Rare and Live Rock Performances at Wolfgang's Vault

This is pretty nifty. From Billboard.com:

A wealth of vintage performances from some of rock's biggest names will hit the Internet "airwaves" tomorrow (Feb. 8) via Wolfgang's Vault. The rock memorabilia site's Vault Radio will go live at 10 a.m. PT with about 75 songs culled from thousands of hours of tapes from the archives of legendary promoter Bill Graham.

Located in a 22,000-square foot warehouse in San Francisco, Wolfgang's Vault boasts authentic concert materials from such artists as Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, U2, Tom Petty, Jimi Hendrix and the Who.

The cache was obtained for more than $5 million in 2003 by entrepreneur Bill Sagan, who named it in honor of Graham, who was born Wolfgang Grajonca. Graham died in a 1991 helicopter crash.

Here's why this is so cool. Being a nutso Who fan, I know a fair amount of collectors who will spend obscene amounts of money on rare audio and video by the band, and then guard it with their lives. They'll never play it for more than a chosen few, and will certainly never share it. I'm not saying that it's wrong for them to do so. But to take all this great, rarely seen and heard footage and stream it for free - that's just a really great thing.

Currently in rotation at Wolfgang's Vault. Look at that list! Springsteen! Dylan! Pre-Wuss Chicago! And of course, all links point back to the memorabilia they're selling. That's fine with me. It's just nice to finally hear some of this stuff.