Let's take a look at the history books. Look at the aftermath of a Lou Reed gig in Madrid, 1980. The floor wasn’t just dirty; it was a graveyard of glass and steel. A literal minefield of discarded syringes. It was disgusting, it was dangerous, but it was RAW and part of the era in some way. Those junkies were chasing a high that eventually hit a wall. Fast forward to 2026. Look at the crowd at show, the floor might be cleaner, but the air is radioactive with the glow of ten thousand digital leeches. We haven't cleaned up our act, we’ve just moved the addiction from the vein to the eyeball
My Journalistic Bullshit
I’m calling myself out first. I’ve stood there like a moron, not all the concoert but... a few minutes are enough.. of holding up a phone, sometimes a vintage VHS camcorder yes, telling myself I was "documenting" for the blog or the channel. What a load of bullshit. It was a pathetic excuse. Unless you’re a professional with a press pass or a soundboard feed, you aren't "capturing history." You’re just a tourist in your own life. You’re recording a distorted, digital ghost of an experience you’re too distracted to actually feel. Back in the day, you could record a good bootleg into cassette in your pocket if you were lucky.. but now? We watch the greatest performers on earth through a six-inch piece of glass while they’re standing ten feet away. It’s a mental illness. The worst part is that many times, being high at concerts is precisely when I've done it the most. That's why to this day I maintain that drugs can make geniuses even more brilliant, but for those of us who are stupid, which is most of us, they make us even stupider. No raising awareness here.
King Crimson is Right. You’re Wrong
This is why legends like King Crimson are banning phones, they aren’t being "old-fashioned" they’re performing a goddamn intervention. They are forcing you to stop being a zombie for two hours, five minutes, 30 seconds.. doesnt matter, the moment you release the camera you lost dignity. They know that as soon as that screen goes up, the connection between the stage and the soul is severed. You aren't "sharing the vibe" on Instagram; you’re killing the vibration in the room. Some people get offended when you say social media is worse than heroin. But it’s the truth. Heroin was a monster, but it’s a visible one. It destroys the body, it hits rock bottom, and eventually, the pain is so undeniable that you either die or you claw your way out. It’s a tragedy with a clear ending. But the digital needle? There is no rock bottom. The Infinite Dose comes when you can't "quit" the internet. You need it to work, to pay bills, to exist. Imagine a recovering heroin addict having to carry a loaded syringe in their pocket 24/7 just to function in society. That is your smartphone
Heroin kills the person. The smartphone kills the humanity
It erodes your attention span until you can't sit through a four-minute song without checking for a "like." It turns your empathy into an algorithm. We’ve traded a drug that rots the flesh for a drug that deconstructs the soul. We are "connected" to everyone and present for absolutely nothing. Put the fucking phone down. If you aren't there to hear the music, stay home and watch it on YT. At least then you won't be ruining it for the rest. And I say this specially because I've been one of these stupid assholes..
I'm focusing myself in concerts because maybe is the most visible part of this problem but not to mention the other problems in general RRSS are generating.. and oncr again I remember the words of a wise old hippie I once known, ''internet is only a social control tool''. I will not enter specific details of my life but basically internet is one of the biggest responsibles of having destroyed my life and mental health totally
By the Way
If despite everything i told you wanna record a concert homemade style sameway, is not a crime at all, it was done in the era too but with radio tapes, now the best you can do is to left your phone recording AUDIO only in some part near the stage; but its a bad idea not recommended because you can lose it, you can have problems with stage personnel, the recording quality will be bad, etc.. you'll probably be paying attention to the recording sameway, maybe subconsciously. In resume is not a good idea but if you need to do it its the best option, local artists sometimes leave a friend recording the concert.. It's somewhere between being a zombie and recording a show with legitimate reasons, but I still wouldn't recommend it
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