- Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
I’m guilty of this as well in the era of the iPhone, but Maura Johnston has a thoughtful blog post on the Village Voice’s music blog discussing why we should spend less time documenting the time we’re having at concerts and more time actually experiencing the entertainment. Maybe this is my own faulty nostalgic memory, but it seems like people find all kinds of ways to avoid actually listening to music at shows these days, whether it’s through trying to capture poorly lit video with the screen in the air or playing obsessively tweeting during the set:
3. It makes you think more about documenting your experience in real time than actually having that experience.
Obviously documenting shows is something that I have to do most of the time for professional reasons, so this hits a bit close to home. But come on! You’re all experiencing something that might never happen again! Take a break from analyzing it in real time or framing the perfect shot or trying to tell everyone that you’re having the best time and just settle into the songs. (The people who you want to broadcast your night to will be there when it’s all over.) I have this problem with parties, too, actually—I’ve found that my enjoyment of an outing is inversely proportional to the number of posed shots people take during said outing.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2012.
That stupid RED ad is way too obnoxious. Somehow it is immune to my pop up blocker as well.
Please e-mail me when this ad is no longer annoying the visitors every 2 minutes. Thanks
I agree with the red ad. I tend to avoid sites with in your face ads like that. Really hope this is not to be a new trend with The Weekly.
On topic, I am guilty of this. I recorded most of the Disturbed concert from the Music as a Weapon tour last year. Dumb. You can’t hear anything that sounds remotely like music from the crappy recording. And, it took me out of a moment I will never likely experience again.
Then again, a guy a row behind me and several seats over kept yelling at me to put away my phone. He was less in the moment that I was. A small part of me continued to record just to piss him off.
hey doctors strangelove, no, no one has to record anything on a cell phone. ever. there are dvds. no one needs their phone in a theater, arena, auditorium et al. you are there for the performace or ceremony. you don’t need to check messages during an intermission or in the bath room. none of you, or anyone i’ve seen need using a cell need to be contacted or need to contact anyone about anything ever. you got a sick family member? stay home. you need to call a contact or job? walk to your car, retrieve it and use it. don’t have a car? wait til u get home. your life is just not that important enough to bother anyone around you anywhere or anytime with noise, lights and stupid talk.