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Alicia Keys Latest Artist To Enforce No Cell Phone Policy at Concerts (slashgear.com)
Shane McGlaun, reporting for SlashGear:It appears that artists of all sorts are getting very serious about keeping fans from using smartphones while they are at their concerts or events. The latest musician to ban cell phones at her events is Alicia Keys. Fans aren't forced to give up their smartphones at the door to be locked up in some locker or box until the show is over. Rather, fans are handed a special pouch that is locked up with their smartphone inside the fan keeps that pouch with them during the event, but they can't get to the device to call, take photos, or shoot video. If they need to use their device during the show the users can go back to the door and a worker passes a disc about the size of a bagel over the bag to unlock it and the fan can step outside to use their smartphone.
I saw Weird Al Yankovic this past weekend. Entering the venue, we were specifically told that we could use cell phones if we liked. Part of his show involved everybody getting their cell phone out and waving them over their head - we all have cell phones, so c'mon, let's get real!
Ok let's clear some things up here in dot points:
1. Nothing good has ever come from random people calling 911 for emergency services to a very large public venue. All you achieve is to confuse the dispatchers and result in a bunch of ambulances arriving to the wrong place, announcing to the wrong place and ultimately delaying care for those that need.
2. Part of event organisation includes co-ordination. There's never an assumption or a requirement to have the public involved in managing an event. The organisers have teams with radios for communication, and can easily and quickly manage any scenario.
3. Following on from the above dot point one of the key parts of managing an emergency at a public event is getting people to NOT help and getting them to stay out of the way. Despite what you think is happening in nearly every case the situation is being far better managed than you think and no unless you're a doctor you're not at all helping.
4. I don't want someone to call 911. I want someone to call the local first aid team which is part of the emergency response plan which will likely be there in seconds, not 10s of minutes.
5. ALL such events have insurance. ALL such events are required to provide an emergency response plan to the insurance company.
6. In an active shooter event all bets are off. More people will get injured in the resulting stampede than get shot by the shooter. Still the best person to 911 is security, the guys who likely can see the shooter and follow where he is moving, not some person hiding under the chair providing wonderful information to dispatch such as "bwaaa I don't know where he is, bwaaaa someone is shooting, bwaaaa get me out of here"
And completely unrelated to an emergency the use of mobile phones at a concert is just pure and utter garbage that results in pure and utter garbage videos, pure and utter garbage sound, and makes you a pure and utter garbage person for holding up a lit display in the person behind you's face.
The guards presumably still have working phones.
Better: At venues large enough that this is really an "issue" there is often an ambulance already onsite to deal with any medical calamities--for "music festivals" there are often two on site. So the hundreds of bouncers they have working these shows all have walkie-talkie radios and can probbaly get the already-there ambulance crew to your seat faster than you'd get an ambulance dispatched from the fire station by 9-1-1, to the venue, parked, and into the place.
Who did what now?
Somehow, before the age of cellphones, we did ok. I don't know how, but we survived.
Recently theaters have started to catch on to this. Even here in "blue laws" PA, theaters are selling beer. They are increasingly installing electric reclining seats with assigned seating. One theater even serves you decent pub-style food directly to your seat during the movie. It's not for everyone, and it sure does jack up the price - but I've started going to the theater again after a long time of avoiding it.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
In turn, that girl presumably came to the concert to hear/record the performance, not to listen to ya'lls goddamned yammering.
Here is what actually happens when you call 911 from an event (personal experience):
911: 911, what is the nature of your emergency
Me: I think my companion is having a heart attack
911: What is your location
Me: XYZ Arena
911: Is an event in progress?
Me: Yes
911: EMS is on-site for all events. Find the nearest person with a 'Staff' or 'Security' vest and tell them. They will have EMS there immediately
And I did, and EMS was there within 30 seconds. And before EMS even arrived, the security staff had cleared a path for them and made room around the patient.
If you or someone next to you has a stroke, how long will it take someone to reach someone at security? Shows can be quite densely packed, don't assume you can do that in a minimal amount of time. And for a stroke, every second counts.
OK, so if the show is so densely packed that you can't even reach security, what's a phone call going to do? Seriously, do you think paramedics are going to find "the person in the audience who called 911" if you haven't even identified yourself to security?
Breakfast served all day!
I'm extremely conflicted on this issue. I strive to not be a hypocrite as much as possible so in this try to constrain my activities to a set of rules that I would be comfortable with everyone else following. SO here's where I'm at:
I go to a LOT of concerts. I believe the vast majority of people don't understand the depth of this statement. 5-7 nights a week. 250-300 days out of the year I'm seeing live music. There are many different kinds of shows and each one has slightly different rules. Clubs are very different from Theaters are very different from Stadiums are very different from Festivals. You really need to respect the environment you're in. I really hate how a lot of people use their phones during a show BUT at the same time my favorite hobby, aside from seeing the music in the first place, is capturing it for the many many people who live vicariously through my concert experiences. This is not vanity. I get thanks on the daily from people who don't have the time or money to go see what I do and truly appreciate the photos and videos I capture and share. SO, I need to find a balance between getting that done and not being "that guy" at a show either. Here are the rules I try to follow:
1) Turn off your flash. *Period. Cell phone flashes suck. You will get better photos with the light that is being provided by the stage light engineer. The *only time you need your phone flash is if you are taking pictures of your friends in the audience and then only if they are in the dark (see #2). Your friends look cooler if you take a photo away from the stage so they are illuminated by the stage lighting anyway.
2) I don't take selfies or group shots during shows: This is not only obnoxious for the flash that is often used (necessary or no) but also for the "sorry we're going to expand and shove you all out of the way so we can get an unobstructed shot". I'm not going to say I've never been in such a shot nor taken one but I avoid it to the max because I hate it when it happens.
3) Keep video to a minimum: I love having videos but hate taking them and it's really hard not to be "that guy" while doing so. Aside from the above *never use flash while recording because goddammit why are you blinding me for that long! but also: a) Video is better horizontal than vertical. b) try to not hold the phone blocking everyone else's view. This is prime if you can be close enough that you can hold your phone over someone's shoulder so only you and maybe the couple people immediately behind you can see it. c) Phone video only looks good when you hold the phone extremely still. If you can't do this then don't record video. d) (Personally) since I want this to be worthwhile to the general public I always record a entire song. I don't want to watch some crappy minute long shaky video of whatever so if I'm going to go through the hassle and aggravation of recording one then its going to be steady, quiet and a complete song. I also shoot for no more than 1 video per show or set if any.
4) Do your work quick and go away. Block people's view for as little time as possible and put your phone away. I've had shows where I took literally hundreds of photos and the people around me were like "dude I rarely saw your phone in the air". Look for a good shot, get your settings configured when the phone is out of view, pop it up and take a few quick shots (this is faster when the flash is off and any HDR is off as well!) and put the phone away. ALSO you're not going to capture the whole show. Don't try. Take a bunch of (near most) songs off and just enjoy them. I've been behind people who were shooting constantly and it's annoying.
5) Don't do a bunch of other stuff with your phone. If it's a really major show I might do a single FB update with a photo but else my phone is in my pocket unless it's being a camera or watch. *exception: for really large shows (festivals / stadiums) people may need to find where I am / vice versa so texting is a necessary evil sometimes BUT I'm not sitting there chatting about other crap. Purely lo