Mini Mansions, Turner, and an iPhone addiction.

This morning, I browsed Twitter and found a a video of Alex Turner appearing live with US band Mini Mansions. He features on the track 'Vertigo', from their forthcoming album, and made a brief appearance for one verse. The video's exciting for Mini Mansions and Arctic Monkeys fans alike - but what I noticed more was the lightening speed in which the audience started watching the show from behind a wall of luminous smart phones. Were they so entranced by his dulcet Sheffield tones and impeccably styled hair they had to ignore the music and immediately capture it? The digital age and power of social media has well and truly established itself in the music industry - but is it okay that it's altered the way we enjoy live music?  We seem to be so afraid of losing a memory, that we forget to enjoy it when it's actually happening. Surely the appeal of live music is the atmosphere and the fact that you've paid to be there, at that moment in time? Call me old-fashioned, but I can't say I gain much from watching a gig through the cracked screen of someone's knackered iPhone. It would be lovely if the next show I go to, everyone just puts away their phones, and enjoys what's happening right then - otherwise they might as well just stay at home, and watch it on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/4TfmduvtHuo