Fans Debate When Filming a Concert on the Phone Goes Too Far

When does filming a show on your phone go too far? Fans have debated the topic online after a recent Bring Me the Horizon show.

In an age where social media and technology are as big as they are, it’s expected that you’ll see some fans at concerts using their phones to record the show.

With platforms such as TikTok on the rise, and Instagram Reels becoming a preference for the algorithm, it’s no wonder the short-form video has become such a popular form of media for people to create and consume. Not to mention, YouTube is also still a primary source for watching videos. So, it definitely makes sense that there is at least a bit of recording happening at concerts, or else we wouldn’t have all those great rock star moments to look back on.

But when is it too much?

Fans on Reddit have offered a variety of different perspectives on phone use at concerts after a recent Bring Me the Horizon show. Someone wrote a post on the band’s subreddit titled, “A girl in front of me streamed the entire show yesterday via Discord, started a short Instagram Live broadcast and followed everything through her camera lens. How can you get so little involved in a concert? Just sad.”

According to Setlist.fm, Bring Me the Horizon’s last two shows took place at the O2 Arena in London, so the Reddit post was referring to one of the two.

What Fans Are Saying in the Debate

The top comment on the Reddit thread reads, “A firm believer in you’ve paid your money, you can enjoy it whatever way you choose. However the phones I witnessed at the BMTH gig I was at (Birmingham) was insane. It kind of ruins it for others when they’re holding their phone up restricting your view.”

Quite a few others shared the same sentiment that fans have the right to watch the show however they place, but many added that that is only the case if it’s not interfering with any other fans’ experience in any way. Holding a phone up tends to block the view of at least one or two people, so doing it for the whole show could understandably upset them.

“I find it infuriating to be behind someone who’s holding their phone up for the whole show. I understand why some people do it, but nah it’s a no from me, outside of snippets,” another person wrote. “That being said, I actually thought there was very little camera action in Bournemouth and was delighted — Noah [Sebastian] from Bad Omens even commented on it saying what a relief it was to not be playing to a sea of screens.”

In Defense of Filming Shows

A few other people pointed out that there are a variety of reasons that someone would record a concert, ranging from their personality to neurodiversity to simply wanting to share the experience with people who couldn’t attend or afford to go.

Someone responded to a comment adding that there’s a characteristic some people have called aphantasia, which according to the Cleveland Clinic, is described as a lack of visual imagination, which means they’re unable to picture things and memories in their mind. For this reason, people may be inclined to film a show so they have a visual way of remembering it.

READ MORE: Study Reveals the Most Tiring Rock + Metal Artists to See Live

Against Filming Shows at Length

On the other hand, there were a few comments written by people who seem almost completely against recording at shows.

“I could write an entire dissertation about this. Community has been replaced with commodity so much that people literally don’t know what else to do,” a user wrote, with a few others noting that they only take a couple of snippets of important moments.

Read the full Reddit discussion by clicking the Reddit post below or the link here.

A girl in front of me streamed the entire show yesterday via Discord, started a short Instagram Live broadcast and followed everything through her camera lens. How can you get so little involved in a concert? Just sad.
byu/Dhaal_ inBringMeTheHorizon