I am totally guilty of this every time I go to a show, because I want to take pictures and videos to post them on rock nyc. But would I do it otherwise? Probably, to a lesser extent, because taking pictures at a show is fun! I know it’s the impossible existentialist choice every time, to live or remember, as this is true you can’t totally enjoy a concert through the screen of your camera/iPhone, but in this case what happens to our journalist job?
According to Spin, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had posted this sign on the door of Webster Hall where they were performing:
"PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE SHOW THROUGH A SCREEN ON YOUR SMART DEVICE/CAMERA. PUT THAT SHIT AWAY as a courtesy to the person behind you and to Nick, Karen and Brian. MUCH LOVE AND MANY THANKS! YEAH YEAH YEAHS.’
First of all, my camera isn’t shit, lots of bands have even asked for concert footage I took, and it is only when they are as big as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that some of them change their mind. Karen O even addressed the crowd during their second song ‘Gold Lion’, asking people to be done with the pictures in the next few minutes, and then to ‘put those motherfuckers away’… and you know what? Most people did obey!
I am sorry, but this is a free country, as long as I am not blinding the musicians with flash or disturbing their performance, there is no way I would stop taking pictures. I know, there is an abuse and overuse of phones during concerts, honestly, how many crappy versions of the same song do you want to see on YouTube? But people will never put away technology, and let’s see if Yeah Yeah Yeahs can do the same at Coachella next week! They can’t tell people what to do, they are starting to sound like Jack White and it’s not a good sign.