On one hand, I think this is a little dramatic. On the other hand, I know none of the bands I care to see would ask for this.
I've only been to two shows that used this technology. John Mayer/Dave Chappelle, and Third Eye Blind. Dave Chappelle was trying out new martial (that would end up in his Netflix specials) and Third Eye Blind were playing new music. I think it makes sense in some special scenarios like those, but in general I don't think people should ever be separated from their phones. Even if some people use them annoyingly, it's just an inconvenience at the end of the day, and the pros of having them on you outweigh the cons.
I am probably in the less is more camp as it relates to video and cameras at shows, but I’m not sure if I like this pouch system. I just wish people didn’t feel the need to snap and record the whole time at a show. Last show I was at was at a sold out club and I got stuck behind a couple people filming the whole thing on their phones and it kind of sucked at times.
I think he is crossing the line but I also absolutely hate watching shows through everyone’s phones the whole time. I think putting up signs and asking from stage is probably a better route though. That roller coaster idea seems pretty solid too.
Agree. I think in general it would be great if all venues had signs, regardless of the artist. "You didn't pay to watch this through a tiny screen, and neither did your neighbor. Please be courteous, and keep photos and video recording to a minimum." That said, we're at the mercy of the venue and artist. It's their show, so we play by their rules.
I think it should be made known up front, before purchasing tickets, but I'm 100000% on board with this. If you don't want to watch a live show, then don't go. I'm so sick of seeing a sea of phones and nothing else.
I can't speak for others, but the two shows I attended which used this service also advertised that on the ticket sale page, as well as the tickets themselves.
As long as it's known up front, giving the customer the option to not go, then what's the problem? People will say "what if there's an emergency"..., but all of these people forget that we didn't always have cell phones and you couldn't always get a hold of people instantly. You'll be okay for a couple of hours. I promise.
Fully agree. Nobody is forcing you go to the show, you can always choose not to if having your phone is a necessity. I wouldn't choose imposing that, however we're at the mercy of the venue and the artist, and we should respect their wishes. Honestly, it's really awesome being free of your phone for a few hours. There was some stuff I feel Chappelle was really open to because he knew it wouldn't end up in the internet, such as interacting with the audience far more than he usually does. I've seen him do standup probably 5 times total, and this was by far the best and most fun experience, especially when John Mayer accompanied him and they had the audience call out music for John to play. "Stump John" they called it, and basically he could play anything as long as he had heard it once before.
Yeah, you can also use stickers, no need to go into a phone and it doesn't take any more time than handing out the bags to people in line. Again, I've had this done so I'm not speaking based on conjecture.
I've been on a handful of film and photoshoots in the past which have employed tamper evident stickers. Is this what you're referring to? If I recall correctly, they weren't exactly hard to remove. Granted, everyone on set was under NDA, so it was in their best interest not to remove or tamper with them anyways. In a concert setting (and from a venue security perspective) I imagine it could be really hard to spot those from a crowd of people in a dark room, let alone verify if they've been tampered with. I realize I'm just guessing here, I have no idea how well this would work in practice. I don't know if there's a single way to do this (currently) that will make everyone happy, but that tech that Apple was working on seemed like a step in the right direction.
Yeah, those are the ones. It's by no means a perfect solution, I was just noting that there *are* other options that would avoid the whole "what if there's an emergency and I need my phone" scenario. Phones aren't going away anytime soon, so I would imagine the tech will get there sooner or later.
Absolutely agree. For what it's worth, I'd MUCH rather use one of those stickers any day than be separated from my ability to make calls and receive texts in case of emergency. I really do think that stuff Apple patented was a great idea, but of course we have yet to see it implemented anywhere, which is a shame.
I wish there was a way to get people to stop without forcing them. I’ve had too many shows ruined by people holding phones blocking my vision that I couldn’t move away from, but I understand the safety concerns. Is there a way we can get people to stop talking at shows? I’ve been to several where people around me talked through the entire performance. Why the fuck did they go?
I once stood behind a girl filming a whole show on a full sized iPad. This thing looked like a big screen TV in the pitch black room we were in. At leas, she did the part of the show I stood behind her for before I got annoyed and moved. I lost track of her a few songs in. I don't suppose that contributes anything to this conversation, but it seems like the all the perfinent points pro and con were covered, so that's what I brought to the table.
I've been to two shows in the last year where the artist had to call out people in the front, center row - literally the best seats in the house - who were on their phone the entire set. One was actually funny, he asked a person to trade seats with another person a few rows back who was clearly enjoying the show more.
Do you think you’d hear if you got a text in a loud show/venue? Doubt it. Feel it on vibrate? Maybe. Even then, if your moving around, probably not.