but unless they're walking people through airport style metal detectors, it will be impossible to control that. There's a couple venues here that actually do bag checks...they paw through your purse to keep cameras and recording devices out...but they don't check coat pockets, bras or jean pockets. Guess where my Edirol is??

So far, the only place I know of here where they scan you for taping devices/cameras is at XM Studios in DC.

At the Birchmere, they also paw through your belongings to confiscate cough drops, life savers, etc. (I know this because one friend had a small bag of candy confiscated by them) because, you know, if you've got that kind of nutritious fare with you, you wouldn't want to eat their food. It's a bit ridiculous, imho.

The show in AA sounds neat. I'm looking forward to the one at the Birchmere, but we have to wait till March. At least that'll give me time to make sure there's no candy in my bag.

Ann Arbor is referred to as A squared, which I cannot write here, but is a capital A followed by a superscript 2, a tip to the intellectual activity going on there, and generall not AA , the place you end up after living in the dorms too long....

Someone asked on FB if he minded them posting a video and he said something to the effect "as long as it is good" and Sue's admonition about not for profit holds for most who have tape-friendly acts.

Just my 22.22 cents as a 'free all the prisoners' pirate who will video if he can because then he can take the music home and study their chops:

a) if it's a friendly house and they say no, probably a good idea to honor that. If they are being bastards, your call. Just my opinion. The venues that send people through the audience nabbing cell phones in the hands of old folk get on my bad side. As you say, the tech is so ubiquitous now it's a losing battle anyway and some really fine performances would be lost to the air otherwise. Some performances are being taped for later release to TV or DVD. If that's the case, a short friendly speech from the house or the artist asking us to refrain is greatly appreciated. Good people honor it and the bad people have karma.

b) if you plan to put it up on the web and can, take it home and do an edit pass. Handheld cameras can actually capture good audio if you're sitting in the right spot but unless you come prepared, a hand held video is going to shake. Fortunately, there is some decent free deshaker software out there such as, voila, Deshaker. It takes an avi file and works magic at a bit of penalty for focus but better a little fuzzy than more shaky. An AVI is huge so a format convertor is necessary. I use it as a Sony Vegas plugin. With a video editor, you can play zoom and pan games that give it a bit more entertainment value than a single distance shot, you can add photos to cover really bad shaking and shots of logos that shouldn't be there or give a little history to the song, lessen the effect of people walking in front of you, add a bit of animation, titling and credits. I try to remember to give label credit for the music so people know where to go get the official good stuff.

Video editors such as Sony Vegas link directly to audio editors such as Adobe Audition and also include their own audio plug in filters. The plug in defaults are actually pretty good. If you play with these, a bit of compression, some eq and a noise filter can clean up a live cut nicely and get rid of some room noise. As always, K.I.S.S. because the artist usually already did their best to work with the board folk to get a good live sound. My advice is to stay away from reverb and delays so the room breathes correctly.

c) Artists don't always control rights to songs they perform. You can get a take down notice from a publisher that has nothing to do with the artist. Take it down.

d) I wish video friendly artists had sites to collect this stuff in one place. YouTube works fine and I ask that only because I feel that mixing the stuff into my own work is drafting on a popular artist's good nature and name. Morally dubious....

I was very nervous about posting those and haven't posted any from the Guthrie Center gig. I have considered editing one or two of Johnny and Sarah because they are really good live but haven't. They are a younger act and may not like it and I told George I wouldn't post from that gig anyway. I jam with it though. It's like sitting in the living room with the family.

well i guess having a plate of bisghetti in my purse would be out too then...

humph!!

The Ark is so throttled back, if you came thru like this, it would be " Move aside, Lady with bisghetti coming through !"

ha ha ha thats funny MG , thats what i was thinking and did not know just how to word it. you nailed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqduZjyvf-0

Arlo! The man knows his way around a 12-string.

You know, Agnes, that's a thought. I bet if you went into the Birchmere with a decoy plate of bisghetti then the small bag of candy would probably slip right past 'em.

Normally he doesn't mind taping. Maybe it was the Ark? I'd never heard that story about Jackie and Coming Into LA. Neat story. I hope I get to hear him tell it sometime. Hint, Hint.

bonus!

Just put the cookies, candy or tupperware full of bisghetti in your coat pocket at the Birchmere...they won't look there. You can also claim it's medically necessary. I don't think it's legal for them to take away your cough drops. They don't sell those, and coughing irritates everyone.
I just avoid those issues, and make sure whatever purse I have with me is squeaky clean (or very small and can only handle money and a credit card)...and all things they're looking for are safely stowed elsewhere.

Sue, you know that will only work if there are no mushrooms in your bisghetti.

They're searching hoping to find some weed. LOL. Just kiddin.

Medically necessary might work...but be very careful. Rumor has it that a work colleague (someone I don't know very well and whose demeanor could have been questionable for all I know) tried to get them to allow his girlfriend's cough drops in and has now been "banned for life" from the venue.