rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

On Friday night my wife and I went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) show at the Giant Center arena in Hershey Pennsylvania. It was a pretty good show as TSO concerts go. This years highlight of the usual amazing laser and light show was a giant triple Van De Graaff generator. For those who don't know what that is, it's a lightning machine, not to be confused with a Tesla Coil. As always at a TSO show, the music was loud but really good. For concerts, the Giant Center holds around 8,000 people and the show was close to sold out. For those not familiar with TSO, they do a two part show, first half is the Christmas show and the second half is a rock concert, well so is the first half but the theme is Christmas. They do not perform traditional Christmas music but some of the songs are based on traditional Christmas music.
Anyway, the show was really good and we had excellent seats.
Since it's fairly dark in the arena during the show, I noticed a whole lot of people were playing with their smart phones. I don't mean just taking photos, I mean doing the things that people who are obsessed with their smart phones do, every chance they get. Playing games and checking email and and looking up "Van De Graaff" while not knowing how to spell it, and twitting away and generally letting anyone who 'follows' them know where they are and what they are doing. When I say, a whole lot of people, I mean hundreds of people, were using their smart phones while the show was going on, as if they were sitting in their living room, or at their desk at work, or stopped at a traffic light.
The tickets to the show aren't exactly cheap and you pay to park and, since it's a sports arena, beer, soda, any refreshments, are two or three time more expensive than if you were at home. With all the mind capturing audio and visuals going on around them, how can they concentrate on anything else?! Why do they bother going to the show?

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

I often wonder the same thing.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Because people have zero attention span these days?

Ruthlessrider

A number of years ago, and I mean a NUMBER of years ago, a cousin of mine purchased tickets for my wife and I to attend a TSO concert with him and his wife. I enjoyed the concert, though it was and is not my kind of music (it seemed to computer generated for me), until the end. At the end they went into their final number and mid say through it the began to introduce each member. As they were introduced each member stepped away from their instrument going to the front of the stage. By the time the introduction were complete no one was playing their instrument, but he music continued to play. The scene blew me away!

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

GOOD QUESTION.........

b top gun

Try that at an off Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera" and you may be asked to leave!!! Some productions do not tolerate any video or audio. Been there and seen that!!!

Stephan G

They go to be "seen", not to "see". This has been so when there have been gatherings for the sake of sharing entertainment, all the way back to prehistory. They want to have creds in their in-crowd.

Vietnam Vet

multitasking

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

TSO began touring in 1999; their first show was at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby Pennsylvania, I was there. I've attended TSO shows in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. I've attended their Winter show every year since 1999, several times more than once and also attended the Beethoven's Last Night show at 4 different venues. In the 21 years TSO has been performing their "Christmas" show, I've seen them probably more than 60 times. They do introduce each member of the core band and the vocalists, but this is done in the middle of the show and it's more like an intermission and there's no music being performed at that time. There are two touring companies, east coast and west coast and the east coast company is the older of the two with many of the original founding members, including the band members that have performed on their studio recordings. I have never seen the west coast company perform, maybe next year. If there was music playing during the introductions, as you have described at the show you attended, it was most definitely "recorded" music, which would have been more like background music because the live music is simply too loud for introductions to be heard over. By the way, I don't recall music playing during the member introductions at any TSO show I've attended.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

One problem there is, it's too dark to be seen. That's why it's so easy to see the glowing smart phone screens.
I believe it's a type of addiction, a mental disorder if you will. The really odd thing I observed was, during a tribute song to the bands original founder, Paul O'Neil, who passed away last year, the attendants were encouraged to use the light in their cell phones as part of the tribute. During that song, thousands of little lights were waving throughout the area, yet there were still those who were actually still playing their little smart phone games. That's just disrespectful.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

They wish...

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

I, too believe it is an addiction. . . similar to some of us with our cameras

rdemarco52 Loc: Wantagh, NY

I see people sitting in the $1200 seats at Yankee Stadium with their noses buried in their cellphones while the game is going on. I just don't understand that.

Bill_de Loc: US

Some people have learned to multitask in ways that others can't appreciate.

Personally, these days I have trouble single tasking.

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dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I enjoy movies and for the past few years I find the very same thing in theaters. The screen asks everyone to turn off their phone yet there are always a few Adam Henrys who think their right to use a phone trumps my right to enjoy the movie I paid to see. Apparently they do not notice that in a darkened theater a bright white light takes away the enjoyment of watching the show. It seems that today people feel they have the right to do whatever they want as long as they are happy.

Sorry you had to endure that in the production you attended.

Dennis