By Nicole Chavannes
Picture this: you’re at a concert, sports game, comedy show, play, award show – whatever the venue may be – and you are just so excited to watch your favorite singer, player, comedian, thespian, or host stand on stage or in an arena and perform for your benefit. This moment needs to be immortalized, engrained in your memory and cherished forever. In short, you need to record it. You whip out your phone, camera, tablet or otherwise available recording device and you capture that unforgettable moment to relive in the future. The only problem is, you won’t really be reliving it, because you didn’t give yourself the chance to live it in the first place. You literally viewed it through a lens, watching your idol perform on a five-inch screen.
I understand the appeal of wanting to record incredibly exciting things that happen because we don’t want to forget them. To quote the infamous tourist Gary Allen Coe from this year’s Academy Awards when reminded that he didn’t have to record on his phone because he was on live television, “I know, but I want to, I want to.” There are, of course, merits to recording our memories. I mean, who doesn’t like looking back at old photo albums and remembering the good ol’ days, or re-watching some favorite Snapchat stories featuring our best friends? We’re lucky that we have the opportunity to record our lives and remember little things we would have otherwise forgotten.
This kind of memory-preserving documentation is meant for before the concert or show, though. Take selfies with your friends on your way to show. Show off your awesome outfits and fan merchandise. Express your excitement. But when you’re there, sitting or standing in the audience, why not be present? How often do you look back at the footage of a concert you took as you were screaming in the audience? I have done this myself, and let me tell you. I cringe every time I hear myself singing along.
Unfortunately, there is no recreating the feeling of being there, which is really what you want to remember. You know the songs, you can watch the comedy special on Netflix and re-watch the highlights of the game on ESPN or YouTube. But recording the show or game as you’re there won’t do anything but provide you with a low-quality video you probably won’t remember to watch. You probably won’t remember everything about the show because you weren’t paying enough attention to it in the moment.
Granted, without recording you won’t remember every detail – no one could. You will, however, remember how it felt to sit or stand in the nosebleeds. You’ll remember the feeling of anticipation as you waited for your musical idol to hit that high note or your favorite athlete to score the deciding touchdown, and you’ll be grateful that you actually experienced all of that in the moment instead of staring at the world through your phone screen.
