Free Concerts: Another Way to While Away the Hours of the Re

Hands up if you've been to a live concert since the recession started. Me neither. Between the time you lose hitting redial for two hours to get through to a ticket agent (who's likely sold out), getting gouged for tickets if you happen to get through in time (note to sellers: "convenience fees" should really only be charged when you do something convenient. Like having enough agents to handle the phone surge), and buying the inevitably overpriced refreshments souvenir shirt, the joys of live music are not for those on a budget—whether the commodity you're short of is time, money, or both.

Until now, that is. Yesterday, U2 broadcast a concert from the Pasadena Rose Bowl live on Youtube, and for free. Better yet, the full concert will be available on YouTube's U2 page sometime in the very near future—if it isn't already by the time you read this; as of 12:00 pm ET it was unavailable, but a message advised tuning in soon. What could be better? A free "live" gig from one of the best stadium acts in the world that you can enjoy entirely at your own leisure. No phone calls, no charges, no lines to get in or out. Better yet, where the band lead others are sure to follow, so even if Bono and co. aren't your thing, maybe something more to your liking will appear somewhere down the line.

Of course, had we known about the gig in advance, we'd have included it in our Free Stuff Friday feature last week, but it entirely escaped our attention. Still, we're in good company: even The Washington Post only managed to publish a piece about it some 3 hours ahead of the gig. Given the masterpiece headline they came up with, though, one has to wonder if they didn't delay it a while to perfect their wordplay.

--Posted by Phil Stott, Associate Producer, Web Content