This summer, I went to two music festivals - Cambridge Folk Festival and Reading Festival - both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. My two favourite bands, Punch Brothers and Mumford and Sons were playing at these events respectively and it was such a great experience hearing them live. However, there was a significant difference between the two concerts - I filmed parts of the Punch Brothers' set, but for Mumford and Sons, I just watched - and I have to say that I did feel considerably more engaged in the musicality in the Mumford and Sons concert and just noticed much more.
Although I mentioned that the addiction of photographing and filming has originated from our obsession with updating our statuses about our experiences, in no way was I filming Punch Brothers in order to blast it across social media immediately afterwards. However, I still felt compelled to film their set in order to watch it back and relive the experience. As I have mentioned previously, Punch Brothers are amazing live because of what they add to their performances that is not on their CD and I filmed them in order to capture these moments - it was almost as if I didn't trust my memory to retain their amazing performance. But what I was really doing was robbing myself of the thrill of watching them perform, so when I watch the film back, all I am doing is watching them play (like I could already do on youtube) - I don't feel any sort of emotional attachment to the clip, unlike the excitement I still feel when reliving the snippets I have in my memory. The battery ran out on my phone about halfway through their set and although I was disappointed at the time, I now realise how much more engaged I was in their musicianship, expression and emotion when I wasn't filming.
It was after this concert that I found the tweet above by Chris Thile (lead singer and mandolin player of Punch Brothers) and I really began thinking about how filming at concerts could influence your experience. I have always been against filming in proper concert halls, namely because it's usually illegal, but also because of how distracting it can be to the people in the audience and on stage. However, due to the more informal nature of music festivals, where people whoop and cheer and chat during performances, I always thought it was a good idea to film the music as you can once again not only watch the musicians playing again, but you can familiarise yourself with the whole vibe of the experience. But no, all you are doing is depriving yourself of your first experience and living vicariously through a camera. After feeling such a difference in my over all experience of the two bands, I am truly against filming at concerts.
Although I mentioned that the addiction of photographing and filming has originated from our obsession with updating our statuses about our experiences, in no way was I filming Punch Brothers in order to blast it across social media immediately afterwards. However, I still felt compelled to film their set in order to watch it back and relive the experience. As I have mentioned previously, Punch Brothers are amazing live because of what they add to their performances that is not on their CD and I filmed them in order to capture these moments - it was almost as if I didn't trust my memory to retain their amazing performance. But what I was really doing was robbing myself of the thrill of watching them perform, so when I watch the film back, all I am doing is watching them play (like I could already do on youtube) - I don't feel any sort of emotional attachment to the clip, unlike the excitement I still feel when reliving the snippets I have in my memory. The battery ran out on my phone about halfway through their set and although I was disappointed at the time, I now realise how much more engaged I was in their musicianship, expression and emotion when I wasn't filming.
It was after this concert that I found the tweet above by Chris Thile (lead singer and mandolin player of Punch Brothers) and I really began thinking about how filming at concerts could influence your experience. I have always been against filming in proper concert halls, namely because it's usually illegal, but also because of how distracting it can be to the people in the audience and on stage. However, due to the more informal nature of music festivals, where people whoop and cheer and chat during performances, I always thought it was a good idea to film the music as you can once again not only watch the musicians playing again, but you can familiarise yourself with the whole vibe of the experience. But no, all you are doing is depriving yourself of your first experience and living vicariously through a camera. After feeling such a difference in my over all experience of the two bands, I am truly against filming at concerts.
I am scared that this obsession with preserving memories with videos and photos is depriving us of the experiences themselves. I am scared that this addiction to sharing photos and updating our statuses is leading us into a world governed by the number of likes you get on your life choices and experiences. I am scared we are living our lives for the benefit of other people and not for ourselves.
We should run through the forest
We should swim in the streams
We should laugh, we should cry,
We should love, we should dream
We should stare at the stars and not just the screens
You should hear what I'm saying and know what it means
-Passenger
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