At a concert? Put down your phone.

For Valentine’s Day, my husband took me to the Bush concert. It was the first show I’ve seen at the Murat Theater (usually shows I see are in the Deluxe or Egyptian Room), and it was a blast. Even though on the map it looked like we were in the nose-bleeds (and that’s about the price we paid), I learned that when people say there’s no bad seat in the Murat they’re telling the truth. It also gave me a better view of the audience than I’ve ever had before.

Blurry photo at the Stars show. This is the best shot I ever got. And I’ll never be this close to the stage again.

And what I saw… was screens. Screens everywhere. No longer are we content to just take blurry photos, but we’re now taking blurry videos too. I saw people recording the show on their phone, and basically experiencing the concert that way. Only pausing to send video and photos to friends. The woman next to me kept sitting down during the show so she could text and tweet. And all I can think is why? Why force yourself to see through your phone when you’re right there.

But of course I know, I used to do this to a lesser degree. I have a whole album full of blurry concert photos, taken to “help me remember the show.” But you know what? I rarely look at them. And when I realized I rarely looked at them, I stopped taking them. Not because I didn’t want to remember the show, but because they didn’t really help me remember the show. They just made me miss part of the experience when I was framing up the shot.

At the TMBG concert. I am pro more photos with friends.

What I do now instead is write some memorable parts of the show down. A few years ago my husband bought me a ticket stub diary so I could stop throwing these mementos in drawers and shoe boxes. It has a place for tickets, and a few lines beside to write notes. This brings back my memories of a show way more than a blurry generic picture. (Side note, I was looking for the one I have and found this one that’s big enough to hold convention passes. I might need to pick up this one too!) I’m also a big fan of taking pictures of the group you’re with between sets. Because more pictures of you with your friends is always a good thing.

Since I learned to put my phone down during shows, I enjoy them much more. And flipping through my journal and remembering them always brings a smile to my face. Much better than some photos sitting in a folder on my computer.

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