If you've been to a concert since the advent of phones that were capable of filming and retaining a good amount of video, then you know how frustrating it is to stand behind someone who insists on filming the whole show.
Aside from the fact that it's annoying as hell to anyone who actually wants to watch the concert, Tool's Maynard James Keenan tells Joe Rogan that he thinks it kills the whole storytelling aspect. As in, instead of trying to adequately explain to your friend how awesome the show was, you just pull out your phone and show some probably iffy-quality footage.
"This stuff annoys me – because I'm a firm believer in oral tradition. I embrace the storytelling – being able to describe to your friends that, sitting around that fire after a good long day of hunting. Where you tell the story about hunt and you do all those things, and those family stories, and your grandfather, and your great-grandfather's stories are told in that setting. And you're not writing it down. It's a tradition of understanding the details and being able to explain and expand on the details from your recollection of what you saw.
"But if you have no skills in absorbing what you saw, if you rely on this thing [holds up a phone] to capture their stories for you… First of all, nothing you're gonna get at a show is gonna represent what you just saw, or what you were there for.
As a postcard I suppose it works. But stay present! Stay with these people to be there for this thing. That's far more important. Also, as courtesy, maybe the person behind you would like to be that person who's enjoying this and now your shit's in their way."
So put the phone and enjoy the show!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68gH5PiSZg[/youtube]
