Dee Stone: Blog

a little over a year ago, i had the pleasure of seeing rachelle ferrell at the birchmere in alexandria, va. she was in a fairly low-key mood throughout the show. when i looked around at the audience, it seemed like every 10th person was holding up a cell phone. i thought it was distracting. then, about half way through the show, rachelle stopped and said (i'm paraphrasing), "all of you taking pictures and sending texts are not getting what i'm giving. this is a moment you should be sharing with me and you're more interested in taking pictures so that you can tell your friends, 'i was there'." as a performer, i totally understood where she was coming from. i wonder if they did. did they feel uncomfortable or did they think, "i paid for my ticket, i can do what i want"?

i know that you have seen a plethora of poor quality cell phone clips posted on youtube. i always ask myself, why did they even post this? you can hardly make out the artist on the stage, the sound is terrible, and you hear the guy/girl with the phone talking and laughing over the music. i don't get it. it's like, "look at me, i'm at a concert!" um...ok.

i see this is a part of a larger problem with some younger audiences. not all of them, just some. it seems that music is secondary to the scene or the social element of their lives. we have a generation that's been raised on tv and videos. if your mind has been deadened by a lifetime barrage of 30-second sound bites, i guess it would be hard to still yourself and just be in a moment, let the music flow through you, and appreciate that connection that you can only get in a live performance. it's not a video. it's someone giving you a piece of themselves. they deserve your full attention and respect.

at some venues where i perform, there is usually a group of 5-10 younger people who will have loud conversations through a whole set. they might shut up for a minute if they hear a song they're familiar with,  but they always go back to chattering and, inevitably, they pull out their cell phones...click, click, click, text, text, text. i find it rude and annoying...other patrons do, too; and we're all glad when they leave, texting as they walk out the door.

who are these people? what's wrong with them? put down the damned phone!