1. I hope this topic belongs in this forum

    I was in the "photos" section of U2start when I saw this



    The photo is great, no question about that. What disturbs me is that not a single person in the audience is looking at Bono with their own eyes. All of them are recording videos, streaming, taking pictures or whatever.

    I mean, ok, I get it, they want to have a little "souvenir" of the show. But wouldn't it be a much better memory to actually enjoy the moment?

    Maybe it's just because I live in South America and we have to wait years and years for U2 to come -if they schedule a South American leg. And if I ever got that close to Adam, Edge, Larry or Bono, I'd try and make the most of it.

    Do you guys agree or am I being too picky?
  2. Yeah, it depresses the hell out of me. Would be nice to put this picture back to back to a screenshot of the Sydney DVD to see the dramatic change.
  3. That photo is staggering
  4. I talked a bit about this once before. Basically, people are more focused on having the evidence of an experience than actually living out the experience itself. We live in a society that devalues oral tradition, that is, the transfer of information by talking to one another. Before writing was common, history was recorded by oral tradition. Hearing something from another person was the hardest evidence to exist.

    Now, it seems like people can't trust words anymore. It's not enough to simply "say" that you were at a concert and had a blast. Now you have to present proof to back up your experience. Hence, all the photos and videos. If you really think about it, the photos aren't for you. They are for other people to look at.

    This is partially why I wanted to run around the floor during my GA experience. Even though I took a ton of photos during the concert, they were always just snapshots to me. I wanted to be able to immerse myself in the atmosphere of being there.

    But what pisses me off is that many people who wait forever in GA to get a front spot do so specifically to be able to get good pictures or videos of Bono. I mean for God's sake people he's RIGHT THERE. You could reach your hand out and he might even shake it. Or he might even pull you up on stage!
  5. Those are the same people that take a photo of the pie they're eating and the dump they just took.
  6. Being a show taper/photographer myself, I often realize that I spend too much time looking at the show through a tiny LED screen, and I regret it... But I do it for a "greater good" (aka making the shows available for further listening/watching for those who were there and want to relive it, or those who couldn't attend it). I take great care not to bother anyone with my photos/videos, and I fucking make sure I enjoy the shows at 100% no matter what could happen to the recordings - that's my #1 priority.

    When I look around and see that 90% of the people surrounding me is taking a crappy photo they won't be seeing again in their life or, even worse, talking by whatsapp, updating twitter, checking their facebook, taking a selfie with stupid faces and turning their backs to the artist they paid for, etc (the list just goes on) etc. I just go mad. The most "authentic" (in the sense of less audience looking into their smartphones) show I've attended in years was the Muse show in Belfast a couple of months back. Due to the small venue and the super short anticipation for tickets, there were only die hard fans, so everyone there was basically enjoying the show at 100%, you could barely see any phones up there. But long scheduled, big venues shows from worldwide tours like IE? Those are filled up with the same people that upload a photo of their meals each day. They obviously have more interest in having a blurry photo of their "super mega favourite rockstar" uploaded asap to their social networks than in enjoying the show. And they even tell me off if I bump their back while jumping up and down!!!!!!!!

    Sure, we're spoiled by the ever increasing amount of live updates we get from the venues, including photos, videos and live streams. None of that would be possible without people holding up their phones and looking at them. I know. But the % of people who enjoys the shows through a screen for a greater good (sharing them with the world) is really small compared to the % of people described above - and it's getting worse year per year. Smartphones get better, videos and photos have higher quality (even when taken by stupid hands) and internet connections are faster, so this problem is expanding more and more. Will it stop?
  7. Oh and don't get me started on tablets

  8. You beat me to it. Who fucking cares about your spaghetti or about your crappy selfie at a rock show
  9. Sometimes you have really good-looking spaghetti? Yeah, I don't get it too.


    But one restaurant owner said he would start banning people from taking pictures of food in his restaurant, but I had to say in response that if somebody is paying $100+ for a meal, that person should have the right to do whatever the hell he wants to with that meal.
  10. Originally posted by ahn1991:Sometimes you have really good-looking spaghetti? Yeah, I don't get it too.


    But one restaurant owner said he would start banning people from taking pictures of food in his restaurant, but I had to say in response that if somebody is paying $100+ for a meal, that person should have the right to do whatever the hell he wants to with that meal.
    Yeah, banning that is plain stupid... BUT what about this? Just came across it when searching for the tablets photo I posted above:

    http://dayandadream.com/2013/03/19/cynthia-woods-pavillion-ipad-tablet-ban/

    You sure can ban the use of certain devices that are annoying or distracting towards other fans and, more importantly, artists...
  11. Yes, ban tablets. A phone screen hovering above the crowd is totally understandable, but a huge screen like that? No way.
  12. I heard this story about a restaurant that was baffled because customers complained that the service was very slow recently. The owner did some research and found out that it was because the clients arrived to their tables, spent 20 minutes taking selfies without ordering anything, then took more pictures of the food, interrupted the waiter for another group photo, etc.
    Well, no wonder why your food is cold!