Flags or iPhones?

[giantkatestacks]

We take our 'run for five days but only text and call' festival phones to glastonbury and they do the job amazingly well.

Talkers piss me off much more, its really hard to totally get into something when some idiot in front of you has turned away from the stage and is blathering on about what hugo said to jocasta and then she said back.

Also tall people who then think it would be the best idea in the world to wear a top hat, it isnt.

And pushers in when I have patiently waited through Tinie Tempah or something equally not to my taste. They get short shrift now that I am old and dont mind a bit of confrontation. Some idiot tried to tunnel through about ten rows just before the Stones last year. He was off his face though.

[GlastoSimon]

They're huge fields for a reason. I'm sure the people at the back during the Rolling Stones wanted to see the performance as much as those at the front. People should be able to see acts they like without waiting in a packed area down the front all day.

Edited March 1, 2014 by GlastoSimon

[Cornelius_Fudge]

Flags I think are okay, they can add to the environment, especially as there are flags around Glastonbury anyway, it seems encouraged. People holding their phones up trying to record end up getting terrible footage/sound and they're more interested in that than the actual band. Plus if they're holding their phones up they can't throw their hands up, clap, get involved in the performance - they might as well be at home or way at the back watching the monitors on the side or on the central sound stage.

Also - people who don't like being in a big crowd and ask everyone behind them to give them some room really twist my stick. Oh, sorry, I would give you some room except there's about twenty thousand people behind me pushing forwards...!

[JonnyG]

Flags - basically, I avoid the Pyramid after 7pm unless it is someone extraordinary I haven't seen before. For example, I really like Arcade Fire, but I've got tickets to see them at Earls Court, just to avoid the frustration of not seeing them because of a wall of flags. Why not just listen to the music, I've heard some people ask? If I wanted to do just that, I'd stay at home. A gig is about seeing as well as hearing. I loathe the flags - at least those permanently hoisted - because they are so thoughtless. There's a reason that the BBC coverage contains so few long shots towards the Pyramid - because you can't see the fecking stage for fecking flags.

Phones - generally I can live with them - indeed I always take a couple of snaps as an aide memoire - unless the person in front of me is blocking my view with it for the entire gig. I don't understand all those people who prefer to watch later through the distance of a screen rather than be in the moment, but that's their business.

Tall people - fine, except those that wait until the band come on and then push straight in front of you. I always ensure, when settling on a spot, that I'm not blocking someone shorter than me who has been waiting longer.

Talkers - depends where you are. At the back, fine, but towards the front I expect people to be there for the performance. The worst are noisy groups, some of whom don't even face the band. Why are they even there???? Why spend money on a ticket just to talk and drink with music in the background, when you could do it cheaper in a pub with a jukebox? For anyone who hasn't yet been to Hyde Park, don't bother. Aside from the well-publicised sound problems, it's absolutely swarming with these w*nkers.

I go to small- and medium-sized gigs every week, and only the talkers cause me any real issues - the rest seems to be linked with festival main stages. Which is why I will be spending the vast majority of my time well away from the Pyramid.

Edited March 1, 2014 by JonnyG

[amfy]

Tbh, I have recorded bits of gigs on my phone, but I've realised that beyond the sound quality being crap, when I watch it back, I'm usually disappointed by the actual gig/crowd not being as good as I thought it was!

I'll have an urge to capture a few seconds of being in a crowd that is jumping and having a great time, but when I watch it back, I realise that half of the people around me were just standing there looking miserable. So - far from capturing a memory of a gig I enjoyed, it actually spoils the memory of a gig I enjoyed.

I've never been one for trying to film whole gigs, or whole songs, but even the little bit I do, just has to stop. It's a crap thing.

Conversely, I have never minded flags because for me the joy of a live performance is in experiencing the atmosphere that a band or artist create live, rather than actually seeing them. It is very easy for me to place flags within the definition of that atmosphere (this makes my occasional attempts at recording even odder really)

I am a tall person, and I try to take my position early to give a shorter person time to work round it. I have to admit that if I ever arrive late and end up landing in front of a shorter person, I spend the whole gig feeling bad about it, so I am likely to let them in front of me.

Talking near the front drives me mad. If you only want music as background to your social life, please go further back. if you are only down the front because you want to see the next act, please show some respect to people who are here for this one. I have to say that the chatterers destroyed Jake Bugg for me last year - and most of them were actually there for him. I seemed to be surrounded by people who would scream 'oooooh I LOVE this one!!!' as each track started, and then go back to their conversation about who had got off with who. Properly annoying people.

People who push in at the last minute - over the years I have learned to let this go. It is a gig, not a queue. Being there first helps you to get a better spot, but it doesn't entitle you to a better spot. As long as there is space in front of you, people are entitled to move into it. I now only get annoyed by this if I shift slightly to let people through quickly, and they then stop in the space I have half moved out of, usually sort of leaving me standing on one leg or something equally daft. Now that's annoying.

[ian the worm]

Isn't there an iFlag app yet?

People can just show their flag on their phone?

[ian the worm]

I must admit I talked all through The Stones to this rather nice bloke who cracked open a rather nice bottle champagne with me when he realised I was in fact a rather nice bloke too, after firstly complaining to me that I was, kind of stood in his way.

The Stones were, in fact, the only band I managed to catch at a main stage and yes, I treated them as if they were on DVD. Blissful memories.

[frostypaw]

Noticed something with the pro flags posts - they always talk about how they personally aren't bothered, only rarely a mention of caring whether other people are bothered

[Guest]

People who take photos only think they're taking a souveneir of the occasion, in reality it's a shite photo that they'll never look at again, it will hold no future value. In actual fact it's people who don't really know how to enjoy live music, they can't just be there and enjoy it, they feel like they have to do something active to engage themselves in order to be getting something out of it. What you take away from a good gig is never a photograph, the whole point of great live music is that the greatness can't be captured in photographs, it can't even be captured on a live album or video. Just let the experience come to you, you're lessening your own experience and that of others around you by taking your crap photo. I went to see John Murry on Wednesday, I didn't see a single smartphone or a single photo taken, and the atmosphere in there was excellent.

[amfy]

Noticed something with the pro flags posts - they always talk about how they personally aren't bothered, only rarely a mention of caring whether other people are bothered

Edited March 1, 2014 by amfy

[guypjfreak]

Skip to 3 minutes and tell me that some kid gurning whilst staring through his iPhone screen could help create something as cool as those flags do.

Sure, the view is a little obscured from the back of the hill when watching an act, but if you desperately want to *see* an act you'd watch from the front wouldn't you? If you're hundreds of yards away and are able to get closer to *see* an act, the complaint about an 'obscured view' due to flags is complete crap.

Any type of recording during an act, particularly one which headlines, ruins the atmosphere at the front, which is half the reason I started going to Glastonbury in the first place - watching people have such a good time during Tender looked like the sort of place I wanted to be.

Flags > phones every day of the week.

[guypjfreak]

/topic/171560-no-flags-in-front-of-stages/page-11?hl=flags#entry4084508">http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/topic/171560-no-flags-in-front-of-stages/page-11?hl=flags#entry4084508

a few opinions here as well old son

[Spindles]

A gig, not a queue. I like that line and will probably steal it then re-use it to make myself sound smarter than I am. Thanks

I have to admit that flags annoy me, but mostly because in 2009 it was an utter pisstake. I appreciate that it has got better on the whole since, but when you can't see the stage from around the soundstage it negates the purpose of being at a gig.

I get the idea of a marker for friends to find you and notice that some people use a soft toy on a stick or something similar, in other words something that can be seen from a distance, but not block the view of people noticeably and this is something I'd recommend if you really need a navigation aid.

I have taken a smartphone to the last couple of festivals and taken a few pics, but don't see the point of taking photos of gigs as a blurry picture of stick figures is pointless, mostly I forget I have it and both years have gone home with only a dozen or so shots from the whole 5 days. Anyone holding up an iPad at a festival deserves the damage that I hope will occur.

[DJL]

Phones annoying, not because they get in the way too much, but because they are pointless.

Flags annoying, not because they are pointless (as they can help direct people), but because they obscure everyone's view.

Tall people only annoying if they arrive late.

Talking annoying beyond the sound stage and a bit further back.

People on shoulders? I give you one song, and not the biggest/best/most jumpy

Other than that everyone can largely do whatever the hell they like.

[Woffy]

Phone - in moderation; snaps of your mates, the odd band / stage shot, etc.

Flags - brilliant for finding your mates again when you go off for a piss / beer (you even end up providing a public service)...but for use throughout a set / performance, no.

Attaching your phone to the top of your 6m flagpole, with tape, when drunk and making 360 degree panoramic vids? HOURS of fun.

[Queeg]

Im 6'4 ... not my fault, that's just how high I happened to grow in the last 48 years. my reply to short people who ask me to move is.... I never see short people complaining when your on a plane all stretched out having a nap and im wedged in not being able to change my position for the duration of the flight. we all have pros and con in life. get over it!

...and....wtf... tall people cant go to the front if they arrive late?? but short people can move about freely at anytime before during or after the gig? so im happily bimbling along at Glasto.... wow this band sounds great....but I cant go to the front because I arrived late!

[GlastoSimon]

/topic/171560-no-flags-in-front-of-stages/page-11?hl=flags#entry4084508">http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/topic/171560-no-flags-in-front-of-stages/page-11?hl=flags#entry4084508

a few opinions here as well old son

[DJL]

...and....wtf... tall people cant go to the front if they arrive late?? but short people can move about freely at anytime before during or after the gig? so im happily bimbling along at Glasto.... wow this band sounds great....but I cant go to the front because I arrived late!

[guypjfreak]

you summed it up there old son consideration for others .........my wife is 5 foot and i have at time had to ask a big 6 footer to allow her [ not me ill make do ] to get infront so she can see some thing of the stage ......only once has a person got funny about it and he was fucking huge nearly 15 foot high lol [ only joking ] but he was TALL MAN and he just said and i qoute piss the fuck off [ word to that effect ] never had that before or since wanted to knock him out but my daughter was with me so we just moved to the side where some blokes had seen it and offered a way thro stopped hd a beer with them my girls got to see abit of the stage [ it wasthe who i believe] then when they had had enough we wandered back up hill aand out of the crowd .....consideration lovely word that and met a couple of nice gezzers ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................flags are another matter ban them and as for finding your mates after a piss i always see that as an adventure lol

[whisty]

...and....wtf... tall people cant go to the front if they arrive late?? but short people can move about freely at anytime before during or after the gig? so im happily bimbling along at Glasto.... wow this band sounds great....but I cant go to the front because I arrived late!

Edited March 3, 2014 by whisty

[Pinhead]

Tbh, I have recorded bits of gigs on my phone, but I've realised that beyond the sound quality being crap, when I watch it back, I'm usually disappointed by the actual gig/crowd not being as good as I thought it was!

I'll have an urge to capture a few seconds of being in a crowd that is jumping and having a great time, but when I watch it back, I realise that half of the people around me were just standing there looking miserable. So - far from capturing a memory of a gig I enjoyed, it actually spoils the memory of a gig I enjoyed.

I've never been one for trying to film whole gigs, or whole songs, but even the little bit I do, just has to stop. It's a crap thing.

[LondonTom]

...and....wtf... tall people cant go to the front if they arrive late?? but short people can move about freely at anytime before during or after the gig? so im happily bimbling along at Glasto.... wow this band sounds great....but I cant go to the front because I arrived late!

[toppo]

I took a flag last year and proud to have done so. Part of it had YNWA and a huge pink ribbon on it but I will add we were at the rear part of the fields we were in and hope it didn't cause too much hassle.

My other half is a breast cancer survivor so the pink ribbon symbol has very special meaning to us and many people approached us to share their own personal stories about breast cancer and thank us for flying the ribbon often reducing this burly 6'2 hairy arsed fireman to tears. Other half was a first timer too so this added all the more to that good old glastonbury spirit.

Flag will be staying at our tent this year.

Edited March 3, 2014 by toppo

[ThomThomDrum]

I took a flag last year and proud to have done so. Part of it had YNWA and a huge pink ribbon on it but I will add we were at the rear part of the fields we were in and hope it didn't cause too much hassle.

My other half is a breast cancer survivor so the pink ribbon symbol has very special meaning to us and many people approached us to share their own personal stories about breast cancer and thank us for flying the ribbon often reducing this burly 6'2 hairy arsed fireman to tears. Other half was a first timer too so this added all the more to that good old glastonbury spirit.

Flag will be staying at our tent this year.

[Spindles]

Can't see anyone having a problem with that at all. A big part of Glastonbury is about raising the awareness of issues and from the sound of it you were far from someone who was at the front of the crowd all day trying to be seen on the telly and blocking other people's view with no consideration.