Was it good for you?

The first concert I went to was in 1998 to see Pearl Jam when they toured for Yield. To this day I'm not sure a better 3-4 track combo exists on an album greater than No Way - Given to Fly. But this isn't about that.

This is about live music, something I used to enjoy. Nowadays at medium or large scale concerts my ears may be happy, by my eyes are assaulted. I'm speaking of this:

Get your god damned phone out of my face and put your stinky arm down. I'm not tall enough to avoid this view, and even if I was I think the LCD screens would still be highly disturbing. Not long ago I was at this concert (pictured above) and in addition to the people taking constant pictures and uploading them onto Facebook (I'm totally fine with you doing this once per show) a few assholes near me actually recorded the whole damn thing. 

FOR WHAT!!?!

Back about 6-7 years ago I spent an entire fireworks show taking pictures of the spectacle, watching it through a 2 by 3 cm viewfinder instead of with the intended panoramic display. How stupid of me. I never look at those pictures. I missed the show. I missed a heartwarming fourth of July family event on a boat with my grandparents -- something I know now I'll never get the chance to do again. Instead of recording my feelings I recorded specs of light in the sky with my 40 dollar film camera. As you can imagine, the pictures were shit. If I took one picture that day I wish it would have been of the fireworks lighting up the faces of my loved ones. But no. I learned a lesson that year.

Back to concerts -- knock it the fuck off people, or I will stop trying to improve your cell phone battery life with my day job. Enjoy the show with your senses, not with your electronics. Let the professionals do that. Just be there. Just experience it. Take one picture and then cool it. My blood pressure begs you. In return I will try to refrain from accidentally putting my elbow in your kidney.