To film or not?

Do videos detract from live shows?

By Derrick Rossignol

Posted on April 20, 2011, at 11:43 p.m.

As part of a contest the Foo Fighters have been holding, the band has been traveling around the country and playing short sets in fans’ garages. Their music was made in a garage, so why not play it in one?

Footage of one of the shows found its way to YouTube and it’s pretty cool to watch. Seeing one of the world’s biggest rock bands play to an intimate and infinitely amped crowd with an old AC/DC poster and a fridge behind them is really unique. It’s an effective way for the Fighters of Foo to get back to their grunge roots.

One YouTube user posted a comment about how the footage shouldn’t be on YouTube and the uploader should not have put it up because it ruins the exclusivity of the show. Though he admitted he was joking, he does bring up a valid point, regardless of his intent.

Is footage of concerts like this uploaded for mass consumption harmful for the memory of a unique experience, or is it a great way to share something significant with the world?

Donald Glover, a star on NBC’s “Community” who raps under the pseudonym Childish Gambino, shared his view on the subject in a blog post about the final LCD Soundsystem concert. He wrote, “Concerts are supposed to be something that you can’t replicate. Why the f— go to one if not? Everything about the show felt so ‘one time only.’”

A concert is a special experience that is hard to recreate — that’s why people go to them. When you watch clips from a show online, there is a disconnect you wouldn’t feel if you were there, as opposed to sitting in front of your computer screen.

Being at the venue with the artist and hearing the speakers play what the band is performing as they are playing it is a personal experience that gives the impression of a closer connection to the performer.

One of the best things about going to a concert is the story you will have to tell after, and if everybody spends the whole show with their cameras in the air, that aspect is gone, or at least damaged. It is difficult to go home and tell friends something notable happened, only for them to retort with, “I know, I saw it on YouTube.”

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian piano virtuoso who was absolutely revered in his time. He was one of the first European performing sensations — women would fight over his handkerchiefs and tear them up to keep as souvenirs. He has been described as “[raising] the mood of audiences to a level of mystical ecstasy.”

If it was possible for any of his performances to have been filmed, we’d have all this footage to pore over and dissect. It would be cool to see how crazy the buzz about him really was, but would the mystique of Lisztomania be the same? I think not. Seeing it for ourselves would have either validated or disproven the myth, but myths and legends are more interesting than facts.

A recorded video of an exclusive show on YouTube is either a detriment to the legend of one-time-only events or a great way to share something amazing — so awesome it deserves to be broadcast. If somebody puts it online, you can watch and enjoy or take the “ignorance is bliss” route.

Your call.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 20th, 2011, 11:43 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.