Today in winning the Internet: When eight-year-old Dylan Spoering put up a sign in his front yard in Minneapolis, MN advertising a free piano concert he planned to play on Saturday afternoon, he had no idea he would be performing for a big crowd. But it caught the eye of local musician Thomas Rehbein, and it charmed the pants off him — so thanks to a Facebook event Rehbein created in response, Dylan ended up playing to a crowd of hundreds. See? The Internet can be used for the powers of good!
“I have no idea who Dylan Spoering is,” Rehbein wrote on the Facebook event page, “but he made this sign and put it out in his front yard, which I saw while biking home. Wouldn’t it be cool if a bunch of people showed up for his free concert?” Yes. Yes it would be. And that’s exactly what happened, according to local news station KARE 11. Some 400 people showed up to listen to Dylan play, cheering him on and holding up signs that said things like, “I liked Dylan before he had a full band.” Even better, attendee Travis Lee broadcast the concert to UStream, allowing thousands more to watch Dylan tickle the ivories (well, plastics. He played a keyboard, because who the heck has time to lug a full-fledged piano outside?). As of this writing, the concert has been viewed over 42,000 times. Not bad for a budding musician, right?
"I just wanted to play for people, just wanted to play for free and now I'm famous," Dylan said to WPTV News.
"When people see something that's really cute and heartwarming, people from different walks of life can get behind, I can see how it took off," Rehbein said.
Watch the recorded concert below — and if you’re curious about Thomas Rhebein, you can take a listen to his band International Karate’s tune “Sad Robot” online, too. Music for all!
