I’ve been going to concerts since the wee age of four, and I have seen a lot of change between even these 17 years of concerts and shows. Going to a concert in this day and age is a lot different than how our parents went to concerts.
Think back to the 60s and 70s (or imagine for those of us that weren’t there). Everyone went to a concert, drank a lot, and probably did drugs they shouldn’t have been doing. Lighters were thrown up in the air during slow songs. Everyone swayed back and forth to the music (for those on drugs, sometimes to their own beat). For an awesome example, check out the documentary Gimme Shelter by the legendary Albert Maysles that follows The Rolling Stones on their free show called the Altamont Free Concert.
I never realized how much my own concert experiences have changed over the years. I remember going to shows when I was growing up, not seeing almost any cameras in the air. Digital cameras weren’t around much growing up, and those disposable ones you get at your local drug store just didn’t cut it for those big arena shows. Lighters were still thrown in the air. Thank god.
These days we see constant cameras and phones in the air. Lighters have evolved into cell phone screens lit up or those flashlight iPhone apps. Almost entire concerts are recorded by one annoying person with their Flip cam up in the air the whole time and thrown on YouTube. I notice this a lot, and it makes me sad. I almost never bring a camera with me to shows. One reason is a fear of losing it somewhere in a mosh pit, but the other is that I don’t want to have something in the middle of myself and the artist I’m seeing. I like seeing a band right there in front of me, nothing in between.
I went to see Taking Back Sunday last night (emo throwback), and the lead singer, Adam Lazzara brought up this point a couple times in the show. He basically yelled at everyone to take their cameras down, stop filming the show, and just have fun. It was a little blunt, but I can’t help but agree. No one gives a shit about videos of a band live on YouTube. They never look or sound good. They’re pointless to watch. Just put your Flip cam down (they’re dead anyways), dance, and have a good time. It’s so much more worth it than a Facebook album of 300 pictures that no one will look at.
