Should cameras/phones be banned from concerts?

TheIrishGrover

If there's one thing that gets on my nerves at concerts it's the amount of phones being used to record a concert (And especially those gobsh1tes with freakin' ipads). Cameras I can live with but phones........ That's all you can see in a concert these days. No interaction from the crowd, everybody keeping their hands as still as possible, some watching the concert itself through the screens themselves.

Look at the Led Zeppelin reunion concert. I was lucky enough to get a ticket for myself and my brother and it was probably the first time I noticed all the phones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

Now look at Queen's Radio Gaga performance at Live Aid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKwU9UWrn_U

Everyone getting stuck in. Looks amazing. What a rush that must have been. (Like the rest of the world, I was glued to our tiny tele watching it)

dan1895

And how do you propose policing such a policy?

Although I agree with you that concerts are full of fools watching it through their phone.

Jester252

So phones should be banned because you don't like them?

Festy

Yes and they should be banned from pubs and clubs too.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Phones should be banned. Full stop. Two empt cans and a few miles of string, do ya good.

FameHungry

I went to a concert last year and I remember some people constantly had the phones out. Seriously, watch the damn thing ffs

Pisses me off so much :mad:

skeleton_boy

If we're getting rid of phones at concerts can we also get rid of couples?

Wacker The Attacker

They shouldn't be banned.

However, if someone obscures your view while filming or taking a photo then it should be legal to shove the phone up their hole.

Peregrine

No, some stupid people should be banned.


From everywhere.

WoollyRedHat

NO YOU FILTHY TOTALTARIAN FASCIST!!!!!! *Snap*

Augmerson

Just sensible use is all. If you are in the front rows, don't bother. Maybe take a pic now and then. If you want to record stuff, do it from the back, out of the way, out of anyones view.

kraggy

Even before social media and piracy, I've always been of the opinion that recorded music should act as a taste so that, if people want more, then they should pay a good price for a live version performance of same.

Even in Sbakespearian times it worked like that. Why should the record companies get to rip us off, and the artists, just so they can fill their pockets?

In my life, I heard Little Green Cars for the first time recently. I will go out of my way to pay to see them live, doing what they like doing themselves, but I'm not gonna pay Columbia or Sony or whoever a pile of my own cash, just so some ****wit can cream money off me for buying a product said dick had no input into making.

The money and appreciation should go directly to the artist.

That's why I think Radiohead were part of a new movement whereby listeners are given the power when it comes to rewarding the bands they like.

i.e in rainbows.

The power and money has been taken away from the men in suits who stole from us for decades.

Internet and digital ftw.

Rabies

I'm sure there was people in the Queen concert with a tape deck recording it all

TheIrishGrover

kraggy wrote: »

Even before social media and piracy, I've always been of the opinion that recorded music should act as a taste a d that if people want more, then they should pays good price for a live version performance of same.

Even in Sbakespearian times it worked like that. Why should the record companies get to rip us off, and the artists, just so they can fill their pockets?

In my life, I heard Little Green Cars for the first time recently. I will go out of my way to pay to see them live, doing what they like doing themselves, but I'm not gonna pay Columbia or Sony or whoever a pile of my own cash, just so some ****wit can cream money off me for buying a product said dick had no input into making.

The money and appreciation should go directly to the artist.

That's why I think Radiohead were part of a new movement whereby listeners are given the power when it comes to rewarding the bands they like.

i.e in rainbows.

The power and money was taken away from the men in suits who stole from us for decades.

So.......... yes or no? Let's not get into the whole concert price V album V whatever debate. Start another thread for that

C.K Dexter Haven

No- and music companies will make millions out of it- in fact, the day people stop taking fotos of concerts and uploading them is they day music companies will start paying people to do so- publicity is everything for bands these days

7ofBrian

I was at a Muse gig recently and some twat in front of me pulled out an iPad and started recording! Put a stop to that quick sharp with a pint poured down his back. Best 6 euro I ever spent.

Grayditch

I think to actively ban them might be a bit much, but I certainly wish that people would just decided themselves to stop.

I always find it funny when you see someone in front of you recording the gig and you sort of want to say, see that video, that's exactly how you saw that performance. Through a tiny screen, while filming a video that NOBODY is going to watch.

They might have though they captured a memory of the gig, but they never got to really experience the memory they think they filmed, becuse they were busy filming the memory they wanted to keep!

They have to stand still and concentrate on other things than the song, I just find that mental.

Jimoslimos

7ofBrian wrote: »

I was at a Muse gig recently and some twat in front of me pulled out an iPad and started recording! Put a stop to that quick sharp with a pint poured down his back. Best 6 euro I ever spent.

Well done! If I was there I would have gladly reimbursed you the cost of that pint. Phones I can tolerate, but a fcuking iPad :mad:

whirlpool

Yes. Nobody looks back on videos/photos of concerts, not really. People use photos/videos of concerts solely to prove to others that they're "having a great time." Why? Who gives a f***?

We all already have our own built-in photo-albums, it's called a memory. Time to start using it and stop ruining concerts.

Reiketsu

I don't film or take photos at gigs because I know everyone else is doing it. I'm too busy having a great time for all that!

whirlpool

Reiketsu wrote: »

I don't film or take photos at gigs because I know everyone else is doing it. I'm too busy having a great time for all that!

So many people nowadays are much less concerned with enjoying themselves and are far more concerned with making it look like they're enjoying themselves. How sad is that?

nocoverart

Yes and no. Yes, when I'm at the concert/gig. No, when I'm on YouTube

ardle1

Yes I think phones should be banned, yeah from the likes of yourself so you don't phone the PHONE GARDAI on us when we take a wee harmless snap.

monkeysnapper

Wow I can't believe people actually use I pads , I agree, you can mostly get a concert on a tour on video and thoughs videos nearly always end up on YouTube . I even got a queen concert downloaded from YouTube .

So enjoy your 70 do quid you spent paying to watch them for Christ sake.

Gremlinertia

Taking a few pics is fine by me, but why the hell video the whole thing? There is almost always various backstage photographers etc in front of barriers and backstage, find their websites and you're sorted.. Why would you pay into a gig to watch it through a viewfinder and possibly get an elbow in the back of the head (and i won't be sorry)

MadsL

Perhaps the crime of criminal damage could be suspended in relation to phones at gigs. I propose a warning/disaclaimer printed on a ticket vis By purchasing this ticket you waive all property rights to audiovisual recording equipment which may be taken from you by any member of the audience once in plain sight and smashed into itty bitty pieces by repeated stomping or hurled under the feet of the mosh pit Thank you for your co-operation.

On a related note I sometimes attend local Native American feast days. Photography and sketching is strictly forbidden and your are warned that cameras and cell phones should be left in the car and that if found on you will be confiscated. You will be told this about six times and pass at least 3 signs.

Still, there's always one idiot. I saw a fantastic confiscation one time, the 'clowns' or "laughter-makers" at some pueblos often 'chastise' the naughty, a bit of a joking punishment, splashing with water and the like, and they scare the kids into behaving - however this time they spotted a tourist who had brought an iPad: they snatched it from her and pretty much re-enacted the monkey scene from 2001, all screeching at the iPad and being scared by it. Touching it then freaking at it, all in pantomime. They had the whole peublo and tourists roaring with laughter. In a nutshell, they were saying, what are we f.cking savages/monkeys for you to photograph? The woman tourist was also all full of her rights demanding it back which was even funnier. The iPad then got passed around for everyone to get a look at before it disappeared, doubtless to reappear on eBay to boost tribal funds.

Amazing how many oblivious people think the world doesn't exist beyond their camera lens. A unique event in front of their eyes and all they think the world needs is another crappy shaky youtube video.

7ofBrian

7ofBrian wrote: »

I was at a Muse gig recently and some twat in front of me pulled out an iPad and started recording! Put a stop to that quick sharp with a pint poured down his back. Best 6 euro I ever spent.

Wow. What a douchey thing to do.

TheIrishGrover

Deleted User wrote: »

Wow. What a douchey thing to do.

I know....... a f*cking IPAD!!!!!

7ofBrian

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Wow. What a douchey thing to do.

I have absolutely no regrets and would do it again in a heart beat. I paid 70 euro for a ticket. Why should I have my night ruined by some dickhead who wants to show crappy shaky footage with fack all recognisable sound to someone who, if they were interested, would be there themselves. A phone I could let slide do long as its not in my face for the whole show. But a fcuking iPad??? No way.

cometogether

Yeah I think so. What always gets me is the look of absolute disgust that you get off someone who is filming on an iPhone near you and you bang into them or brush against them, as happens at gigs. What do they expect, a three yard exclusion zone around them so that they can be free to film the whole gig? And also from the point of view of the person actually filming, they're missing out on so much with regards to the experience of the gig imo.

SparkySpitfire

7ofBrian wrote: »

I have absolutely no regrets and would do it again in a heart beat. I paid 70 euro for a ticket. Why should I have my night ruined by some dickhead who wants to show crappy shaky footage with fack all recognisable sound to someone who, if they were interested, would be there themselves. A phone I could let slide do long as its not in my face for the whole show. But a fcuking iPad??? No way.

Yet you couldn't have told them this before pouring a pint down their back?

FortuneChip

Fair enough a few photographs, but recording the whole thing on a phone or whatever is ridiculous.
I've a friend or two that film everything, and it's fairly annoying.
It's like they're more interested in letting people know they're there than actually be there.
I'm sure a lot of people don't even watch these videos again, save when they make you watch it when they next see you, "Yeah, great... If I wanted to watch it, I would have went. It would have been better quality too"

I don't think they need to be banned, but people should really cop on a bit when they're at events. Maybe take into consideration the other people at the event

Grayditch

7ofBrian wrote: »

I have absolutely no regrets and would do it again in a heart beat. I paid 70 euro for a ticket. Why should I have my night ruined by some dickhead who wants to show crappy shaky footage with fack all recognisable sound to someone who, if they were interested, would be there themselves. A phone I could let slide do long as its not in my face for the whole show. But a fcuking iPad??? No way.

Would you not just say, "Here, put your iPad down"?

Cantona's Collars

Grayditch wrote: »

Would you not just say, "Here, put your iPad down"?

No,he should've poured it over the ipad.Anyone who brings an ipad to a concert deserves such treatment and contempt.

Grayditch

I'm not sure if we're dealing with real world here.

Oryx

I think there's an element of 'everyone else is doing it so I should too'. Which is why you get a sea of mobiles held in the air. They all think theyre missing a trick if they dont do it. But theyre actually missing the show.

Elbaston

Should or could.

Not happening.




(although 1 system might be to turn down the stage lights when the numbers of people recording is at taking the piss levels, they wont be getting footage and the crowd would become self policing)

kraggy

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

So.......... yes or no? Let's not get into the whole concert price V album V whatever debate. Start another thread for that

I actually thought I was posting in a COMPLETELY different thread when I posted what I posted. Oops!

To answer the question, no, phones etc shouldn't be banned. Besides being an unfeasible proposition, if you pay in to see something, you should be to see it again. You're paying for the experience. Nothing wrong with "remembering" that experience with a phone/camera IMO.

Charlie Babbitt

Rabies wrote: »

I'm sure there was people in the Queen concert with a tape deck recording it all

They would be idiots if they were as it was broadcasted free in stereo

Take your point though as some great performances from bands down the years only exist because of bootleggers.

Indeed, U2 many years back said in some interview that if it wasn't for bootlegs of their gigs selling on the streets of Dublin / Freebird etc, then they never would have got far beyond the Dandelion market and McGonigles.

Micky Dolenz

Water cannon is too good for the bastards.

7ofBrian

7ofBrian wrote: »

I have absolutely no regrets and would do it again in a heart beat. I paid 70 euro for a ticket. Why should I have my night ruined by some dickhead who wants to show crappy shaky footage with fack all recognisable sound to someone who, if they were interested, would be there themselves. A phone I could let slide do long as its not in my face for the whole show. But a fcuking iPad??? No way.

So instead of asking him politely to lower down or put away his iPad, you decided to ruin his night? Great, still douchey.

ONeill2013

Every concert i've been to hasn't been professionally shot so I welcome them so that fans have something to look back on, i'm not a fan of really tall people holding them in the air the full show though.
The only way of getting round it is for a venue to at least set up a few cheap cameras to record the show and upload it online. Even without the phones people still put their hands in the air blocking people's view which is annoying anyway, it's a lose lose situation.

**Vai**

Course they should be banned. People need to realise that you do not have to capture every second of your boring lives for posterity. Keep the ticket for sentimentality sake, that's what normal folk do. Recording it makes your experience less special and everyone around you slightly closer to being capable of murder.

wazky

Ban concerts!

Problem solved.

nomdeboardie

It's annoying, but going off on a tangent, perhaps at least some of those

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

... watching the concert itself through the screens themselves ...

can't see over the heads of the people in front? I propose that all audience areas should be tiered/terraced/sloping (apart from a small mosh pit at the front if necesary)

Gamayun

MadsL wrote: »

On a related note I sometimes attend local Native American feast days. Photography and sketching is strictly forbidden and your are warned that cameras and cell phones should be left in the car and that if found on you will be confiscated. You will be told this about six times and pass at least 3 signs.

I remember a Stewart Lee BBC radio documentary a few years back about this. Apparently Henry Winkler was allowed to take a video!:

Bizarrely, Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz, has a videotape of a Hopi clown gig, but he won’t show it to anyone. The clowns recognised The Fonz as a fellow funny-man and allowed Winkler to film them as part of a sacred bond of trust. Not even the University of Arizona can match Fonzie’s influence. He is cool.

Source

paddy147

Festy wrote: »

Yes and they should be banned from pubs and clubs too.

And prisons too....:pac::pac:

DEFTLEFTHAND

Impossible to police in outdoor venues. Smaller places maybe, I was at Paul Brady in the National Concert Hall a couple of weeks back and they had a no phones policy, I saw ushers during the gig having a word with people not complying with the rule.

MadsL

Gamayun wrote: »

I remember a Stewart Lee BBC radio documentary a few years back about this. Apparently Henry Winkler was allowed to take a video!:


Source

Wow, that is incredible. No-one gets to film.

Gamayun

MadsL wrote: »

Wow, that is incredible. No-one gets to film.

The documentary, White Face, Dark Heart, can be downloaded free from his site here if you're interested.

If they aren't aware of Google Glass there may be lots of covert filming going on in future though!

Whatsernamex33

I don't mind them.. Until some idiot comes along with their iPad and blocks up the view.
I've seen loads of tourists walking around town also taking pictures with the iPads too. I'd be too afraid it'd get stolen. :eek: