General Discussion

What if you gave a concert and the crowd refused to watch? It's not as far-fetched as it seems. As more and more concertgoers fiddle with cellphone cameras and fidget with BlackBerries, some people say mobile technology is ruining the concert experience.

Nice term here: microboredom

"It's extraordinarily irritating," says Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame. "All these people holding up these horrid little squares of bright light."

"It's like they're not even there," says jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. "It's like, 'Why don't you put that away and listen to the music?' "

"It drives me crazy," says singer Steve Earle. "They have their use, but there's definitely a price to pay."

It's not just a case of cranky baby boomers griping about the young and the restless. Plenty of younger artists and fans are also getting fed up with the tech intrusion.

Article

The concert experience is being ruined by the pathetic excuse for music.

Recording something like a bloody concert with your cellphone is like mowing your grass with a pair of scissors..idiots only record the concert...well there's a lot of them I suppose. I mean seriously, look on youtube and you'll see the quality is atrocious and completely puts you off.  If everyone used a proffesional video recorder then fair enough but cell phone all I can say is lol.

I think Dekron music preferance relies a lot on personal opinion and culture. But imho I think rock music which involves the lyrics to be "RAAAAAAAA" about 80% is shit and similarly rap music which the track about 5000 lyrics are *Ni**** and another 2000 to be "hoes"

I wouldn't say it's ruining the concert from my perspective, as long as the person in front of me isn't holding one up to record the show. I'm not a performer though, so no clue how the artists feel about it. I can say I don't understand it however. I have great memories of all the shows I've been to, and I don't need a crappy facsimile to remind me of them or to share with others.

I noticed Steve Earle was among the artists in the article. Since I have a staunch policy against pirating media  from artists I admire, I was looking on YouTube to see if there was a decent recording of him performing Galway Girl (yes I own the CD, but was looking for a live performance) and the first thing I came to was some terrible cell version. I was quite disturbed by it. I can't imagine how someone thinks they can capture the spirit of such an event on a cell phone.

The linked performance above is a quality licensed version if you care to view it 

cellphone ruining concerts? no

idiots with cellphones ruining concerts?  yes

Its not a very good concert if you actually notice the cellphones.

Originally posted by CleffyII

Its not a very good concert if you actually notice the cellphones.

Sometimes it cant be helped.