I know, I know, this post has nothing to do with France. 

BUT, it does have to do with the creative use of smart phone technology and online video marketing -- and indie bands from Brooklyn. Two things I'm very interested in at the moment.

Plus, I thought maybe you could all use a breather from all the heavy French politics going on at the moment.

For those of you who haven't already heard, Brooklyn-based band Atomic Tom debuted a video on YouTube last week of the group performing their song "Take Me Out" on the New York City subway. 

The catch? The band used no instruments -- they used Apps. 

At last count, the video had 2,200, 507 views on YouTube.

The idea came from the lead singer's 24-year-old brother, who invited some of his friends along for a ride on the B-train, and asked them to bring their iPhones. 

The whole thing was low budget, relatively easy to produce and had massive benefits for the band. The clip has been blasted all over Twitter, Facebook, the blogosphere, and even "serious news outlets." 

For additional coverage on the story, check out this great article from The New York Daily News.

I've watched the video a few times, and can't get the song out of my head. I might even download it on iTunes, I like it that much.

So yes, I know this post may seem random, since all I seem to care about is France, food and markets. But I think this tale is a great example of what our generation has managed to do with modern technology. 

We're sharing! And getting creative! All is not lost!

(And OK, yes, this is also another one of the millions of examples out there as to why Apple is just plain awesome.)

I encourage everyone to watch the video, get inspired, and go out there and make some music. 

Or if you're like me, you'll have to go out there and buy an iPhone first.

This weekend I was lucky enough to enjoy two lovely nights of music in Paris. 

The first: a massive benefit concert with celebrity A-list hosts, over 3,000 people in attendance and a wide variety of musical acts. The second: a much smaller venue in the Oberkampf area of Paris, with free admission and standing room only. This post will focus on the first event, but more to come in the next few weeks on the second (pending a potential interview with one of the performers).

Thanks to a friend of a friend (although I now like to think that we're friends in our own right -- he's tagged in at least nine of my Facebook photos), a small group of us got discounted tickets to attend the Peace One Day concert at Le Zenith this past Friday.

According to their website, Peace One Day is an organization "working to institutionalize Peace Day [September 21st], making it a day that is self-sustaining, an annual day of global unity, a day of intercultural cooperation on a scale that humanity has never known."

Oh, and even better than world peace, did I mention that the event was hosted by Jude Law and Sharon Stone??? Yes ladies, from what I could see Jude is just as handsome in person. Sadly I didn't make it backstage to check for any sightings of Sienna Miller (or the nanny).

The line up for the evening was pretty eclectic: the concert opened with French singer Yodelice, then a short but enjoyable set from Vanessa Paradis (sadly, Johnny Depp was a no-show). The first act closed with Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour and his backing band. N'Dour was by far the most dynamic act of the evening, and kept the crowd on their feet for most of his set.

After about a 20-minute intermission it was already past 10pm, so the second act seemed to drag a bit. But popular French singer "M" (who is essentially attempting to harness Hendrix and Prince simultaneously), opened the second half and kept my full attention for most of his set (even though I had no clue who he was). 

After giving Nigerian-German singer-songwriter Ayo. a chance to show her stuff, Patti Smith belted out a few tunes, and was the first act of the night to play a song I actually knew (although Paradis did perform a lovely rendition of "Hallelujah", which I'm also familiar with). 

I have to admit, I left about one minute into the closing act to avoid insane metro traffic. English performer Charlie Winston is apparently not that popular in his home country, but massive in France. Needless to say, 0ur group of four Anglophones had no problem walking out, leaving the French masses to revel in unoriginal pop riffs and cheesy lyrics.

I will continue to discuss highlights and my overall perspective about this event in my next post. For now, feel free to check out additional photos I took at the concert. It was a bit tough to get nice shots with that massive crane in the way. But I did my best!