Reader Request: Cameras at Concerts
June 4th, 2008 - by Eddie
The other day I read an interesting article in the Dallas Morning News with the headline “Are Cellphones Ruining the Concert Experience?”
I immediately read it and found artists like Feist, Roger Waters, Steve Earle, and Ice Cube all bitching about playing a show and seeing a sea of cell phone/digital cameras in the audience instead of faces. Yup, you read that right. They are pissed that you’re taking a picture or video of them. Maybe it’s because they believe part of their soul gets taken away. Or maybe they just don’t want their fans to document their experience.
I’m sorry, but I barely feel any pity for musicians who don’t want their picture taken at a concert, especially when fans are paying more for tickets these days. If you really don’t like it, pull a Kanye West and put on a show with an insane light show that makes picture taking impossible, even for the New York Times.
The article also had Michael Stipe saying “It’s a really interesting trend – instead of clapping, they’re blogging.” You know what’s more interesting than that? REM joining the trend by allowing their fans to post pictures/reviews/video of their shows directly on their website.
As one of the many who suffers from a “strange archiving addiction” (thanks Feist), I took immediate offense to the comments these artists made in the article.
I am not “micro-bored” at shows. Nor am I there to take a video so I can have the highest views on my Youtube account. A concert is about an experience and people want to share that experience with others.
Is there harm with taking a video of a Led Zeppelin concert, especially when most of the world won’t be able to see it?
Or what about Pink Floyd? Do you not want fans to see little snippets of your show that may inspire them to buy some merchandise from you?
Or is a concert now a closed-off thing, that only the elite who can afford to pay the rising ticket prices can see?
If so, that’s bullshit. This site is about sharing that concert experience with our fellow drunkards, bloggers, fans, musicians and writers.
Though, I’ll be honest. When someone is taking a video, my eyes do tend to wander over to their tiny screen, lit up in the darkness with the tiny images and, at times, it can be a bit annoying. But, at the end of the night, I’m thankful for that person because 9 times out of 10, the moment I loved from the concert will be up on Youtube the following week.
Thankfully, the article wasn’t all one-sided. Billy Bragg, who is now a hero to this site, stuck up for music fans and their documentary tendencies.
“My bottom line is communication,” says English rocker Billy Bragg. “If they want to capture a photo of me and send it to a friend who can’t be at the gig, I don’t have a problem with that.”
So, readers of 52 shows, what are your thoughts? Are you using your camera or phone at show because you’re bored or cause you care? And any words for the artists who don’t want to look into a sea of cameras/phones?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I spent most of last year documenting a snippet of every single music performance I went to (you can see them all here: http://yvynyl.blogspot.com). I had to stop because I was getting way too into the video taking and not enough into the music listening, dancing, meditating, enjoying. I would stress when I was at a concert and didn’t have my camera. It was crazy. I would think (actually, I still do), “oh shit, I won’t remember this 10 years from now.” As you say, it’s a ’strange archiving addiction’.
I forced myself to stop doing it after I had 20+ videos waiting to be uploaded, tagged and embedded and I just couldn’t do it. And you know what? Now I just listen. And enjoy. It’s awesome.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Oh, you poor successful musicians have to suffer so much from seeing our cameras and cell phones up in the air.
I can’t believe they threw in Ray Davies! That song is not about cameras at concerts.
Way to go Billy Bragg for having a BRAIN.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I get the feeling that the bands complaining about this aren’t the ones who are starved for attention. If a young band has an amazing live show but nobody goes out to see them, some videos on youtube could be just the thing to spread the word. The big bands, meanwhile, are probably afraid people will pass up going to shows because they can just watch them online.
Personally, I like the idea of being able to look and find a recording of a show I was at. Concerts are fleeting, so it’s nice to have something to cure my nostalgia.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I’ve been to many concerts. Those who allow cameras and those who don’t.
I must say that the ones that do allow cameras are more fun to be at.
But at those concerts there’s this beautiful balance. One that leaves you and the performer really relaxed at the end of the show.
There are already restrictions of your freedom now with all of the security measures that are in place now, but cameras shouldn’t be one of them.
For one thing people are making millions of dollars on scrapbooking even with the economy going down the tube.
So, why stop fans, fans who spend their precious money on their concert tickets, CDs, iPod downloads, cell phone ringtones, the gas to get to your show …from taking images at a show?
Sure there’s the quality of a performance thing from video from a person’s cell phone being posted on the Net.
But, seriously that’s not going to harm a performer any less because it’s cell phone quality and you can tell that right off the bat.
Maybe it’s not some live recording on a CD, but fans also pay big bucks for those CDs and love them. And still like to be able to show their friends, ‘Hey look I was here, listen.’ That two minute long, crappy cell phone video, can cause that friend to want to check out that musician.
Pretty soon they’re downloading songs, buying CDs, buying tickets to shows.
Ok, but here’s the thing.
There has to be a compromise.
I can see where flashes and cellphones can get to be too much.
But restricting them altogether is taking away from a fan wanting to preserve a very special experience, or connection that they have with that music and the artist.
So, the balance could be, ‘Hey fans during this song and that song and my finale I’d love more than anything if you take all of the photos that you want and use your cellphones as much as you’d like.
But, out of respect to my craft and to me if you could please limit the picture taking during the rest of the show it will be enjoyable for you and me both.’
Musicians, after all, are only people. And who doesn’t get the jitters during their first song? I’m sure even the best of them will tell you they still do.
I know I do and I’m only an amateur and having cameras flashing really can be quite a distraction.
Musicians also deserve to be able to see their fans and not a see of cameras non-stop throughout their shows …they’re taking their time out to connect with you and give you the best night that they can.
But, again just like anything else. There needs to be a balance. An easy solution.
And, at least cell phones can’t start the person’s hair next to you on fire, like lighters used to.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I am a singer.
I believe that fans, and their behavior, is part of the job of a performer.
Therefore, I believe that it should be considered flattery when someone wants to document your performance and relive it again and again!
http://www.myspace.com/forpeaceforlove
http://www.myspace.com/4peace4love
June 6th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Just as a sidenote, this seems like a fairly one-sided discussion given where its taking place: if you’re already here, participating in a site dedicated to live music, than you’re probably very much for pictures and videos of shows. That statement doesn’t add much to the discussion, but I just find it kind of a funny topic for “discussion” here.
Also, I am wondering what people who are old enough to remember going to shows before cell phones were owned by nearly everyone think about this. I am that old, and I remember having to actually, you know, just remember the show without. Those shows live in my memory as special things, imperfect things that become exagerated with time perhaps, but nonetheless help to define my musical experience. I don’t necessarily think that online photos of shows cheapen the experience, but I do think it’s interesting that there’s this sense of entitlement by people, people that would construe the wishes of performers as merely “complaining.”
Also, note that the people that don’t like seeing phones and digital cameras at shows are people that have been performing for far longer than camera phones existed. They came up playing, with the exception of Feist, to audiences that weren’t all watching their phones rather than the performers. Possibly, like those of us that are also older fans, these artists have a veiw of the live experience as one that the artist and the audience take equal part in: they perform, and we react, often feeding that performance with our energy. It’s a give and take, something that I think some artists would say gets lost when everyone is more worried about pictures for their blogs.
I also remember that many clubs and performers had policies about photos, most of which required people to just tell someone in charge that they were going to take pictures. It’s not an unreasonable policy, and one that I think many people could respect. Maybe this is what’s needed now, some kind of policy, or balance as Karen stated, that allows for pictures, but also respects an artist’s wishes to not see hundreds of faces obscured by phones and cameras.
I do have to say, finally, that I find the angry reactions of some people to the opinions of these performers rather strange. Why shouldn’t they feel one way or the other? And why shouldn’t their wishes, even if they don’t allow you to do what you want, be respected? And why shouldn’t they get to have a say in how their live experience goes? If one artist wants people to take pictures, then cool; if another doesn’t, then that’s cool too. Yes, they have a career because of us, their fans, but we are also lucky enough to have these performers. So, again, I’m not sure where this sense of entitlement as fans comes from.
June 7th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Jeremy - your comment about the visitors to this site having a bias is probably correct. But I’d say that your comment shows there’s room for all points of view here. I’m glad you decided to add your opinion.
As for complaining about artists complaining — that sure is a lot of complaining
I guess it just comes off as a little pompous when artists who have made quite a comfortable living on popular culture start to knock popular culture. It’s a little bit like television stars complaining that too many kids are watching videos on the internet rather than paying attention to their shows. My response is - so what?
There’s lots of content producers and artists creating out there. All of them are fighting for smaller and smaller slivers of attention. It’s a little bit sad that somebody like Steve Earle would have a much tougher time carving out a niche in this climate. But that’s the state of the world.
You can fight against it. Or you can ignore it. And you could easily do this toiling in obscurity. But if you want to make a living from the masses, then you’d better be prepared to accommodate them.
Fighting the tide is partly why the music industry is so far in the shitter right now. For years they have been fighting digital distribution. They could’ve embraced it right away and built a marketplace in the form of a reliable distribution channel. Instead they helped to create a generation of people who think its “uncool” to pay for content.
So now that I’ve strayed completely off point — I’ll try to bring it back. If you want to sell something to customers, it’s pointless to argue with what they want.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Getting your mug-shot taken as an artist is cool, as long as the fans are actually watching the show!
Whiny artists aside, a fan holding up a camera trying to capture a show takes away from that fan’s ability to experience and be a part of what’s on stage. I know when I’m asked by bands I know to try and take photos or video, I’m distracted from the show, as my focus is on trying to get the lighting or the angle right (or figure out how to work the stupid camera!) I do this for them so that they can promote themselves, so in that regard, it is VERY helpful for them!
Fans going to shows just to film instead of watch seems to be a function of the “raised by TV” generation where people would rather sit in front of a screen instead of interacting with real live humans.
You can’t fight people taking a picture or video, but I say watch the show and experience the moment, because the real thing will always be WAY better than the photos or your lo-fi cell phone camera video.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Phones at concerts have gotten to that point where all once good ideas go…the annoying place. I was there at Aerosmith and thought it was fun when Steven Tyler reached into the crowd and took some girl’s phone and sang into it for a few seconds. I have a taken a photo or two at a club where one of my favorite artists was playing. You may feel it makes me a hypocrite yet I feel it makes me the perfect person to say that it needs to stop. The live performance is always better relived in memory. The experience grows with nostalgia the further away it gets. It says,” remember that time at Buffett when we set up a putting green where a hole-in-one won a shot?” Yet it has now gotten in the way of truly experiencing the live event. Now I am tired of going to shows and getting jostled ( yes I said Jostled) by someone trying to get the picture they want or trying to share the concert with thier friend who just couldn’t make it. Well if it meant something then they would have made it. The frame in your mind will always be worth more than the thousand words you might be able to come up with from the image in your camera phone…yet I digress