When I was a kid, going a concert implied a night of fun with friends, laughter, and lots of singing and dancing. Seeing your favorite band live meant partaking in the music collectively & sharing the experience of being loyal fans. When fans would all sing in unison, concerts could evoke the passion in our souls – a mélange of energy feeding on itself to create a collaborative fanfare. Sadly, these days, most concert attendees interact mostly with their phones, instead of the performance.
This week, we attended the U2 concert (which was spectacular). In the sea of phones recording various moments, I noticed so many people caught up in the preservation of the memory for tomorrow. Rather than move to the beat, they didn’t move at all for fear of ruining the shot. They didn’t feel the energy all around, despite attempting to capture it in full 1080P. I wanted to shake them up and say, “You’re here now…have fun! Be the moment!”
I found it so troubling to see that we have lost touch with one of our most iconic rituals by forgoing our connection with the present moment. We are all guilty of wanting to save moments digitally. There is nothing wrong with capturing a photo or a video (assuming the artists allow it) as a treasured memory, and sharing it is fine too. But shouldn’t we actively participate first? Shouldn’t we BE there?
I’m sure mid-performance, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were all abuzz with photographs and videos of a fine memory in progress. But wouldn’t it be better to give ALL of our attention to the now, and consider sharing later or tomorrow? Or even, dare I say, preserving this night as a remembrance reserved just for us, in the here and now?
If we are too busy capturing the show, we are not remembering the show, or worse yet, not enjoying it as much as we could. It is just another set of photos and videos with thousands of others contained in a vault in a server somewhere, maybe to be pulled up and enjoyed at some point in the future…or maybe never again.
Years later, will a picture or video satisfy us as much as the powerful memory of being there, actively engaged? For that special song? For the audience reaction to encore? For the powerful emotions felt in the room? The best memories deserve to be etched in our minds from our attentive focus. Isn’t that the point of having such experiences? Otherwise, we could all just go on YouTube and watch the videos. Why not be there, when we are there?
To personally recall the state of joy & collective energy in an arena offers far more than a individualistic post on a virtual wall [of memories] will ever contain. Being aware of today for today makes our connection to the present moment much more active. Next time, let’s consider leaving the phone at home and sending 100% of ourselves instead! I’m sure even the artists will appreciate that level of collaboration.