If you were on Interference during the Vertigo tour, you likely remember the live audio streams of many of the shows. Thanks to a mix of mobile phones, Skype, and Shoutcast, we were able to hear shows live for the first time -- albeit, not with the best sound quality in the world. It was a lot of fun and I think made us feel more connected to the tour. I remember saying that for the next tour, however, we should have the technology to kick things up a notch.
I am very happy to report that we do indeed have that technology now. There are now services that will enable us to reliably stream both the audio and video from all of the shows in real-time. The quality of the audio will be immensely better, and the video isn't bad either. The requirements are no higher than they were last time -- a higher end mobile phone (ideally one with 3G). This is possible using services like Qik (
Qik | Share Live Video From Your Mobile Phone) and Kyte.tv (
Kyte Mobile). They provide the software that runs on your phone and they host the stream for everyone to watch (live) through their Flash-based player. Oh yeah, and it's all free too
While the tour is still a couple of months off, I would like to start organizing now. I honestly believe that we can have a live stream of literally every show of the tour. All we need is one or more people with a capable mobile phone (
Qik | Supported Devices has a good list) that's willing to hold up their phone during the show. I will help get everything setup, but it should be fairly straightforward. Once the tour dates are announced, we can start figuring out who can commit to what shows. Until then, I urge everyone to become familiar with these services as that will make things smoother going forward.
We have the opportunity to broadcast every U2 show across the globe, live. Let's do it
(this may not be the appropriate forum -- feel free to relocate the thread)