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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.
Banning cell phones so you don't have to try to look around people who insist on holding their phones over their heads. Or banning cell phones because you don't want an amateur video of your concert on youtube. Given my jaded view of the music industry, I'd bet on the latter. However, I've always wondered what the people who insist on taking photos and videos of everything they see do with those. Are they the modern day equivalent of those who used to corner people with their slide projectors while they begrudgingly sat and pretended to care? Enjoy your life, quit pretending everybody else wants to experience every second of it too.
. . . . a Bluetooth Camera/Audio pickup. Unless this "Yondr" bag is a dual-layered Faraday shield. . . .
The same people who have always been responsible: The on-site security. They don't need access to a phone, they just need to grab one of the guys or gals RIGHT THERE.
We went to concerts before everyone had phones you know...
So who is liable if there is an emergency and nobody in the crowd is able to access a phone to actually report it?
If anything, I believe emergency response times were better before everybody had a cell phone and 500 people called the emergency number at the same time.
The guards presumably still have working phones.
You do realize that cell phones didn't always exist, and people still managed to survive? I'm sure concert survival rates won't drop drastically because of a potential 2 hour gap where your cellphone doesn't work.
And before someone starts complaining about "But we didn't used to have cellphones!" no we didn't, now we do: It's called progress. One thing that has helped emergency response times quite a bit in high income nations is the proliferation of mobile phones. When something happens emergency services can be notified in seconds, and get the response rolling that much faster.
Happened when I was in a car accident. I was dazed for maybe 20-30 seconds, then got my phone out and called for help. They had fire responders on scene in under 2 minutes, police 30 seconds later and EMS in about 4. In that case, it didn't matter, everyone was fine other than bruises, but had there been something serious, it is much more likely it could have been dealt with. The only reason the response was so fast was that it was in a populated area, and that I was able to call for help almost immediately.
To me it seems like the concert issue is one of acceptable behaviour, not the phones themselves. It is using them in inappropriate ways. Well the answer there isn't "take them away" or "lock them up" it is to let people know what is and isn't allowed, and to enforce that by removing people if necessary. People can learn, it turns out, and most can understand what rules apply to what social situation and obey them. There are those that can't and you have to deal with them, but you do it on an individual basis not by something like this.
You do realize that cell phones didn't always exist, and people still managed to survive?
Lies! I was around then. It was very rare to survive a concert in those days.
Terrorists didn't exist back then. I need my phone because terrorists.
That's an excellent idea! Without cellphones, the movie theatre experience would be much better since we'd only have to worry about people talking to each others during the movie, the noise from people munching on oversized snacks, slurping their two litres of soft drinks, the sticky floors and the fact that you can't pause the movie to go to the filthy public bathroom.
After experiencing movies at home, on-demand and at the low cost of Netflix, you'd have to pay me to go to the theatre.
But if your phone is in a bag, how can you know if it's an emergency or not?
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!
I came to see the band, not your fucking cell phone that you insist and holding over your head, blocking my goddamned view.
Saw one of my favorite bands recently. The girl behind us actually had the temerity to ask us to "keep it down" because she was recording the band on her cell phone. At a rock concert.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
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.
We didn't used to have anesthesia and clean medical facilities, either, and people survived then, too.
But if your phone is in a bag, how can you know if it's an emergency or not?
Apple Watch.
Or, are these actual Faraday bags, not just can't-get-to-the-device-access-control-bags?
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Let me guess. You're one of the people who likes to stare at your full-brightness-enabled phone during movies and other performances, without bothering to think that it's as much or more the other paying customers you're pissing off, not the performing artist(s). Has it occurred to you that the person on stage might be wanting their paying customers to be able to enjoy the performance without people like you wrecking everyone's dark-adjusted vision and providing a bright visual distraction that, because of perspective, is larger than the person on the stage that everyone's just spent a bunch of money to see? I know, you really just don't care, because it's all about you. I wonder if there's anything the person sitting in front of YOU might be able to do that would make you wish they'd stop? Maybe, shining a flashlight in your face the whole time? Or is that, like, so cool, man!
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
And what precisely would you be able to do if your father was dying of a stroke while you were in a venue, particularly a stadium? Teleport to his side?
Face it, just because it is possible to be in phone contact during an emergency doesn't really mean that you have to be or that it will even help.
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.
They are specifically trained. Not to do anything medical, but to get on their radios and say 'medical emergency in section 123'. Then, as if by magic, the ON SITE EMS team shows up and deals with it.
this is a non-starter.
I worked as an usher for many years, I worked many many concerts. There are ushers on the sides of every section, with radios. There are security guards walking around the show and just outside the seating areas.
Nobody is going to call 911 in an emergency on their cellphone...Have you tried talking on your cellphone during a show? Neither the caller or the 911 operator would *not* hear a word said. You would call 911..the operator would get on say something and you'd say "sorry, can't hear you...hold on while I leave my seat, walk down the stairs and to a more quiet place."
It would be foolish for someone to try and handle it themselves, if your friend was having a medical emergency you would kill them. There is medical staff standing which includes an ambulance. You spending 10 minutes trying to get through and talk to a 911 operator would simply kill your friend. In fact, I bet if you told the operator that you were at a concert they would tell you to immediately hang up and talk to security.
Terrorists didn't exist back then. I need my phone because terrorists.
This. How am I supposed to sell footage of a terrorist attack to the media if I can't get to my phone!
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
I'd simply refuse to enter and request compensation (full purchase refund, parking expenses). If not, take the ticket merchant or responsible venue coordinatator to court and also request compensation for lost personal time. This type of information should be made clear before the purchase is made.
I've grown tired of organizations and individuals encroaching on what I consider others' basic rights for their own personal interests. If you're a live performer, cell phones are not hurting your business.
And it's exactly because of assholes like you that going anywhere, movie, concert, etc., had become unbearable. Fuck you and your fucking phone.
There are already ambulances and police on site at any event of this size. Insurance requires it, the fire code likely requires it, common sense dictates it, and the artists usually have it in their contract (even if they're only thinking of themselves). Trying to get help sent from the outside will likely take longer than finding someone in a position of authority at the venue.
"If there was a gay Afro-Puertorican Linux distribution, I'd give it a try" ~lucm
I'd simply refuse to enter and request compensation (full purchase refund, parking expenses). If not, take the ticket merchant or responsible venue coordinatator to court and also request compensation for lost personal time. This type of information should be made clear before the purchase is made.
And it likely WILL be. Common sense dictates you read the fine print if you find yourself and your "rights" being violated here. Don't like it? Don't attend the concert. We won't miss you. Refuse to play by the rules? The door swings both ways. Bye.
I've grown tired of organizations and individuals encroaching on what I consider others' basic rights for their own personal interests. If you're a live performer, cell phones are not hurting your business.
How about you encroaching on my basic right to enjoy a concert without having to see or hear cell phone addicts all trying to capture their version of what should be an evening enjoyed by humans instead of machines? I'd say my basic right during those two hours trumps the shit out of yours. You pay for a ticket and attend a concert for YOU the human to see and hear the artist, not to record a damn documentary of your evening.
Needless to say, I've grown tired of this basic rights bullshit argument, especially when it mainly exists to feed people's narcissistic addictions to social media. And cell phones are not mandated by fire departments and emergency responders, so you can drop the bullshit 911 argument too.
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'd really like to see this at children's plays and recitals. You ever see 100 parents pull out iPads to video their first grader at a school play? It's very hard to see... sometimes its easier to watch the play on the screen of the fool in front of me.
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
I guess people will have to survive just like those dark times before cell phones were invented.
Well, technically, the majority of people who lived before cell phones were invented have not survived at all.
Except when the entire first two rows are filled with overzealous mothers that form a roman-shield formation of iPads taking video.