Hey YOU boy hey YOU hey YOU boy Think that YOU know what YOU'RE doing?

This is probably going to come across as very preachy and long winded, and maybe even self important, that's not my intention, I hope the average user (like me) reads this and takes something from it.

About Me: In early 2004 while surfing hubs on Direct Connect+ I came across a user who was sharing many Queen concerts in mp3, I sent this guy a message asking him where he got all those Queen concerts, he sent me a message directing me to the Queen Hub, which I quickly joined and started downloading mp3's from.

Flash forward to 2005, Queen were going on tour with PR and I had decided I was going to see them in Dublin. I had amassed quite a nice audio and video collection from the Hub by this time, mainly mp3's and VCD quality video, nothing special at all. Then I stumbled upon QZ, I quickly joined up and took part in conversations about the upcoming tour, I also figured out what torrents were and started downloading them.

My main point is, I came here with nothing to offer, nothing at all.

So, off I went to Dublin, I shot a few videos with a crappy camera and uploaded them on the forum a few days later, I was delighted, I had contributed something of my own. I had done something to contribute to the greater good of the collective.

I continued to read the forum, lots of threads about the fabled Houston 1977 video, and rumours about audio of Drammen 1982. I became interested in acquiring these recordings. So what did I do about that? Did I sit on my arse waiting for somebody to upload them? No. I started looking for them online, in every place Imaginable, I went to car boot sales, Record shops and Record Fairs. Guess what? I found them, fair enough it was on ebay, or somewhere else, but at least I was self aware in looking for them.

Here is the preachy and self important sounding bit(not my intention)

I uploaded the first copy of Houston 1977 on video, I uploaded Drammen 1982 in lossless audio, I uploaded  St Paul 1982 on DVD in the best possible quality. Very rare material that some people did not even believe existed.

I went to some shows again in 2008, Glasgow and London. I brought in a high def camera and shot both concerts as best I could. I uploaded the audio, DVD's and BluRay from the material I shot.

I know in the case of Houston and Drammen that other people had sourced these, and I just got lucky in finding them, but at least I went to the bother of independently finding them. I went to the bother of stuffing a high def camcorder down my pants going into concerts, and freely uploading the resulting material here.

Did I do it for hero status or popularity? No, I am not considered a hero nor am I considered to be popular. I did it for YOU, for the greater good of the forum, for people who were interested in collecting live recordings.

In all I have uploaded 48 torrents since 2005, lots of reposts from Dime, but also a lot of "new" material, rare material, and stuff I shot myself. I repeat, I CAME HERE WITH NOTHING TO OFFER, but didn't I do quite well considering?

It does not matter what the "Fanthology" has, It does not matter what anybody else has that YOU have not. It is up to YOU the average user to contribute material here, It is up to YOU to research in your own time the recordings that YOU want. And, why not upload them here when you find them? For the better of the collective.

So that's it, this is my point. When YOU log on to the Announce Forum and there is nothing new or interesting there it is YOUR fault, It is MY fault, It is not the fault of John S Stuart, Pittrek, Sir GH, YourValentine, etc. The forum has become boring because of YOU. It is all down to YOU. It is time for YOU to pick up the baton, It is time for YOU to stop thinking about what others have, and go and scour the earth for what YOU want. YOU must find the next Acetate to upload, YOU must find the next DVD upgrade, YOU must find the 1981 Mexico videos, YOU must find the next new audio concert or upgrade.

Queenzone will only function and be interesting if YOU the average member do something productive about it.  Stop complaining about what other people have, and do something about it. Stop bitching because others have worked hard to acquire material they do not feel like sharing.

I expect to be flamed for this, I hope one or two of you get the message though, I look forward to seeing the fruit of YOUR labour in the Announce Forum, and try like me to not break any promises in the process!

Peace and Love.
Mark.

"I did it for YOU"

Awwww shucks xx

Bravo for your brilliant post.

And had you not shared the videos you filmed in interest of accumulating more, that would be your prerogative and should be completely understood by everyone. What's yours is yours and you're free to do what you like with it. Nobody should have a sense of entitlement and condemn you for your choices.

Alas, the universal rule in life is it's easier to point the finger at others instead of taking the initiative yourself to be the change you wish to see in the world. This goes for anything - from major things like social issues to minor things like music collecting.

You're a good man, Mark.

Exactly. Well put, mark - and thank you for all you have contributed: from someone who has nowt to offer (or is too much of a shitbag to risk the consequences of sharing), I am grateful for what you have given. Cheers!

Thank you Mark.

Thank you very much.

(No sarcasm intended. I am truly thanking you.)

See what happens when we play nicely.
Thank you Mark for renewing my faith in human nature. perhaps there is hope for us afterall.

Brilliant! Thanks Mark!

(no sarcasm either)

Great post, man. I identify with it a lot.
I also started properly collecting Queen shows in 2005 because of the Q+PR tour. Before that I had several shows in MP3, very few in FLAC. I only did it for about two years or so but in the meantime I traded a few times with other collectors (through regular mail, using CDs/DVDs), dwelved a bit into the Queen hub, torrents and all. It was an interesting experience and I felt like I couldn't call myself a proper Queen "collector" if I didn't do that at least for a while.

I never felt entitled to get any rarities nor I resented anybody for not sharing what they had. Like the original poster, I eventually got to contribute in a way: I recorded the Q+PR show in Munich with another collector's gear so he could go up front and enjoy the show... also, to my knowledge, I was the original source for the MP3 of the original (withdrawn) version of "LET ME LIVE" in CD quality, you know, the one with the additional "Take another little piece of my heart now baby" chorus. I said I had it, nobody believed me and then I went ahead and uploaded it. I suspected it was rare but I nevery thought that much about it. Eventually I uploaded the lossless FLAC version as well as I didn't even know what FLAC was when I first uploaded the MP3 version. I got it from my own Made in Heaven CD. I then learned that a few of the first Mexican edition of the album had that rare version. I was lucky. Why would I not upload it? I paid less than $5 bucks for it.
This was back in the days when we already had access to decent Internet speed, torrents and all but before most rarities were a YouTube search away.

My point with the "Let me live" bit is that I felt good about sharing because I had downloaded so much free stuff before. I felt I was contributing.

Humble and magnificent post.

[QUOTE] [b]ciber_mato wrote:[/b]

Humble and magnificent post.[/QUOTE]

Yes! Nicely put :)

Well lets be honest...it's because collectors like you guys keep us Queen fans engaged. I am collecting concerts and have been for at least 4-5 years now, it's a wonderful hobby. It keeps me entertained and keeps my interest in a band where the lead singer died over 20 years ago. When Queen releases material I do not have, I grab it because I'm a fan. And as a newer collector, I appreciate all of your guys/gals efforts! QPL should too.

Exactly - that's an angle most people don't even think of. Indeed, for many people collecting keeps the interest in old bands alive.

If it wasn't for collectors unearthing new things now and again, thousands of people would've likely given up on the band since they don't release too many of things of value to those who already have all the albums.

There have been some good releases and bonus tracks, no doubt - but the majority of live and studio goodies in the past 15 years have come from underground (the Boston 76 show had people in a frenzy in 2009, more than any Queen release of the last decade).

Since these people are still in the loop for that reason, then they may purchase something new that they might not have otherwise known or cared about.

Speaking of investing, I don't think some people are aware here, but I've also been quietly investing in some very rare releases over the past few years (with a huge focus on deleted / never released on CD type of material) partly with the intent of upgrading from incredibly poor quality bootleg copies, to put it like that.

I will put up a small example within the hour to give you guys an idea exactly what I've been up to behind the scenes :-)

Example: http://media.ppnstudio.com/inu-productions/RT_IWT_Sample.flac

Excellent post!