U2 APPEARED IN CONCERT from Pasadena's Rose Bowl and a few hours later, I was able to pull their two-hour video onto my television through the broadband straw offered by Eircom in Ireland. It wasn't perfect--several delays lasting five to ten seconds disrupted the stream. Several of my online friends didn't think watching U2 on the internet was important but for less-connected neighbours, it was a big deal to see Ireland's most successful rock band playing full screen on a TV well before the Christmas DVD was offered for sale. A few hours later, Sky TV started replaying snippets of the historic event--historic because YouTube streamed the concert across the internet to millions of viewers. On stage, Bono thanked Google for supporting the live stream. Akami Networks carried the lion's share of the burden by opening pipes to the internet for the massive transfer of CD-quality audio and broadcast television video. Around 100,000 people were inside the Rose Bowl for the concert. I'm looking for the official numbers of the viewers who watched the stream. If the clip stays up, I'm sure more than a million people will click into it and see it before the end of the month of October. (It's getting around 20,000 views a day at the moment.) And when that million are recorded on the YouTube counter, it will further cement YouTube's ability to present live events, effectively making Google into a television station that serves seven continents.
Set list below the break.
01. Breathe
02. Get On Your Boots
03. Magnificent
04. Mysterious Ways
05. Beautiful Day / In God's Country (snippet) / God Only Knows (snippet) / The Maker (snippet)
06. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet)
07. Stuck In A Moment
08. No Line On The Horizon
09. Elevation
10. In A Little While
11. Unknown Caller
12. Until The End Of The World
13. The Unforgettable Fire
14. City Of Blinding Lights
15. Vertigo / It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (snippet)
16. Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet)
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. MLK
19. Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
Encore(s):
20. One / Amazing Grace (snippet)
21. Where The Streets Have No Name
22. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
23. With Or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender
YouTube -- U2 in the Rose Bowl
Direct link to MP3: http://podcasting.ie/tracks/u2_rosebowl.mp3
