I’m Trying to Watch a Concert, and all I See is your Damn iPhone

A B. B. King concert, and the jerks who ruined it.

We’ve all been there — you’re giddy and excited. You’re anxious to see one of your biggest music idols and influences, and you’re finally able to make it happen. B.B. King was in town, and even at 89 years young he’s still touring and doing what he loves. $100 later, and I was on my way to seeing the King of the Blues himself.

I’ve been to plenty of concerts. After all, Chicago has more venues than I could visit on my own; and this city attracts all manner of performers. Not once have I been faced with an audience that cared more about capturing the event on their phones than about actually enjoying the show.

Here I am, the starstruck 26 year old who finally gets to see a musician he always looked up to. The show begins, and immediately I’m faced with nothing but a wall of cell phones. There were people recording video and audio of the show, people snapping every picture they could of the band and B. B. There was even a man who kept taking selfies with his girlfriend in the middle of the main floor, pushing people out of the way as they tried to focus on the concert.

I wanted to stomp on and annihilate every one of those phones. I wasn’t far from the stage (I got there early — explicitly for that reason) and should have been afforded at least a glimpse of the performers. I couldn’t even get that.

I suppose one of the most surprising elements this situation is that classic Blues is something you feel. It takes such skill to write it and perform it well, it deserves better. Toss that in with the fact that you have a legend performing, a man has made it so far as to be called the King of the Blues… I don’t even have words for the disappointment.

This whole circumstance was one massive paradox: an older music genre and the man who helped define it, combined with a new mentality of having to capture every minute rather than actually experiencing it. It was sickening to witness.

Maybe I need to get off my soap box, but as someone who was raised with an appreciation for this music and the Man himself, it’s difficult to feel anything but disappointed and angry. All I wanted to was see one of the greatest musicians in history perform and be loved. Instead, I got to watch it through a wall of phones and people who cared more about their selfies.