We are all apart of an audience in our every day to day lives. For myself, my most memorable experiences of being apart of an audience is going to concerts, music festivals and events in relation to my makeup business.
I have always gone to concerts with my older sister from a young age. I can recall my first ever concert was the Black-Eyed Peas back in 2009. While only being 9 years old, it was a very exciting time although I did fall asleep half way through! 10 years later, and many concerts and festivals checked off the list; ranging from Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Drake and The Weeknd just to name a few (yes, I know, I have a very diverse music taste). I have found my love hate relationship with being apart of an audience at a concert / festival. From being in the front row of an ASAP Rocky concert and being lifted over the railings because I couldn’t breathe through the clouds of smoke, in the process losing a Bulgari earring and an Adidas shoe. To having the time of my life at Rihanna’s concert, meeting friends that I still have an online friendship with after 5 years!
Live Nation, a leading global music promoter states that they sold over 44 million tickets in 2016, for live music events (Statista, 2019). This statistic shows that a lot of people attend music events, ultimately being apart of an audience.
To kick off 2019, on the 1st of January, I attended the Field Day Festival in Sydney. After sculling vodka from the bottle and vomiting in the gutter at the train station on the way to the venue, I finally made it to the location. I have always been hesitant about going to festivals because of all the news stories surrounding them about drug overdoses. Being a very anxious person when in crowds didn’t help either, but my girl Cardi B was playing, and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
Although I was filled with a lot of anxiety throughout the festival, (one of the main reasons for my anxiety was because my long ass hair gets stuck in everyone’s buttons or armpits in crowds ew…, anyway back to the blog), to experience the atmosphere of the live music is magical. Being surrounded by people who enjoy the same music, know all of the lyrics and share the same love for the artist is what makes being apart of an audience special. It feels amazing to be completely absorbed in the music and then glance around the room to see you’re surrounded by so many others who feel the same way! We are all there watching the talent and learning from their own experiences while making life time memories for ourselves.
Just a few photos from the One Direction and RL Grime concert!
People attend concerts because they enjoy belonging to a community with similar interests. Being apart of an audience allows you to realise how big of an impact live music has on people’s lives and your own. Concerts and festivals create a sense of belonging and purpose within a person. Spending time with friends enjoying live music is a great way to bond, sharing musical experiences will become memories that can last a lifetime.
It has become a social norm to hold up your mobile for the majority of a concert. Psychologists argue that people are seeing the world through a camera rather than experiencing it. This is called the ‘photo-taking impairment effect’ (Scott, 2016), where carrying a camera around means you won’t remember as much.
Although it is becoming more and more common for audiences to watch performances through their phone cameras, attending a concert or festival is a great opportunity to unplug from your phone and enjoy the present moment; being apart of the audience – one that can be seen together in the same location, at the same time, sharing the same experience.
Reference
Hannah Scott, 2016, ‘People stop filming concerts’Digitalrev, viewed 21 March https://www.digitalrev.com/article/people-stop-filming-concerts
Hannah Scott, 2016, ‘Our brains on image overload’Digitalrev, viewed 21 March https://www.digitalrev.com/article/our-brains-on-image-overload
Statista, 2019 ‘Attendance of popular music concerts’ Viewed 21 March https://www.statista.com/statistics/193016/attendance-at-popular-music-concerts-in-the-us-since-2003/
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