Bjork: Stop recording everything and experience
According to The Press, New Zealand, Icelandic singer Bjork has “noticed a new trend and it’s one she doesn’t like.”
The issue?
Punters are using their phones or cameras to record Bjork’s performances, and it’s causing the singer some angst.
‘‘I don’t want to be rude or anything; I understand they come to the show and they want to keep a memory, I appreciate that.
‘‘But after two or three songs I just have to say, ‘Listen, if you want me to be here in the moment with you, then you’ve got to be too’.
‘‘It sounds weird but I really have to feel that we’re doing it together.’’
Bjork says people ‘‘have been really nice, they’ve been, ‘OK, we get it’.’’
The objection has nothing to do with fear the clips will end up on YouTube, but about the performance.
‘‘A live concert is all about being there in the moment; you just have to let go. What bothers me about it . . . you prepare yourself psychologically before a show and you go on stage and you open up and you want to be open.
‘‘It’s a bit like going out to dinner with your friend. You’ve decided you want to trust them with something really important and the minute you start talking he picks up his mobile phone and starts texting and you think what? Wait a minute! Are you listening to me, do you care?’’
Fair point… I reckon that’s a reasonable viewpoint. Take your photos then get involved. You can, as my friends are keen to remind me, get a little too caught up in recording stuff and actually end up not experiencing.
For once I’d have to agree with Bjork! How many times do you grab the phone, start filming and then realise the moment is gone and you weren’t really part of it? I do it with my kids, but I’m starting to realise you can get so obsessed with saving those moments that your only memory of them is what you recorded. That can’t be right. Fair play, weird Icelandic lady.
Posted by MarkW on January 15th, 2008 at 10:08 am.