Smart Phone Etiquette: What NOT To Do At A Neil Young Concert

Neil Young "Mock Texting"
Bridgeport, CT - December 4, 2012
(Click photo to enlarge)
Last year, we posted the story If You Text During a Neil Young Concert, This Could Be You, which turned out to be one of our most "viral" blogs of 2012 in terms of impressions, engagement, reach, comments, Facebook Likes and Shares, Re-Tweets, virality, and external links.

ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook.com
(Click photo to enlarge)
This is interesting and instructive on many levels.

First, a quick re-cap in case you missed this story and didn't follow link above. At the Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert in Bridgeport, CT on 12/4/12, during the song "F*!#in' Up", basically Neil stopped playing and started mocking an audience member who had been constantly texting during the entire concert. An eyewitness account was provided by an audience member standing directly behind the perpetrators who recounted the incident in great detail.

As noted above, the reaction to the story was quite fascinating. Probably 99% of opinions were "Right on, Neil!" and enthusiastically supported Neil's reaction to the whole phenomenon of smart devices at live events and those more caught up in their own personal small screen dramas rather than the real world around them. It would seem that the always connected revolution has reached a critical mass on a collision course with those who unplug and try and enjoy a live concert. Check the blog comments themselves for more of the reaction here at Thrasher's Wheat.

ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook.com
But onto some of the wider implications. Why did this relatively isolated event at the final tour concert by Neil Young & Crazy Horse go viral? Why were folks so engaged with the post causing such a reaction across the internet and various band sites where fans applauded Neil's reaction and begged they're fellow concert goers to be more respectful of the artist and the audience? What was unique here?

Well, we have our theories of what was happening here even though it ain't exactly clear.

Our thinking is that what happened was truly unique in that a performer onstage basically stopped the show to make a point that this sort of "Smart Phone Etiquette" is unacceptable and called the audience member out on their behavior. It seems obvious that this sort of behavior is increasingly "normal" but yet performers are highly reluctant to speak out directly against it. So in summary -- once again -- we have Neil being his contrarian trendsetting self to thank. Our little rebel with causes, if you will.

Neil Young
Bridgeport, CT - 12/4/12
Photo by Dave S. | Facebook
(Click photo to enlarge)
To try and wrap this analysis all up, two take aways -- one for performers and one for bloggers. For performers, it is that fans totally support them in their desire to keep concerts "traditional" in the sense that the focus is on what happens onstage publicly and not in the audience's private social networking world. For bloggers, it is that truly unique content creates positive metrics and generates higher levels of engagement with your readers.

While neither of these observations is particularly surprising, we mainly share this to reinforce what makes Neil unique and therefore engaging. Seriously, who else does this sort of thing these days? That is, take risks, challenge audiences and consequences be damned?

Lastly, we'll just make this clarifying statement here because we'll see it in comments below for those who may not have taken in all the details. This is not about someone snapping a few photos or doing a few texts at a concert somewhere in the middle of a huge auditorium. This is about folks who constantly fiddle with their gadgets within a few yards of the stage who are annoying both their surrounding audience mates and the performers onstage. This is about either politely going with the prevailing flow of the "Smart Phone Etiquette" expected or against it and being simply rude. In other words, if you're at a Lady GaGa/Justin Bieber, etc concert that's one thing. If you're at the Metropolitan Opera that's another.

See the incident for yourself below beginning at 04:35.


Neil Young and Crazy Horse perform Fuckin Up at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT on December 4, 2012
As for us? We just print out a stack of these cards below before attending a Neil Young concert and hand them out as needed. ;)


When Neil Young is playing, you shut the f* up (and don't text)!!!
So please, don't make us have to pull "The Card" on you at a Neil concert. That would be so uncool and harsh our mellow.

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