On August 29, 1966, The Beatles–- sick of touring and playing to massive stadiums where their music was drowned out by screams and the meaning of their songs lost by the spectacle of it all-- played their last live show. At least, until 1969, when they were back-- but this time on the roof of their Saville Row headquarters. There, amongst the people, they played rebelliously before the police stopped them, where they felt most content-- a performance stripped to its very core.

More recently, on the Internet, something has started to rumble from the depths that harkens back to this memorable event. The ripples began at the French site, La Blogotheque, set up by Vincent Moon, a French filmmaker and music aficionado, and Christophe ‘Chryde’ Abric-- where a project called "Concerts a Emporter" or Take-Away Shows attempts to carry on where The Beatles left off and bring music back to where it began-- amongst the people in the streets. These Take-Away shows, getting back to the basics, document bands strolling around Paris and playing unplugged sets, whereby the bands are forced to improvise and work only with what they have at the moment. Thus far on his roster, the likes of Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Beirut, The Shins and R.E.M. have already been brought out into the open.

Moon has filmed and edited all of 81 of the Takeaway Shows up to this point, but his heavy workload and healthy increase in outside interest is rapidly changing that. "Recently we had more and more people asking us if they could film bands in their own town," explains Moon, "something we ran with and now call the Split Series, but this is going to change and evolve soon, as we're going to create a bigger website where people can send their videos from all over the world."

The limits Moon imposes upon himself are the source of much of the magic in his films. Every session is one continuous shot, with minimal editing, and the whole thing is filmed live in a strictly short time frame. The bands are forced to improvise and be spontaneous, only working with what they have with them at the time. This pared-down, DIY approach allows bands that have become used to huge entourages and enormous audiences to be playful with their music again, giving the viewer a uniquely privileged insight into the way the intimate workings of bands–- exposing them on the most basic, lo-fi levels. Moon says: "I hate official ways of exhibiting art forms, music, cinema, contemporary art-- I can understand museums if we talk about the past, but not about today's life-- and venues are more and more like the 'standard' and official way of showing music to people."

So what inspired Moon’s escape to the streets? "I love it when bands try to break this distance. Many acts are researching to establish another relationship with people. The 'revelation' of this appeared clearly to me after an Arcade Fire gig in Paris. When the band finished its concert in the street, they began walking around in the Oberkampf area for ten minutes. Suddenly, being on the same level, the same ground, was the most exciting experience we could have as spectators - and at the same time, we were not spectators anymore."

Moon has already said that the Takeaway Shows are going to evolve, but he believes it is time for someone else to take on the duties-– presumably for fear that his style will become just as mundane as the venues he so disdains. "I've been able to tell all I wanted to tell with this project," he says,"Now, I just hope some other people are going take those ideas and bring them further."

~Christopher Harding