2008 Woodie Awards
New gadgets may ruin age-old tradition
Cell phone use during concerts irritates artists
MCT
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: Features
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 cell phone cameras and fidget with BlackBerries, some people say mobile technology is ruining the concert experience.
"It's extraordinarily irritating," said Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. "All these people holding up these horrid little squares of bright light."
"It's like they're not even there," said jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. "It's like, `Why don't you put that away and listen to the music?'"
"It drives me crazy," said 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.
"As a performer, it's frustrating to look out and see a sea of cell phones instead of faces," said Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein.
"There's definitely a problem when people are so busy documenting the moment that they forget to just live in the moment."
Of course, pop concerts were awash in distractions long before the cell phone. In the early `60s, shrieking girls made it impossible to hear the Beatles perform. In the `90s, mosh pits made going to concerts a contact sport.
"You never expect 100 percent of people's attention," said rapper Ice Cube. "You learn to take 80 percent."
But the levels seem to be rapidly shrinking thanks to "microboredom," a term invented by--who else--a cell phone company to convince people they need to escape reality with their mobile gadgets.
At concerts, microboredom usually means fans snapping dozens of photos of the band, the crowd and the stage lights. The ultimate disconnect comes when they take pictures of the pictures on the video screen.
"Everyone has this strange archiving addiction now. It's like they're trying to pin a butterfly to a corkboard," said Canadian singer Feist.
It's not as far-fetched as it seems. As more and more concertgoers fiddle with cell phone cameras and fidget with BlackBerries, some people say mobile technology is ruining the concert experience.
"It's extraordinarily irritating," said Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. "All these people holding up these horrid little squares of bright light."
"It's like they're not even there," said jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. "It's like, `Why don't you put that away and listen to the music?'"
"It drives me crazy," said 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.
"As a performer, it's frustrating to look out and see a sea of cell phones instead of faces," said Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein.
"There's definitely a problem when people are so busy documenting the moment that they forget to just live in the moment."
Of course, pop concerts were awash in distractions long before the cell phone. In the early `60s, shrieking girls made it impossible to hear the Beatles perform. In the `90s, mosh pits made going to concerts a contact sport.
"You never expect 100 percent of people's attention," said rapper Ice Cube. "You learn to take 80 percent."
But the levels seem to be rapidly shrinking thanks to "microboredom," a term invented by--who else--a cell phone company to convince people they need to escape reality with their mobile gadgets.
At concerts, microboredom usually means fans snapping dozens of photos of the band, the crowd and the stage lights. The ultimate disconnect comes when they take pictures of the pictures on the video screen.
"Everyone has this strange archiving addiction now. It's like they're trying to pin a butterfly to a corkboard," said Canadian singer Feist.
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