Retitle - Bootlegs and Tour News

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

> > One thing about the Pink Floyd thing, and this is a pretty valid
> > point, is that they actually developed 'Dark Side Of The Moon' on
> > stage as they went along well before the LP saw the light of day. The
> > new material was performed, developed, re-arranged and matured in a
> > live environment which could not be done today because of bootleggers.

     I think this would depend on the nature of the bootlegging.  For
example, Phish (whom I used to follow quite closely as an undergrad in the
States) often developed new material on stage before it went to album.
They encouraged recording of their shows, and there was massive discussion
among fans comparing live tapes as the tour would progress.  Eventually,
studio versions were released and as far as I can tell album sales have
steadily increased for the band (even the live album sold like hotcakes,
which is pretty good considering the endless numbers of cassette copies of
the material already floating around--I guess people still wanted it on
CD).

     One thing I don't understand is why bootleg CD manufacturers manage to
sell high-priced bootleg CDs of live Phish material ... surely the
tape-trade recordings are so easily available that no one would want to
fork out the cash for these?  It must be a tiny, tiny market ....?

> I'm sure you are like most fans that genuinely collect old live tapes
> out of pure interest, fanticism and devotion to the band. For some, it's
> the only way they can hear/could hear how the band sounded 15 or 20
> years ago.

    Amen, says one of those who wasn't _alive_ when the band started!!  For
a person who only discovered the band in '92, I think I've got a lot of
legit releases :)

Cheers,
Carl