The topic of phones at concerts has become quite contentious in the last few years, with some artists even going so far as to ban phones at their shows and eject attendees who violate the rule. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler is the latest to voice his opinion on the matter, telling a fan to put their phone away and "watch the f***ing show."
The incident happened at the band's recent show in Springfield, MA. Tyler spotted a fan with their phone out, filming him and singled them out, asking if the fan planned on "putting the [video] on their website." When the fan didn't respond affirmatively, he grew visibly exasperated and told them to "watch the f***ing show."
While a lot of people will argue that having purchased an expensive concert ticket should entitle them to film if they so choose, I generally agree with the sentiment that a bunch of phones waving in the air is distracting and certainly not worth the likely horrendous footage being shot. A quick shot to remember the show? Sure. Videoing every song? No, thanks. I don't agree with singling out a fan like this, but I do wish phones would just go away at shows.
What do you think?
Lead image by Flickr user Raph_PH, used under Creative Commons.
I'd like to see anyone using a phone at a show, apart from in the first 3 minutes to get a quick photo (though I'd still rather they didn't), thrown to hungry dogs. It's selfish, stupid and ruins the live experience. And the videos/photos they get are always terrible and the sound is worse. Just stop it.
I saw footage of Rob Halford of Judas Priest kicking a phone out of someone's hand in the audience. I usually don't like violence but a part of me couldn't help but be happy about it.
Back in the day, we used do that 'cause we thought we were being cool. Bunch of little posers with shitty footage. lol
Fair enough. No shared vertical video of a concert has ever been good anyway.
Unless they were using Landscape? In my opinion no video of an Aerosmith concert is good full stop.
Valid point. On the Aerosmith bit.
A handful of pictures, especially of large venues, can be really great keepsakes. This cell phone (Pixel 2) panorama from the Garth Brooks concert in Gainesville would have been decent enough if it weren't for the woman's arm moving that ruined the foreground...
Interestingly, Garth encouraged pictures and video at the concert. I have to imagine such encouragement helps the artist financially via tons of social media tagging which drives SEO metrics which increases ticket demand and raises prices (hence the football stadium venue - not that Aerosmith has trouble selling tickets).
No what ruined this photo was that it was taken at a Garth Brooks concert! J/K! But in all seriousness...Garth Brooks (though I am not a fan) understands the modern arena, hence why he is photo/video friendly and sells way more tickets then Aerosmith (sad as that is)
....all the people here qualify (because they do it too...) its ok to take 1 or two photos at the start!......Well.....lets expand that to the whole arena and don't tell people WHEN.....the result is, this person takes a photo, then that person, and so on, and the effect is....THEY ARE ALL TAKING PHOTOS. No one is sitting there filming the ENTIRE concert. And if you saw or were sitting behind someone who was....if they didn't have a phone they would have been singing or belligerent or whatever, bad concert goers didn't start with the advent of the smartphone.
And one last thing to add to the argument this is all nonsense....Look at this picture, and tell me... if the person near the pixalted hand can see anything anyway!! Im a short guy and this would have been an entire show of staring at the dude in front of me, phone or not! And this is most concerts that dont have seats...which is like all of them!
Personally I hate it when people sing at concerts way worse then phones. And for that matter, arm waving, and dancing is really distracting for me as well.....I would never tell a concert goer not do it though!
So really Steven Tyler, you just show how out of touch you are, and you come off like the Old Man Yelling at the Clouds! This is just like a chef telling me how to eat my meal.....if you wanted us to sit and pay attention, then book the show at a theater with seats and tell the crowd not to dance!
First and only country concert I've ever been to. I, and my wife whose idea it was, would much rather have been at an Aerosmith concert! That said, it really was a great concert as, apparently, most of his popular music has strong rock roots despite technically being country music.
Unfortunately for most of today's world - red hearts and likes are pretty addicting. They all have to post on Social Meeeeeedia, you know .. gotta keep in touch with family & friends somehow.
I've shot video at concerts for 12 years, but as someone who works in TV, I learned how to shoot properly and don't use crappy gear like a phone. I'm to the point now where the point and shoot digital camera I use (Panasonic ZS100) has options for manual focus, manual shutterspeed and aperture, and an electronic viewfinder so I'm not pissing people off behind me with a LCD screen.
The people who tell me to "live in the moment" annoy me. You enjoy the show how you want. Let me enjoy making my recording or taking my photos. I have footage from a decade ago of concerts I attended that I have rewatched over the years and will continue to rewatch for years to come that takes me back to where I was when it happened.
It's fun to see how many flashes are from 50+ feet away. "Silence Your Phone"? nah just "Off Your Flash".
Tyler was probably pissed that they were all flip phones...
You think that's bad? This is what happens when you don't die before you get old...
https://tinyurl.com/yx8tuldw
Cameras have never been allowed at concerts because the bands usually bring in a crew to film it to sell after the concert. Now it might be on Netflix or something. Would be like us getting hired to shoot a wedding and before we can even deliver the edits, there are guest crappy cel pics all over the web.
And on the other side, people might watch clips on youtube or the full show and decide it's not worth paying $100 or more for a ticket. The way napster let you download songs and realize there were only 3 good ones on a 12 song cd.
"there are guest crappy cel pics all over the web" I think that's what happens now.
Pics maybe but most phones shoot 4k footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5SEPVGn7iU
Very nice.
It’s gonna be shitty sound, shaky footage, but as long as it’s in 4K, right?
And people can still watch it for free. Is a leaked Taylor Swift demo less illegal because it's a demo?
Who’s talking about a demo being less illegal??? I’m just saying that if it’s a shorty footage then it doesn’t matter if the shit is in 4K or 8K. The resolution doesn’t make it more appealing.
Depends on the footage but I've seen some really nice quality vids from concerts. The point is everyone has a recording device on them now. Can I walk in with my Blackmagic 6k camera? No. But people can use their phones. It's a crap situation that bands have to put up with as long as phones have cameras.
A timely post. I saw Lenny Kravitz last night at Radio City. It was soooo annoying trying to enjoy a concert while looking through a sea of fones. I'm not sure anything can be done but I wish it would stop.
I love watching shaky concert footage with shitty sound on YouTube.