In 1969, a summer breeze and the Woodstock stage meant a calm evening of music and community. The crowd would sway to the songs as the sun went down without a care in the world other than the people and peace around them. That ’60s concert festival couldn’t be farther from the ones we have today.
Today, the crowds are flooded with phone camera lights and fans who can only sing two lines of one song that went viral. The change was gradual but very obvious.
When I see old videos of concerts, the fans are dancing and enjoying the moment. Picture an ’80s hair band with a mosh pit of screaming fans beneath them. There wasn’t a single phone in the crowd or anyone leaving halfway through the band’s performance. This is so different from the concerts I’ve seen recently. Ones where fans show up to record 30-second viral bits and leave before the end. But why did concerts suddenly become more about the artist and the quickclip than the music and community being presented?
It feels almost obvious to blame the issue on social media and I wouldn’t argue with that. It isn’t only a new problem, though. Maybe the recording for social media is, but people leaving halfway through, once the song they knew was played, can’t fully be blamed on social media. To me, there is no reason to show up to a concert and not stay the whole time. I recently went to a concert festival and was shocked when a girl next to me, who had been telling everyone who would listen how excited she was before an artist came on stage, left halfway through their set after they played their one hit song. That wouldn’t be a problem if I hadn’t also seen several other people leave. There was still really good music being played on stage, but the music just didn’t have meaning to them because they couldn’t record it and sing along.
You also can’t mention concert festivals without thinking of the most famous one today, Coachella. The problem is, most people think of influencers before they think of the actual music of the festival. People talk about what outfits they wear and the videos they make, yet most of the influencers barely know the music they are being paid to see. The crowds back at that first Woodstock Festival wouldn’t have been influencers paid to make content in front of a stage. They were music enthusiasts who bought tickets to escape from the rapidly changing world around them for a weekend.
The influencer culture of concerts isn’t only for those with a platform though. If I think about the concerts that are popular today, my mind instantly goes to the outfits people put together and the Instagram posts they perfectly curate. Don’t get me wrong, the culture of dressing up for a concert is not a bad one. In most cases, it can really bring people together. There is, however, an issue that is met when people care more about getting good photos and being seen at the concert than watching the performance. It’s supposed to be a fun event for people to express themselves and join together.
Music, as it is today, has a great power to bring people together. It can be places like a school dance, where friends are all together to celebrate for a night, or it can be at a concert. To get the benefit of the concert, though, you have to let go of the little nitpicky things that people let spoil their experiences. It would be beneficial for people to put down their phones, stop worrying about getting that one perfect photo and just let the music be the main point of the evening.
