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I will admit that I have been guilty of this in the past, but it drives me crazy when people spend their entire time at a live concert filming the thing with their phones. The footage always looks and sounds terrible and, I mean, the artist is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. This being said, I’m kind of gobsmacked about what happened at an Ariana Grande gig on Saturday night.
Ariana performed a private show for 1,600 fans to promote her new album Sweetener. The gig was part of a three-city mini-tour dubbed the Sweetener Sessions, held at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Ariana took requests from the audience and chatted with fans between songs, telling them, “We really don’t have any plans when we do these. It’s really spontaneous and we just hang out.”
I guess the “hang out” vibe was taken pretty seriously, especially by one particularly brazen audience member. When Ariana launched into a performance of her song “Raindrops,” she was interrupted by a fan who screamed, “Wait, start again. I wasn’t recording!” Ugh.
SOMEONE SAID “WAIT START AGAIN I WASNT RECORDING” AND SHE DID LMAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/IEAhCM2YzX
— meliss (@majestcbitch) August 26, 2018
Instead of telling the fan to shut up, which I totally would have done, Ariana stopped and acknowledged the fan, saying, “Someone said, ‘Start again. I wasn’t recording.’ And I listen! I listen.” She laughed and asked the fan “Are you ready now?” before starting the song again. You are a better person than me, Ms. Grande, that’s for sure. The freaked-out fan also posted the video to social media.
OMG I SAID WAIT I WASNT READY START AGAIN AND ARIANA FUCKING HEARD ME AND STARTED AGAIN!!!! 😂😂😂 #SweetenerSessionsLA #SweetenerSessions pic.twitter.com/uUnJgCVEcc
— Urge (@urge4sergee) August 26, 2018
Pete Davidson, Ariana’s fiancé, brought her to the stage and gave her a big smooch, so love could be the reason she was extra gracious to the fan. Of course, the love fest between these two rolls on. On Thursday, at a Q&A session at Auburn University, Pete described being in love with Ariana as only he could, stating, “What’s it liked being engaged to Ariana? It’s like what you would think it would be like but like a 100 times sicker. I’m a very, very happy boy who is very, very loved and I’m very lucky. And my d—‘s forever hard.” Umm…yeah. But I’ve been young and in love and probably said some stuff that was equally as cringe-inducing.
Hey, they’re cute together and I hope things work out for them. As for concerts, I don’t want to sound all “Hey you kids, get off of my lawn” or anything, but give your phones a rest at concerts, could you? And, for Pete’s (not Davidson’s) sake, don’t yell at an artist to restart a song because you weren’t recording. Just live in the moment and enjoy the show already.
Photos: Getty and WENN
Phones at concerts are SO annoying.
Yes! And have you ever gone back and watched video you took at a concert? I mean – is that what a kid listens to? No! Even my 16 year old thinks it’s stupid. Take a couple of pics if you want, and put your phone away and enjoy the show!
I have no problem with people documenting their lives, personally. I think our backlash against phones is very odd. I record everything. It’s partly due to mental health/memory problems, but also because that is simply something I enjoy doing.
I DO think it is weird a.f. to tell someone (ANYONE) to “start again” for your own sake, but sometimes people go a bit crazy, and I think she handled it like a champion. I have disliked her for saying she’s the hardest-working 23-year old (Child, sit your ass down), and for being carried around by body guards, and etc. etc, etc., but lord would I been perpetually in hot water if I had been famous at her age!
Phones in general are annoying.
Like the you pay good money and you are looking through a device.
May as well watch arianda on tv.
I feel pretty strongly about being in the moment at concerts and watching the experience with you eyes, not being a phone screen. I limit myself to a couple videos and photos at a show and feel more immersed in the show because of it.
She has a good voice, but I don’t like her. I’m not sure why. Her songs sound boring.
Screw everyone who takes out their phone to record or take photos for a prolonged amount of time during a concert. That said, she was super charming here, hope it doesn’t lead to more jerks screaming things at her during concerts to get her attention.
Meh, she’s got a good sense of humor.
I’ve liked her ever since her SNL. She was hilarious, and clearly talented. I’m not the right demographic for her music, so I know little about that, but I was also impressed by her response to Manchester. Returning took a lot of courage, I think. And I also admired her for calling out misogyny in her ex’s fans, on numerous occasions and with excellent cause. This was really gracious and good-natured of her, too.
This relationship seems crazy, but I hope for both their sakes that it really is lasting and not all hormones. And if it is the latter, I hope they have a stack of fun with it while it lasts!
I think phones are a distraction and unnecessary during most social engagements, from concerts to dinner parties. That said, there’s essentially no photographic evidence of my existence and SOME snapshots would be nice. How do people find a balance? Those cute throwback instant-print cameras seem nice.
Lol you’ve just described my inner monologue perfectly.
I limit myself to one or two pics at a time during a concert, sometimes the lighting will just look amazing and you have to try and get it just right but my phone is never out for more than a minute. If you’re catching up with friends there’s nothing wrong with getting a happy snap or two, it’s the groups of women sitting there looking at their phones and not talking to each other that’s the problem.
Also; for retro pics get the Huji app – it’s so fun.
Does anyone ever re-watch the video footage of concerts? It looks and sounds terrible. So all they’ve managed to do is denigrate the personal experience of a live performance (by watching it thru a tiny screen) and then take up space on their phone with a massive file. Lol…
I give Ariana and Pete four years together max.
Lol 4 years ? More like four months lol. If that.
I’m including the engagement and the separation in that projection… but you’re right, could definitely be less.
I was at a concert once where the girl in front of me Snapchatted EVERYTHING. If she wasn’t Snapping, she was putting it on IG. At one point the singer went into this long winded speech about being connected and then told everyone to take their phones out and raise them up. This girl got a look of pure glee. Then the singer said “now everyone put your phones in your fucking pockets and enjoy the moment” and this girl looked so pissed! I, however, couldn’t stop laughing and was so happy I didn’t have to watch the concert with her phone in my line of vision anymore. Literally no one has ever requested to watch some grainy concert footage I’ve taken so I’ve never taken any. ENJOY THE MOMENT AND PUT YOUR PHONES AWAY!
I love Ariana Grande ❤ i think her voice is incredible and she is beautiful 😊 And she is clearly good to her fans, even when they’re being annoying 😉 Her new album is pretty good too…my favourite song is “Breathing” 🎶
Love her new album! Breathin is my fave track too.
“Goodnight n go”, “Breathin”, and “God is a Woman” are my favorites.