I recently attended yet another event where the organizers decided it would be appropriate to take every single attendee's phone (CAMERA) at the door and lock them away in a neoprene bag, thus creating a uniquely "human experience". There are some places where seizing such technology makes perfect sense, a middle school classroom for example. Parents argue about access in an emergency scenario, but I never had a phone in middle school, and it most definitely would have negatively impacted my grades. However, I fail to see how a phone is unwelcome at a rock concert. Is it the inadvertent ringtone? A phone's dinky little speakers are no match for a stadium concert PA system. Does the soft glow of a neighboring screen distract you? That's too damn bad, because the stage is literally covered in strobe lights and smoke and projections. No, the real problem is one's tendency to be recorded and embarrassed, and nothing else. Hell, even Prince let us shoot the first two songs. 

The artist will say something like "I can't connect with the audience if they're distracted". If you really wanted people's undivided attention, I fail to see where selling insane amounts of booze fits into the equation. If NASA took your phone before demonstrating some cutting edge technology, it stands to reason that NASA would not also allow you to get wildly inebriated on the tour. Whether or not you agree with the action of documenting, the aesthetic of cheap concert video or drunk photography as a medium, filming the show is how some people choose to engage. Maybe that person will re-watch this footage later, maybe they wont. Perhaps its an easier token to hang onto than a ticket stub (tickets, which are quickly being replaced by.... YOUR PHONE). Call me crazy (I won't answer. My phone is locked in a bag), but I'd rather have a concert photo from my unique perspective than an overtly gouge-priced t-shirt.

If the "human experience" is valued so much higher than convenience, then why are we hosting concerts in stadiums? Why not play the gig in the middle of a field, or at the bottom of a canyon? The difference is the grand canyon can't post an angry video of you (also drunk) yelling at your own fans. 

The brutal irony was that the performance, whether it was documented to death or not, proved to be wickedly underwhelming. Where I come from we call that phoning it in.