Permalink for Comment #1310148769 by Scissortail

, comment by Scissortail
Scissortail I had never registered a user name for this site until now, and I did it because I wanted to give a huge tip of the cap to the author for this excellent post.

If you ask me, you shouldn't even WATCH someone dancing, spinning, head-bobbing, staring in stunned silence -- getting off to music in any way -- much less record it on video. And you CERTAINLY shouldn't broadcast that video to the world. That's just an unspoken agreement among humans, not to mention the Phish community. The old saying "dance like no one is watching" exists for a reason. Nothing feels better than dancing like no one's watching, especially at a Phish show. It feels like surrender. Not to sound all new-agey, but it truly feels like becoming one with the music. And if people have to look around to see if they're being watched, much less RECORDED, they'll never be able to let it loose and experience the euphoric bliss of that surrender. So ... if you've ever danced like no one's watching, and you know how great that feels ... THEN DON'T WATCH OTHER PEOPLE DANCE. Give them the same courtesy you want from them.

Everyone who is saying "This is the world we live in, he made his choice, he can't expect privacy, etc etc ..." Obviously we all know that, including the author of this post. The point is not what people are allowed to do. The point is that this community is special, and there's a certain code we all observe (or SHOULD observe) so we can all continue to have the special experience that draws us back time after time. The author is not saying it's not allowed, he's saying it's fucking reprehensible and the rest of us should do everything we can to stop it, especially if we're at a show and see it happening.

Those who say this is a symptom of the new era, I disagree. I was there in the 90s and there were douchebags then. If anything, I think the fact that Phish is somewhat declining in popularity and draws smaller crowds for the most part has made it more tolerable than the talkative, douchey crowds of the late 90s -- who were just there because they heard they could do drugs. I think a lot of that faction has gravitated to the Bonnaroos of the world because they can do the same thing while seeing Kanye West or whatever the fuck.

tl;dr: Great, great post, couldn't agree more. And let me also say that everyone responsible for the content and upkeep of this site, you are all amazing. This is, as fan polls have shown, by far and away the best Phish resource around. Thank you so much.


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