Friday, September 25, 2009

No Photography, Please.

I went to a great concert last night. U2 at Giant's Stadium. I was in general admission on the floor actually sort of "inside" the circle of the stage. I could see Bono's 5 o'clock shadow, the frayed bottoms of The Edge's jeans. Amazingly close.

It used to be that no cameras were allowed at concerts. Nowadays, what with camera phones, they've given up. So everyone, and I mean just about every single person (but me) had an actual camera.

And bou did they use them. I found it really distracting. And actually disturbing.

I want to be in the moment and enjoy the event. Taking pictures pulls you out of it. We supposedly take pictures to remember, but this is a concert. It's music. You can't really capture that.

I wouldn't begrudge someone a pic or two, but it was relentless and ubiquitous. I feel bad for them, actually.

You can't hold onto an experience like that. Bono's 10 feet away! Look! Enjoy it! Be present! Don't look at him through a screen.

Won't your ticket stub be enough?

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