Hey, Moron! Why Are You Recording Concerts on Your iPhone?

• Justino, you're all like "Look what i did!  Look at all of the cool things I do!" And I'm all like "Refused fucking suck and I wouldn't watch them play in my backyard!"  I'm also all like "Justino is sooooo high on himself..."  And everyone else is all like "How high is he?"  I'm all like "He's sooooo high on himself, he thinks we all give shits about what bands he likes and where he travels to see them."  And then we all laugh at him. 

• Hey LA Weekly guess what? I just watched three fan film iphone vids of the first Refused show in 14 years. The gig took place in a small club in Sweden. Had it not been for those fans taping the show, I would have never had a chance to see it. Now whose the fucking moron? 

•  I agree completely with this post- the microphones in ipads or iphones (or even decent video cameras for that matter) are overwhelmed the high volume at most shows anyway- so in the videos you get some vaguely recognizable footage, and a crackling din- that's why people never watch them again. In a big venue, the thousands of screens pointed toward the stage is replacing the old effect of lighters at rock concerts... And as for the first comment in this thread where Alexandria caustically (and incorrectly) attempts to correct the author's spelling; poring is a word. Also people who write op-ed pieces (or 'pop-ed' in this case) are commentators, not journalists. Journalists report news; commentators comment on news and are allowed to editorialize- offer their own opinion on subjects. Also the fact that you think a certain artist is overrated has no relevance to the subject of recording concerts on portable devices. Your comment is awful in all respects!

• Zzz, zzz

• I'd rather watch a show recorded on my i-phone, than read your hateful article. Stop calling names, live and let live.

• There's a massive difference between you sitting the balcony generally not bothering anyone shooting decent quality audio and video and sharing it, and idiots in the front with their stupid iphone/digital cameras getting in the way and causing a distracting bright-ass light right in between me and the band I'm trying to experience just so they can have some lame photo or video clip that probably isn't worth viewing anyway.

• On another note Alexandria, do not end your sentence with a preposition.  Boom!

• Filming concerts and destroying the view and experience behind you is almost as obnoxious as your pedantic, inaccurate response.

• Tosh kicked a girl out after he asked her 10 times to quit filming. She was wasted and jumped up giving everyone the bird.  I thought it was pretty awesome, that lady sucked. 

• I think this isn't a case of "I'm taping a concert on my egoPad" but rather a case of "LOOK AT ME AND MY NEW TOY!!!". I'll guarantee it gets deleted within a week.

•  Where did you go, Alexandria? We so want to hear your witty retort.

• Y'all seen this drawing? Def worth a chuckle. Or a sigh. http://streetcouch.com/hands-at-gigs/

• I routinely remind these idiots of exactly what you've presented, and normally get ignored until I get scary. Really Fing irritating! For the most part these are people with little or no concert experience. Do they make love and try to capture every moment of that with their PDA? Ridiculous!

• Hi.  I go to more shows (or at least, as many) than anybody that's gonna post here, because it's my job.  I go to shows I hate and shows I love, all kinds.  My position is that snapping a couple pics is fine and completely inevitable in today's age.  Yes, there are venues like the Disney Hall (and as far as rock venues in LA go, that's the whole list) that bar cell phone use entirely in the concert hall - but that is NOT where mainstream venues are heading, you can completely forget about that.  And there are a *few* (Prince.....ok, that might be the whole list) artists that do not allow cameras at their shows.  Heck, at the Troubadour, Prince's security actually came around and had you delete any pics off of your phone that you managed to sneak.  Again, that's not where we're headed, that's just the exception to the rule... Now...taking video at the shows and posting them....I have two issues with that.  One, as the writer notes, the quality is almost always terrible, and therefore, makes a terrible keepsake.  Two, the people bringing iPads to shows need to be dragged out in the street, stripped naked, and painted red so we can see their idiocy coming a mile away.  A 3" x 5" device doesn't block anyone's view, but an iPad does.  More venues need to have laptop/iPad/fancy camera bans in place - for TWO reasons.  The first I just covered - it blocks the view of other paying patrons.  Second - I hate to be a party pooper, but 99% of bands (OAR, and some jam bands excepted) don't want you taking crappy video of their songs and posting them.  They sound and look awful and they hardly portray the artist in a flattering light.  That's why you always see WORKING press filming for short periods of time (1-3 songs, and usually just 60-90 seconds of each song) at the shows - that's who the band actually DOES want photo/videographing them because it will actually look decent and they have *some* control over the usage (depending on the act).  To the guy who takes pristine HD video at the House of Blues - the fans thank you.  The venues that don't get to collect a location fee and the acts you didn't clear the idea with, they don't thank you quite so much. And please, don't tell me how the fans are promoting the bands by recording all those low quality video.  Just take a picture of you getting hammered in front of the stage - that's all anybody wants to see anyway (you being hammered and bragging AGAIN). Shows are an amazing social experience - both in terms of being social with those gathered at the concert, and in terms of creating a record of your experience through check-ins, pictures, and video.  I guess what I'm saying is let's get back to bragging about how cool the show is and how you wish you were here with me without capturing 15 minutes of video. Soapbox off.

• only if you learn the difference between "it's" and "its." 

• i may not always be right, alexandria, but i promise you, i will not confuse homophones. too much of a bookworm growing up.  -rebecca, the journalist

• Well then a ton of venues don't care or respect them, by that criteria

• Venues that respect artists and their audiences already ban phones and cameras.

• Wow, so this is what the concert experience is like in the pop/rock/rap/house/hip-hop/etc world ?  People just recording artists and posting them on YouTube & facebook w/ no compensation to the performer ? At Disney Hal & Dorothy Chandler they'd bounce ur ass outta there so fast - and the audience would applaud.

• I so agree. I'd rather enjoy the show than spend all my time taking pictures and filming it. Seriously, how many times are you gonna watch it! But at the same time, I enjoy being able to watch footage on Youtube for concerts I didn't get to go to. So I guess, do it, as long as you don't block my view. :-)

• wow, it really irks you THAT MUCH that you'd threaten to jab other people in the eye socket rather than, you know, be civil and ask someone to lower his or her hand? Classy guy. If it really chafes your undies that much you should petition venues to 'ban' phones and cameras, but good luck with that. 

• Stay in school. 

• Yeah you look like the type who would lacks a brain and would have to assault someone to make a point. For the record, I keep my camera at eye level as to not be the douche who blocks someone. So sure, you may see some screen, but your view is only being blocked by the back of my head.  That said, I am sure you have never once touched your phone at a concert. Congrats on living your life like it is still 1988. 

• I paid to see the artist, not your iPhone / iPad / prosumer camera and arm blocking my view, so don't be surprised when I reach ahead and knock your iPhone / iPad / prosumer camera to the ground and maybe even pull your hair and jam my thumb into your eye socket.  You deserve it and I encourage all to do the same at every show they go to.  Electronics are ruining the live experience for others, including selfish assh0les who text at any kind of theater.

• Holy shit - another totally out of touch article on Music in 2012 by LA Weekly. I get it, you are pissed. 15 years ago when folks had disposable cameras and film, fans would snap a photo or two from the back and they would look like crap. You got to come in, take a few photos and you were the king of the fucking world. Well sugar tits, those days are long gone and I can taste the tears PORING down your face. Now, as someone who has spent hundreds of hours taping live music on both audio and video formats, allow me to share some points with you. Yes, an iphone clip may very well sound and look like shit. Yes, YouTube is full of useless videos like this and I agree they can be frustrating. Then there are folks like me. The type who gets to House of Blues an hour before doors and lines up to get a prime spot on the balcony so I can take crystal clear vids in HD with glorious sound. Yes, that video you are watchin today of Foxy Shazam eating 6 cancer sticks, or that video of The Darkness covering Radiohead? You got it right, I shot that. Now you make the point that I am robbing myself of the experience. This is wrong for many reasons. For one, I can still hear the music just fine. As far as looking through the camera, this actually causes me to focus. I need to follow where the leads are in the music. No one wants a shot of the bass player looking cool as the lead guitar player is ripping it up now do they?  The next fact you are missing is that these videos are not just personal memories. They are something the world can share in. There are a ton of bands who I love who don't make it to the states often (example: Kasabian). I have been able to watch that band destroy festivals from the UK to Australia thanks to fan filmed videos. Better yet how about those once in a lifetime moments. Ryan Adams covered Dio the other night here in LA. To my understanding that's the first time he has done that. Now someone in the UK who saw Adams last year can enjoy a moment that 10 years ago would not have happened. Want to know something else? In a town where KROQ plays the same 15 Rage Against The Machine/Sublime/RHCP/Nirvana songs all day every day, live videos are a GREAT way to discover bands. Do I want to get there early to see you open, not if I saw various performances on YouTube and you sucked. It is because of this that I am now fan of such acts including but not limited to Black Box Revelation, Bison BC and many more. So instead of calling me the moron, perhaps it's time to turn the camera around and take a photo of the moron who allowed yet another piece of hack journalism up on this once great site. Hell perhaps you should take down this article and publish this in it's place. 

• @ Alexandria -- what the hell are you bitching about?!  Did this article strike a nerve? You might want to acquaint yourself with the verb variation "poring" -- it means to look very closely at something, like gazing intently at the pores in your skin (you've heard of those, right?!)

• Okay

• No, the story is right. It's "poring", not "pouring".   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pore

• it's "pouring" not "poring". I just feel that if you're going to refer to yourself as a 'Journalist' you should maybe hit up spell check or at least read through your post before sending it in. In reference to your article: as a fan, I don't mind the recording of shows. I actually scan uploads of recent tour dates on youtube by fans of bands that I like to determine whether or not I want to spend the money on tickets when they come to town. I guess if I was able to score $250 dollar floor seats to a show for free to review it perhaps I would be singing a different tune; although to criticize the fan who paid full price (or more depending on whether or not they bought them from scalpers) who is filming the show for others who could not enjoy such perks is kind of dicky if you ask me. Either way, it doesn't really matter because Jay-Z and Kanye are overrated and you couldn't pay me to go see THAT show.

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