As we made our way to see the incredibly talented ‘Fat Freddy’s Drop’ all the way from New Zealand, (for the 5^th time) I decided I’d keep my phone in my pocket throughout the whole gig.

As soon as they were announced to come on stage I felt an urge to get my phone out, so I could capture the precious moments, but I resisted and did so for the rest of the gig.

You might be wondering, why I decided to do that and more importantly, why I am writing about this.

Well, a few years ago I went to see Lauryn Hill – my all-time female artist crush . Seeing her live was a dream come true. She did make us wait too long, and the critics were harsh on her performance of her old tunes, but I didn’t care much, she was there! A few meters away from me, with her class and her ageless voice and you know what I did?! I tried to enrapture her with my s!tty phone camera.  I spent the vast majority of the gig with my arms aching above my head, trying to dance with my arms still. I was annoyed at the other fans with their phones in their hands, in my line of vision, yet I didn’t back down, I wanted footage of the moment. I enjoyed the gig, but in retrospect I realise I probably spent too long looking at the stage through my screen. I wasn’t the worst offender but I was ‘one of them’ nonetheless.

On my way home, I decided to look at all the footage I had and unsurprisingly the lights blinded the camera and the sound was terrible, so after all that effort I didn’t have anything worth watching. I was disappointed and felt sad that I didn’t have anything left from the gig but as I told friends about the gig in the following days, I realised that I had my memory of it and that was the most valuable thing I could have – a part from an autograph from Lauryn – a girl can dream haha!

Anyway, ever since that gig, I have tried to minimise my picture taking and filming at gigs. I now spend most of my time listening, watching, dancing, experiencing the music with my undivided attention, my whole being. But this time I decided to take it one step further, I wouldn’t spend a second looking at my phone, and I didn’t and I loved it, so I urge everyone to try it! Imagine how clear your line of vision will be!