Downloads on this website are done through a peer2peer program called BitTorrent. It's a small open source program which makes sharing extremely large files easier for one person on a tight budget to accomplish. The idea behind it is that while you're downloading a show, you can help out a little bit by sending the pieces you've downloaded thus far to others who are downloading. They in turn will send you pieces they have that you don't have and help you download faster.

If you think it all sounds a bit sketchy, you can read more about it.
The Original BitTorrent Homepage
Etree's BitTorrent Wiki
Brian's BitTorrent FAQ & Guide
And, as always, Google is your friend.

If you'd like to jump right in and start downloading, please note that to get the shows in a reasonable amount of time, you will really need a fast internet connection (cable modem, DSL, satellite, etc.). Otherwise you will most likely spend 48 hours of downloading time getting a single show. If you've got a fast connection and you'd like to start downloading, I'd recommend getting either the original BitTorrent, which is extremely small, compact and simple (no configuration required). Or Azureus, a Java based bittorrent client which runs on linux, OSX, and Windows. I personally use Azureus. However, that doesn't mean you have to. There are plenty of other BitTorrent programs out there that will do the job just fine. However, if you're just getting started I'd recommend sticking to one of the two I just listed. Once you have a BitTorrent client installed, simply click on one of the torrent links scattered about the site. All of the currently available shows should be listed in the "Recent Additions" box on the right side of the page with all the news on it. The most recent show should also be in one of the last few news updates and will have a link to the torrent in it. Also, any show which is currently available for download will have a BitTorrent download link below its setlist in our Music page.

Once you have let bittorrent do its thing, you'll end up with a folder full of files. Most of the time, the songs will be encoded in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), although occasionally they may be encoded in SHORTEN (file names ending with .shn) Both of these file formats are lossless compressed audio. What that basicly means is that they're high quality audio and are as close to a 1:1 copy of the show as recorded that you are likely to ever get. Most of you are probably familiar with MP3 audio compression. When you compress audio into an mp3 file, you lose a lot of information, usually at the high and low frequency end. Typicly acoustic guitar sounds, cymbols, some percussion sounds, and bass come out sounding a bit flatter and duller than they did on the original. FLAC and Shorten are widely supported and you can find programs to listen to them on pretty much all modern computers. ETree.org is a good place to look for information on lossless compression, and can even lead you to more lossless music if you'd like. Tools for working with FLAC files can be found here. The downloads at the top of that page are for a program that can decompress FLAC files to burn to CD. Further down you'll find plugins for various audio players so you can listen to FLAC files on your computer without burning them to CD. There's even a plugin for Ahead Software's Nero that will let you burn the shows to audio CD without decompressing the FLAC files. Very cool stuff. Tools for working with SHN files can be found here if you're using a PC and here if you use a Macintosh. If you're using a Windows based PC, I'd recommend grabbing MKW Tools.

Possibly. I contacted Elliott Smith's parents and informed them of my intentions and requested their permission to open this site. They gave me their blessing and granted me permission, as far as they have the license to do so, so long as no money is exchanged. I am not a lawyer, but one of the provisions of the Copyright Act (Title 17 Chapter 11), says that having the permission of Elliott Smith's estate to share live recordings should theoretically cover my butt. Lets not find out though.

I've got a lot of plans. I hope to eventually expand the live concert database to cover all of Elliott's shows so that you can simply type in a song name and find shows it was performed at. I hope to eventually complete the discography. I also hope to eventually launch a heatmiser section of the website. Sooner or later I hope to dig up enough money to afford a nice video capture card and DVD burner so that I can start transfering some VHS shows to DVD and get a nice video download and B&P thing going like we have the audio stuff going now. I'd eventually like to turn this site into a usefull tool that all Elliott Smith and Heatmiser fans can use to find out information on their favorite songs and albums. I hope to eventually list all of the songs Elliott Smith and Heatmiser wrote that were never recorded in a studio (or haven't surfaced as such). And most importantly, I hope to inspire fellow fans to start their own websites the way Sweet Adeline inspired me to make this site.

Very nice people email me and tell me that they taped an Elliott Smith show and I then proceed to beg them profusely for a copy of their recording. I've been trying to only put shows that I've gotten directly from the taper on this webiste. This helps ensure that what you download is the highest quality sound available from that recording. In the past, Elliott Smith shows were heavily traded in MP3 form, usually burned to CD, ripped, burned again, ripped, and then turned into mp3s. This resulted in a lot of skipping, sound glitches, and other such unwanted audio disturbances. I'm hoping that by getting shows directly from the tapers I can help people clean up their Elliott Smith music collection and get new fans interested in his music all at the same time. If you, or someone you know taped an elliott smith show, please email me or contact me on the message board. I would love to hear from you.