Cell phone recording of concerts questions

[warreng88]

Does anyone know of any bands who have banned recording of their live shows? I would really like to see someone come out and ban it as it is very distracting to the people around them and especially behind them. I once went to a Sevendust concert at the Diamond Ballroom and a guy recorded the entire thing on his iPad. So, if you were standing behind him, you had to move because you were looking at his recording and not the actual band. Anybody else have this issue a lot?

[checkthat]

Does anyone know of any bands who have banned recording of their live shows? I would really like to see someone come out and ban it as it is very distracting to the people around them and especially behind them. I once went to a Sevendust concert at the Diamond Ballroom and a guy recorded the entire thing on his iPad. So, if you were standing behind him, you had to move because you were looking at his recording and not the actual band. Anybody else have this issue a lot?

Not a concert but I saw Dave Chappelle at Rose State last year and he is extremely strict about no cell phones. Security was everywhere monitoring for phones and the lady in front of me had to be on her last warning. They told her if they saw it one more time they would smash it.

Here is a related article about a pouch that he is starting to use to ban phones in the theater:

How Dave Chappelle Is Creating a "No-Phone Zone" for His Chicago Shows (Exclusive) - Hollywood Reporter

[Bullbear]

I have been to several shows where the staff will tell people to stop if they appear to be recording the show rather than just taking a picture. I was at Madonna last week in Tulsa and it was very annoying the amount of people watching the whole show through their phone. We were right against the middle stage and everyone around us was constantly in the phone. It was amazing you are 4 feet from her and instead of enjoying the show you are looking through the phone. I took 2 pictures the whole night.

[warreng88]

Not a concert but I saw Dave Chappelle at Rose State last year and he is extremely strict about no cell phones. Security was everywhere monitoring for phones and the lady in front of me had to be on her last warning. They told her if they saw it one more time they would smash it.

Here is a related article about a pouch that he is starting to use to ban phones in the theater:

How Dave Chappelle Is Creating a "No-Phone Zone" for His Chicago Shows (Exclusive) - Hollywood Reporter

I saw Aziz Ansari at Winstar a few years ago and he does a bit where people can record everything they want and then it is restricted for the rest of the show. I think that is the norm for comedians, but I feel like every live show I go to nowadays there are 20 people in front of me recording the performance and I can't see what is going on.

[TheTravellers]

The people doing the recording are idiots - live in the moment, enjoy it, quit annoying the hell out of everyone around you. Jack White requested folks to not take pics or record his show in Norman last year, and most folks obliged. It is getting to the point of ridiculousness, and Chappelle's idea is pretty good, not sure if it's feasible to do everywhere, though (i wouldn't mind 'cos I don't take my phone out at concerts at all, except maybe in between acts to check the time)

[Mel]

Too many people nowadays are incapable of living in the moment. It's not "real" to them unless they can record it. I rarely go to live venues any more. This sounds like one more reason not to.

[ljbab728]

While not a concert, I was at a theater performance not long ago at the Civic Center and saw ushers telling people not to take any kind pictures inside of the auditorium even before the performance had started. They were very strict about it.

[Of Sound Mind]

Perhaps if venues would post signs saying use of phones during the event is grounds for immediate ejection from the event, with or without prior warning, and then if they actually did it, people would be feel less inclined to do it. The phone addiction has become a serious problem and made people even more incapable of thinking outside themselves or of their impact on the people around them — whether it's a case like this or driving on the road or even walking in a public place.

I agree with the others who've already stated this: Live in the moment. There is nothing like truly experiencing the moment rather than recording it through your phone (or other device) to maybe re-live a facsimile of that experience sometime down the road, which is never like actually being there.

[White Peacock]

Danzig has venue security enforce a strict no photography policy. Every time I saw a phone go up in the air last time he came through here, security was on top of the person.

[warreng88]

Saw this this morning:

Phone Users Thrown Out Of Kevin Hart Gig

Twenty-three people were escorted out of Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena after not complying with a phone ban during a gig by hugely popular comedian Kevin Hart.

Hart had requested no pictures/videos to be taken, as he wanted to keep his material secret in regards to upcoming shows. This was made clear to the audience before the show in various ways.

The NEC Group, which owns the Barclaycard Arena, told the Birmingham Mail that “for Kevin Hart’s show the usage of mobile phones, cameras and recording devices were strictly prohibited in the arena bowl. This was at the request of both the artiste and touring production who hired the venue for their event.”

Gig-goers were also informed that they wouldn’t be subject to a refund if caught using the banned devices. The newspaper highlights the fact that Hart finished his show by asking his fans “to light up the arena with the torches of their phones for a picture.”

Phone Users Thrown Out Of Kevin Hart Gig | Pollstar

[Snowman]

The people doing the recording are idiots - live in the moment, enjoy it, quit annoying the hell out of everyone around you. Jack White requested folks to not take pics or record his show in Norman last year, and most folks obliged. It is getting to the point of ridiculousness, and Chappelle's idea is pretty good, not sure if it's feasible to do everywhere, though (i wouldn't mind 'cos I don't take my phone out at concerts at all, except maybe in between acts to check the time)

Plus out of curiosity what kind of quality the video these people were recording at concerts I checked out youtube for a sample, most seem extremely low quality both video and audio, some so bad I can not imagine ever watching the full length. Maybe that has gotten marginally better in the last year but there is a reason why most professionally made audio/video for a concert uses far better equipment for capturing the event than you will ever fit in a phone, do at least some post production work after it is recorded and if possible capture several shows from a tour.

[Bullbear]

Plus out of curiosity what kind of quality the video these people were recording at concerts I checked out youtube for a sample, most seem extremely low quality both video and audio, some so bad I can not imagine ever watching the full length. Maybe that has gotten marginally better in the last year but there is a reason why most professionally made audio/video for a concert uses far better equipment for capturing the event than you will ever fit in a phone, do at least some post production work after it is recorded and if possible capture several shows from a tour.

I have seen some decent quality recordings. there are also those who live stream on Parascope which is just more people with phones out. Artists use to be more strict about not allowing photos at shows but after every phone started having a camera in it they seemed to have given up but if they request it the venue will enforce. I think it has gotten to where the artists see it as free promotion at this point however because all those videos show up on Youtube and get thousands and thousands of hits. Also it has created a culture where we can capture every fall and wardrobe malfunction and then it becomes an internet sensation overnight. its a weird world we live in.

[Jersey Boss]

Some parents at kids events pull the same crap, ruining it for those who live in the moment.

[tfvc.org]

I remember going to shows in the 90s and being searched for cameras / recording devices. I think that with the proliferation of cell phones most venues kind of gave up.

[baralheia]

Tool bans taking both video and pictures at their shows. Then again, these are also the same guys that refuse to participate in streaming services as well.

[Bill Robertson]

We volunteered to take our two nieces and a friend of theirs to a One Direction concert in Arrowhead stadium last summer. I wished (somewhat jokingly) that cell phone recording had been banned there because waiting in traffic for over an hour to get out I heard more One Direction and teenage girl screaming than I want in my lifetime. Then another couple of hours of One Direction on the drive back to OKC before they finally dozed off.

[Mel]

We volunteered to take our two nieces and a friend of theirs to a One Direction concert in Arrowhead stadium last summer. I wished (somewhat jokingly) that cell phone recording had been banned there because waiting in traffic for over an hour to get out I heard more One Direction and teenage girl screaming than I want in my lifetime. Then another couple of hours of One Direction on the drive back to OKC before they finally dozed off.

You have my deepest sympathies.

[Urbanized]

OMG! Did you see them before Zayn left? Oh, you said LAST summer, as in summer of 2015? I think he left in March, so unless you meant 2014, nevermind.

[Urbanized]

Wait...

[mark]

Danzig has venue security enforce a strict no photography policy. Every time I saw a phone go up in the air last time he came through here, security was on top of the person.

steely dan has the same policy

[Urbanized]

They do? I saw them a couple of years ago at Chesapeake Arena and all of the graying Boomers around me were going crazy, many of them with flip phones. Nobody was doing anything about it. And I was in the third row.

[Urbanized]

Danzig has venue security enforce a strict no photography policy. Every time I saw a phone go up in the air last time he came through here, security was on top of the person.

Seeing that, all I could think about was this video (NSFW-language):

[Bill Robertson]

steely dan has the same policy

They do? I saw them a couple of years ago at Chesapeake Arena and all of the graying Boomers around me were going crazy, many of them with flip phones. Nobody was doing anything about it. And I was in the third row.

Either they do or Hard Rock does. We saw them at HR in Tulsa last year and they enforced very strict no-recording.

[Uptowner]

It completely ruins the viewing experience. Depending on the venue and genre of show. Sometimes i can't even see the show because everyone is holding a screen over their heads. It completely blocks the view.

[Urbanized]

Either they do or Hard Rock does. We saw them at HR in Tulsa last year and they enforced very strict no-recording.

Must be the HR, unless SD radically changed their own policy. The show I saw was one of the most lax shows, security-wise, that I have ever been to. Pretty much zero security at the stage, other than a couple of arena usher types sithhing in chairs facing the audience.

Like I said, it was a bunch of wealthy boomers up front. Total monocultural experience. At 46 or 47 or however old I was I felt like a young interloper on their scene.

Probably 10 different people around my were constantly using their phones to photo or video. Like I mentioned, several were using flip phones, which made my group crack up repeatedly. Also, one woman was desperately trying to Shazam songs - not obscurities mind you but songs like "Black Friday" and "Dirty Work". She could NOT understand why her Shazam was not working.

The only security interaction I ever saw was when an obviously drunk woman kept wandering up to the stage from her first-row seat and trying to carry on a conversation with (mostly) Walter Becker and (also) Donald ***en. Becker ridiculed her a few times, and finally the usher-type heaved himself out of the chair and told her to go back to her seat.