Anyway, I'm not writing about my apprehension over my first college final exams, mainly because this blog is about my love and appreciation of progressive music. Tonight, I'm writing about King Crimson. Pretty big topic, right? But in all seriousness, there's something about them that I've been meaning to write about for a while now but since my opinion had been shifting from one idea to the other, I couldn't sit down and write anything. Now that I've had time to think this through, I think it's time I got my feelings out.
Here's what happened: On November 19, King Crimson played the first of two nights at the Toronto Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada, as part of their 10-date Canadian tour. However, for this tour, they revised the camera policy they had made during their tours of the US and UK. Originally, once you were inside the venue, photos were entirely off limits until you left. Now, they have stated that no one may take photos until THE END of the performance, meaning once the music has stopped playing. That means you can take photos of the band before they walk off stage. Sounds fair enough, I suppose. It's definitely a step forward from when I saw them in October of last year at the Orpheum theater. The security was pretty good about being on top of people on their phones. As a result, most of the audience (I say that because I know at least one person did upload a photo of the band the next day) did what the band wanted them to do: they embraced the moment. I've come to really appreciate that concept. At every show I've been to since that night, my phone use has been kept to a minimum. I realize that this doesn't match their idea of not using a phone or camera AT ALL, but it's good enough for me. I manage to take a few pictures here and there throughout a performance, without being a nuisance to those around me.
However, despite this explicit request for respect, there were still people who felt that the rules didn't apply to them. During the second-to-last song (according to the setlist posted on setlist.com, it was "The Court of the Crimson King), apparently a few people were caught taking photos of the band performing. As a result, Robert then walked off stage, followed shortly by the other members of the band. The show was ended.
Now, shortly after hearing about this incident, being the big King Crimson fan that I am, I immediately felt inclined to side with the band only and treat them like the victims, but after considering multiple perspectives, both from band members, and concertgoers, I have decided the following: I'm not happy with either the band or the audience in this turn of events.
The next day, the following note was posted on the DGM site as well as on Facebook:
"The band went onstage at 20.15 in good spirits. Mel played beautifully over the Eb major / Cm Soundscape. IntoLarks’ I and onwards.
My experience was of pouring wine into a cup with a hole in it. Once upon a time, I would have attributed this feeling-experience to the presence of bootlegging. Several times the thought flew by: you only need one prick in a balloon.
The energy of a performance contains and embraces those within it, performers and audients. When the energy encircles and holds the event, the performance develops intensity, shifts gear, and becomes a qualitatively different undertaking: it takes off and flies away into a different world. When we are carried with it, sometimes a performance can be transformational: even, redirect the course of lives. A requirement of players and listeners is to remain engaged and present, hopefully with goodwill, to the extent that all can bring to bear. Tonight, strangely, nothing took off IMO; a first for this KC.
Persistent camera persons persisted, despite rounds of applause for the Revised Photo Policy announcement before the show, continuing into the encores.
The Guitarist Stage Left also persisted. Until finally, having been slapped around the face and stabbed in the heart too many times (this is how I experience violation in performance), it was not possible to honourably continue. Robert left the stage, followed shortly by the other Crims. The show finished, a result of ongoing photographic abuse.
The revised KC photo policy is a fair and reasonable way of engaging with those who hand over their hard-earned pay and feel the need to take a picture of the band. To photograph outside those parameters is at least rude, and discourteous to other audients and the players. At a certain point, given the intentionality that gives rise to an act, proscribed acts become aggressive; even close to an expression of ill will. This is what I felt tonight.
A report on tonight’s performance, presented from a viewpoint of playing in public for over 56 years."
I heard that it was Robert who posted this note, and if that's the case, apparently he refers to himself in the third person. Interesting. Anyway, there's his perspective on the matter. That same day, Gavin Harrison (one of three drummers in the band at the moment) posted this:
"A concert with King Crimson requires LOTS of concentration from the performers (and I dare say for the audience too). This music is very rich in detail and complexity. In fact everyone in the room needs to give it their absolute full attention.
Having folks point cameras at you breaks your concentration and distracts you. I've had the same feeling when I've been watching a concert and folks around me are holding up their devices to film and take photos. It's very distracting for all."
So to give my own paraphrasing of these two posts, the band feels as though their request for respect was crudely and senselessly violated. They seem to miss the days in which cell phones and high quality cameras did not exist and, consequently, concertgoers had to watch a show with their own eyes and rely on their memory in order to truly take away the magic of the evening. Furthermore, they feel as though the use of cameras or phones during a show is disruptive, not just to them, but also to other audience members.
After doing a little outside research, I found the perspectives of various concertgoers. Most of them expressed outrage at the band's decision to end the show. One person compared the situation in a way that I found very relatable. To put it simply, the person wrote that walking off stage during a concert because a few people took photos is no different from a college professor giving all his students an F on their final exams because a few people cheated. This gave me a realistic situation to think about. As a college student just a week away from her first finals, I know that I would be pretty upset if one of my professors failed me due to the stupidity of a few people. In a perfect world, the few people who cheated should be the ones who have to suffer the consequences, rather than the entire class.
Now, in the case of this concert, the entire audience was punished because a few people couldn't follow the rules that were explicitly stated by the band. However, I'm sure none of those rule breakers expected the band to just get up and leave the audience in the dust. It certainly seems that the band didn't warn anyone that this was a possibility. Unless it's happened in the past, this certainly seems lie it came out of nowhere.
As a concertgoer, I understand the frustration that accompanies being stuck behind people that insist on filming or taking photos of every second of the show. However, as someone who has also expressed interest in being a performer, I also have to say that, if they're not using flash photography or filming, why should we care that they're using their phones or cameras? It's their loss if they miss out on embracing the show for what it is.
Let me put my view on the matter in simple terms: I get where the band is coming from and I get where the concertgoers are coming from. The band didn't want photos taken, as they haven't throughout their entire history of existence. They said that, people did it anyway, they got upset, so they ended the show. I thought that I would add my own perspective based on what I have heard. After taking both sides into account and thinking it over, this is what I've decided:
It's not the 1960s anymore. It's not going to be. We're not going to go back to the way we lived in that time, as much as some people may want us to. A lot has changed over the course of 56 years. As much as some may not like it, cell phones and cameras exist, and they will only continue to improve. People are not going to stop taking them and using them at concerts. Unfortunately, while we can do our best to express our wishes in terms of cell phone use during a performance, we can't force everyone to abide by our rules. Now, that's not to say that I don't think there should be repercussions for breaking the rules. What I think should have happened at that King Crimson show, is that the rule breakers should have been escorted out of the venue, so that the rest of the people that WERE following the rules could enjoy the show. I know that I'm only 18. I wasn't around when cell phones and good cameras didn't exist, so that is where I'm coming from. All I know is going to concerts and seeing people on their phones. I'm learning to accept that as the reality. Not everyone these days will learn to embrace the moment, no matter how much we may want them to. That's their loss, though. However, don't let that stop you from continuing to spread the idea of embracing the moment to others, especially to people my age. Who knows? You might just be able to get through to some of them. You certainly got through to me. ;)
