Well I agree completely that if you whip out your phone and start filming, snapping, focusing and zooming, you're the one that loses. Hands down. The payoff just isn't there because the photos and audio truly do look like complete shit, -not even worthy of a second glance years later. If you're at a show, save the photos for the people you're with in those in between moments. That's really the whole point. But I think it's your choice. I don't agree that you should refrain because of other people around you. It's the new normal for kids today and the only reason some find it annoying is because they remember a different cultural habit and like their old way better. Give me someone whipping their phone out for a few moments over that tall guy that just parked himself upfront of me any day. That tall guy has always been there and is never going away. Phones are far less annoying in my book, and people have the right...at least at most types of shows. On a side note, I was pretty annoyed at my fiancé at the Nick Cave show for poking me a few times and asking me to snap a photo for her while I was totally immersed. She finally got the hint when I involuntarily scowled at her. You are responsible for removing yourself from the moment, -I'm not doing it for both of us :p
You're wrong. I'm 19, and it annoys the fuck out of me. It isn't just "remembering a different cultural habit," it's actually quite distracting. It's not least distracting because of the brightness -- the venue is supposed to be dark except for the performance, and a bunch of huge smartphone screens with brightness turned up way too high ruin that.
As I alluded to, there are definitely venues and shows where this would be universally annoying. For most types of say, pop music concerts, I think that people in the aggregate are definitely less annoyed by the phenomena if it is the only norm they know. Especially some of the examples the author of the article cites. I'm sorry, but any show that has a mosh-pit isn't going to have people terribly up in arms about people taking pictures if those people have been seeing that as standard behavior from day 1 of their concert-going life, at least compared to people who have been exposed to and remember different aggregate behavior. Incidentally, this truth is exactly why this is a losing battle. The biggest offenders are younger people who don't see it as a big deal and don't have a frame of reference to compare it to because it's always been this way as far as they know. The number of people like you who are annoyed will sadly, never be large enough. Again, there are obviously exceptions. If you go see Sigur Ros, you're going to piss people off no matter what. I just saw Kris Kristofferson play an acoustic set at a venue where the manager threw out two sets of people for talking during the show. It all depends.