I can't help but notice lots of people enjoy the experience of a music gig through their phone screen. What's most frustrating is that I join in and start watching it on the stranger's phone rather than focusing on real life because I cannot resist internally mocking the terrible quality of their photography skills. From the artist's perspective, it can be rather frustrating too. In a recent chat (interview, if you're being pedantic) with Jess Glynne on the back of her tour bus, what a showbiz moment, she described her frustration at the members of her audience using their phones to record her. Don't get her wrong, this statement was book-ended by praise for British audiences watching her performances in a respectful 'awe' and a recognition for why fans should want to document their experiences, as she does herself sometimes. The phones floating amongst the crowd make her feel self conscious, aware that anything she does could end up online, which as we all know can be an unforgiving place.
Every performance is unique, you can never have the same conversations with the crowd, the artist will be in a different mood and stuff can go wrong. If you share a unique moment, it becomes common knowledge and therefore less special. As Jess said later on in the interview, at her Bournemouth gig she needed a wee and had a headache, which made her forget the lyrics to her own song. (Note: just googled it, there's a video on Youtube, which has 100 views because surprise surprise, it's only a moment that you care about if you were there). Kudos to how she handled it though, she shouts 'I just fucked up but I'm real', no backing track covering up for her. This week it seems ever more poignant that recording at a gig can lead to the capture of a moment you weren't expecting. One of the attacks in Paris happened at a heavy metal gig and of course, whilst the band performed, people had their phones out. That video is now evidence in a long road to justice for thousands of innocent victims around the world who have been targeted by these terrorists. The video helps the world to empathise with the experiences of those on the 13th of November 2015 and in this case, sharing the experience through the lens does not water it down, it makes it more powerful.
Attending a gig for an artist who is much sought after distinguishes you as one of the 'lucky' ones and quite frankly, who doesn't want to be considered lucky? LUCKY OLIVIA has such a good ring to it, it makes me sound like a racehorse. I was at the One Direction gig in Sheffield which was their last night of the 'On The Road Again Tour 2015' before their break, a precious moment for thousands of Directioners. I shared a 20 second video on twitter but after a couple of conversations that went: 'You're so lucky' - 'I know', I realised how little I had got from doing so. There is a difference to being TOLD you are lucky and FEELING you are lucky. I didn't feel lucky because I knew the steps that I'd taken in order to get to that position, I just felt grateful. I had worked bloody hard to get a job which I love and I'd taken the opportunity to go to the gig once it had been offered to me. It was not a mystical force of 'luck' but it was a combination of preparation and opportunity. I am incredible grateful for the coming together of circumstances to enable me to do that. I am aware of the role that everyone has played in my good fortune but I am also aware of the role that I myself have played.
I think you can stop using the word 'lucky'. Luck implies that you didn't deserve your good fortune and why not? You have been able to take advantage of certain opportunities based on your circumstance and preparation. Bearing that in mind, do not rub your good fortune in other people's faces, they hate that. If you are experiencing good fortune it's great to acknowledge why you have it because it enables you to become aware of why someone may not have been so fortunate, unable to make the most of opportunities or prepare as well as you. Once these are identified, you can be more empathetic to those less fortunate and work towards equalising the playing field so that your good fortune becomes the average experience, wouldn't that be damn cool? Recording a video at a gig should be about enabling you to reflect on your good fortune at a later date, not to prove to others how 'lucky' you are. You do not need luck. You have everything you already need in order to succeed. lol rhymes.