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  1. Yes, yes, yes, the phones at concerts threads have been done to death, but maybe it's time for us pre-2000 fans to let it go.

    Millennials won't really know anything BUT looking down, arching their necks and finding that their only use for their right index finger is - apart from picking their noses and cleaning their ears - to swipe frenetically at little lit-up screens. Never going anywhere without their digital appendage.

    Us older fans of the band remember the odd camera, the odd vhs video camera (can't be bothered explaining that to the millennials of today so please google it) and a LOT of cigarette lighters being held up during the pre-2000s concerts.

    Now, as has already been said a gazillion times, we see a, well erm, sea of phones being held aloft all fighting each other for the best position and rather than all eyes being on the band and the spectacle, all eyes are on those little screens.

    So does all this take away from the experience? Maybe it does my experience, but it certainly doesn't from the people using their phones.

    Originally, I was one of the many nay-sayers of fans bringing and using phones at concerts BUT - and it's a big but - I now find myself too with phone held aloft and fighting for that best position.

    And in doing so, I have taken some brilliant photos of the band - much better than any I could have taken post 2000 - and some great video footage too! And, of course, we all LOVE - now, don't you lie now - the uploaded videos on youtube from those same phone users.

    And if it makes it easier for you to stop worrying and love the phone, please remember that Bono too learned to love after one particular concert where he berated someone on the front row (quite embarrassing for him now) for using their phone and not joining in, to nowadays encouraging us to use our phones at concerts to save the world or get invited on stage and film the band and Bono himself using live apps.

    In closing, would I prefer to go to a concert and there NOT be that sea of phones? The answer would be a definite YES, but that ain't gonna happen - ever!

    So learn to stop worrying and love the phone.
  2. Strongly disagree.

    Back in the day there weren't hundreds of VHS recorders at every show, otherwise we would have excellent multicams from all U2 gigs including the early Mount Temple performances in 1976.

    Until the advent of small, portable video recorders (and their logical evolution in smartphones), only a few people -sometimes none in the entire stadium/arena- recorded the shows, and 99.9% of the audience was absolutely into the show without caring about anything else. Maybe lighting up a cigarette lighter during a ballad or two, and that was all. The rest of the gig was all about the gig.

    Nowadays it's all about getting the perfect shot of the band member, and you know what? Most of the thousands of people holding up their phones -and hence forgetting about jumping, screaming, singing, clapping- don't even know how to manually adjust their camera settings to get a PROPER recording/photo. And most of them will end up with a few dozens/hundreds of useless, blurry, low-definition pictures/videos that only stuff up their phones and then get literally deleted when they run out of space to install their latest app (or even worse, to repeat the whole story again at another concert). And moreover, most of the people that hold their phones up don't even record the full songs, you can check it out for yourself next time you're at a concert: see how many hundreds of phones are held up when they recognise the song, and compare it to how many are actually still up 4 minutes later. That's why you see thousands of people recording but only a handful of their videos find their way on to Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, you name it.

    As an avid video-recorder and almost-professional-photographer guy myself I might sound elitist - I am very aware of that. But it's just common sense: I don't have the skill to build up a wall or to run marathons, so I leave it up to the people who know how to do it, and I don't get in their way. I might build a little wooden hut in my backyard or run to catch a bus (the equivalent would be taking a photo here and there or record one or two songs), but leave the proper thing to the professionals (aka not holding my phone up 90% of the time taking useless pics and vids that no one -not even me- will ever watch).

    So no, no, no. This is a very bad disease and all I'm hoping for is that all artists I like embrace the no-smartphones policy like Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan, The Lumineers, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar and an increasing list of others.


    PS. The existing Cell phones overuse on live shows thread might be a nice place to move this discussion on to.
  3. It’s a different age. Social media is a scourge and has raised a generation that seems to function on the gratitude of others. It means more to people to be seen at a particular event or concert than it does to actually be there.

    I was at Ian McKellen's theatre show on Monday night and people were just itching to get their phones out. He was twelve feet in front of me and yet my fiancé was too busy trying to ninja a photograph to share wherever during the interval. I don’t get it. Our seats wallowed is a quick exit and there was Ian at the exit shaking hands and collecting money for charity. I said thanks and threw some change and said to myself I bet someone needs a selfie and the floodgates will open and the poor chap will never get home.
  4. @LikeASong

    No offence, but you do sound elitist - I'm just agreeing with you

    As, I've said, I would LOVE to go to a concert that wasn't full of phones, but, as you've stated, only a handful of artists have gone down that path - you can add Kate Bush to that list but seeing as she only tours every blue moon then it doesn't really add much - and that's because they don't want to turn people away and LOSE MONEY because without ticket sales then an artist will struggle to make money.

    I'll bet you all my U2 memorabilia that U2 will NEVER be on board with that.

    The shallowness of the selfie culture and the transience of the instagram age where the drug-like need for the hit of the 'like' is anathema to me, but hey ho that's the future folks!

    But listen, I agree with a LOT of what you've said it's just that you sound like an oldie moaning about 'all these kids on skateboards' so I guess I must too

    Sorry, I didn't know there was a thread that this thread could be part of - but I should've guessed


  5. "Upon entering the room, fans were asked to surrender any cameras, recording devices, and phones."
    -U2Songs;
    "Shedding Light On The Blackout;"
    2017-08-31


    I've PM'd you my address, please do put some insurance on the package.
  6. Ah yes, millennials, famously the only generation to use cell phones and social media.

    I think a ban on cell phones at concerts would be a great idea. And I'm a millennial.

    The person next to me at the DC show last year recorded every single song, checked email between songs with the screen on full brightness, and left before the encore. They were a Gen Xer.

    I'm all for a ban. Phone screens are annoying as fuck, especially at a show like U2's E+I where there are lots of visual elements.
  7. I was really disappointed with my GA experience in LA last year because the people around me were more interested in filming than having a good time. I'm a young fan and they were much, much older

    I'm sad that I wasn't around to see the band before phones were everywhere, but it's fine. Times have changed. I don't think a ban is the right idea.
  8. Firstly, it should be noted, I was born in 1990 so I'm smack bang in the middle of Gen Y (millennials)

    I would like to chime in and say it isn't just millennials these days that are always on their phone... the older generations, while there may be fewer seen at concerts, are just as bad with their phones. Not just at concerts but in society. Some of them even worse...

    Anyways, to my point. It's all about that social media monster. So many millenials feel that they need to let the world know that they went somewhere, ate something, saw someone, or went to a concert. If it's not on social media it didn't happen. I went to a Catfish and the Bottlemen gig in Melbourne last week and I didn't even touch my phone once! I was completely absorbed in the gig (which went off btw)! Which is the goal of going to a gig isn't it?

    I completely agree with Sergio. Probably 5-10 years ago I would take a few pics and videos at concerts but it got to a stage where I just felt what's the point? You'll have a shithouse photo or a video with distorted sound that you might look at a couple of times the next day then what? That's it! Will be deleted from your phone a few years later or will just sit on your phone storage for eternity never to see the light of day again.

    I'm a big believer in phones away at concerts. Maybe take one or two photos but that's it. Enjoy the music, enjoy the spectacle!
  9. Dublin 4 last year the guy next to me was face timing his mate. Was really distracting, especially when its dark and his brightness is all the way up, and hes shouting into the phone.
  10. I'm all about grabbing some 'souvenir" photos and learned a long time ago that I was having a suboptimal experience when I devoted too much time to the camera.
  11. Originally posted by TheRealEdge:But listen, I agree with a LOT of what you've said it's just that you sound like an oldie moaning about 'all these kids on skateboards' so I guess I must too

    I'm aware I must sound like an old man complaining at the skateboards and shouting at the clouds But I don't care. I was born in 1990 so I'm fully millenial. I had my first cellphone before U2 released Vertigo - that says a lot I guess. It's not a matter of age, it's a matter of common sense. And of course social media is to blame, people now feel the urge to share everything they do in real time, which is the seed of the problem.
  12. @LikeASong ‘I was born in 1990’ lol Now that makes ME feel old lol I was born before The Beatles still had their last 4 albums to release,MLK was still alive and man hadn’t been to the moon yet (or did we?) Haven’t quite elevated to shouting at the clouds just yet though.So what’s this phone scenario you are all talking about? lol

    Personally I’ve always felt really uncomfortable taking out my phone at a gig,I’m there to listen and watch and have the privilege of being in the same place at the same time as U2.You wait to see them,so to look at it through a lens ain’t gonna cut it for me.I’ve taken pics before and after shows,the odd couple during.But it primarily stays in my pocket.I must confess I did record the whole of EBTTRT on the last tour only cos I was front row in the seats and had a good view,turned out pretty well tbh.

    Only time I wished I had a phone on me at a gig,was Ryan Adams at Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool Jan 2004.Had all access backstage pass,a mate knows the owner of his record label back then,and his lead guitarist,Brad,too.We watched the gig from the wings,fascinating to see.Anyway,during an acoustic bit,Ryan Adams decides to climb the speaker stack,idiot falls off and comes running towards me screaming like a girl holding his arm that was bent double lol I defo would have got my phone out for that lol

    I think for the ‘millennials’ it’s a more natural part of life now,probably some people here don’t know anything else other than owning a camera phone.You don’t go anywhere without your phone today.And I thought ‘millennials’ was a term to describe people born post 2000,turns out it’s 1981 or something,work that out.Each to their own,you wanna take your phone out and take pics at a gig more power to you,go for it.Me? I’ll stick to the balance I do.
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.