My Angry-Lady Concert Rant

I had the most riveting concert experience that I’ve had in probably a decade when I saw Rammstein at the Lincoln Financial Field on August 31, 2022 (immediately after attending a comparatively tame but pleasant retirement party, complete with dessert potluck and work-themed quizzo, for a beloved colleague). I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and honestly want to devour as much Rammstein-related content as I possibly can within the next few weeks… but I couldn’t help but get annoyed by a particular behavior I observed in a good number of concertgoers throughout the night. That behavior is the dreaded filming-of-the-ENTIRE-show-on-a-cell-phone. (WHYYYY????!!!)

I absolutely hate being a 33-year-old curmudgeon, but I just could not let this one go–even upon waking up the morning after the concert with my ears still ringing and my palms bruised from clapping too hard (I wish I were kidding). Over and over I repeated in my head: Did they even enjoy the show??

I can understand taking a few photos and short videos to briefly capture your specific experience at a concert, and then maybe sending one off to a buddy who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) be there with you. But the burning question that I really can’t stop asking myself is: How do you enjoy a show when you are literally viewing the entire thing (and I mean ENTIRE–I cannot emphasize this word enough; The filmers barely removed their hands from their cell phones to scratch their noses or to wipe tears from their eyes as they listened to the bellowing baritone voice of Till Lindemann partially engulfed in flames, or as they watched Christian "Flake" Lorenz effortlessly walk on a treadmill while playing keyboard dressed in an outfit that basically turned him into a human disco ball) through a tiny screen that you are holding with your arms uncomfortably upward and outward? I honestly would like someone to answer this question for me. I’m dying to know.

Aside from my main burning question, I have some annoying thoughts that I will now share.

Filming the entire show is disrespectful to the band, especially when they literally make a pre-show announcement over the loudspeaker asking concertgoers to NOT film the show. Aside from whatever other reasons the band has for not wanting the show to be filmed, I would imagine that the effort and focus involved in being an amateur videographer takes away from the incredible experience to be had by just enjoying the show, and certainly the band just wants their fans to enjoy the show. Which I guess leads to my next point.

Filming the entire show is disrespectful to other concertgoers. I know this is a silly complaint, but at some point during the concert I had to switch to a (luckily empty) seat near me to avoid the visual bombardment of several cell-phone screens being held up by concertgoers directly in front of me. Even after moving, I found the series of screens glaring across the field somewhat distracting, and sometimes had to make a concerted effort to focus on the music and theatrics. Politely screaming over the rumbling guitars and pounding drums and whooshing flamethrowers into the ears of the concertgoers in front of me, asking them to please lower or completely disengage from their cell phones, did not seem like an appropriate option nor did I think they would listen to me even if they could get anywhere close to hearing me.

My final thought is actually another question, and it is: What do the concert-filmers intend to do with the videos on their cell phones, which can’t possibly be very high in quality and almost certainly include the backs and heads of people occasionally scooting by to get to/from their seats throughout the show? Will they watch the entire concert all over again on their phones? I don’t see how watching the concert on a screen can in any way compare to seeing the real thing. Do the filmers think they are helping to preserve history in some way and, if so, do they not realize that most bands have professional film crews that take care of this labor for them, with much better skill and specialized equipment?

As a final note, I hope readers will understand that my curmudgeonly rant stems mostly from a place of genuine curiosity and good humor, and I am just as open to hearing responses/counterpoints to my questions and thoughts as I am to seeing a German Neue Deutsche Härte band (by which until about two weeks ago I’d only known one song) at a football stadium on a Wednesday night. Thank you.