It seems that there is a new age of how we view our concerts with our favourite artists.
I want you to think about the last time you were at a concert and how many devices you saw out recording what was happening on stage. Or the next time you attend a concert I want you to take notice of how many people pull out their $800 dollar phones and record what is happening on stage. Blocking your view from the actual artist ten feet away from you.
At 23 years old I actually do remember a time when nobody took phones to concerts and the artist actually looked into the faces of the crowd and smiled.
That doesn’t happen anymore.
Instead the artist looks out into the faces of devices and smiles, barely smiles.
Our culture has shifted so heavily to online content that we don’t even watch the performance in front of us, instead we stand there with our phones out hoping to capture a moment when the artist is close.
How many people actually watch these videos back? Or share these videos out into the world?
Very few would.
Usually because the sound quality is so fucking bad and the footage is shaky because we’re trying to record and interact with the artist at the same time.
Yeah, technology has progressed and now there is better sound quality and a better quality picture, but it’s still not as good as your human eye, your smile meeting theirs and your hand shaking their own, such a basic human interaction that has been forgotten.
We have jumped into cyber space so fast that we have lost human interaction almost completely.
A culture obsessed with the selfie craze, my HTC phone even has a ‘selfie’ setting for the front camera!
A culture that would rather take a photo with somebody, anybody famous than to have a 5 minute conversation with them about how their work has inspired them, changed them, moved them. Oh no, no, no let’s take a selfie, say a quick thank you and then ran away, because that was worth it. Now let me share that photo/video online to other internet friends so I can feel validation from this experience.
The ego, it’s all about feeding the ego and having the spotlight on YOU.
Haven’t you seen the other a thousand phones held up like yours? They are taking the EXACT same footage as you and I am positive they would share it around. If you wanted to experience it again a quick Google search could find the footage taken by somebody else who might have been standing right next to you.
Next time you go to a concert I challenge you to stand there completely absorbed in the moment with the music, I challenge you to not even take your phone out and call your friend, and your friend should be there with you if it means that much.
I challenge you to not take one single video or one single photograph the entire night.
Stand right up the front of the stage if you can, hold out your hand when the artist comes near you and look into their eyes. I can guarantee they will pay more attention to you than anybody else in the crowd focusing their attention on their tiny little screens.
Images used:
Haley Lauren Smith 