Actress Zooey Deschanel doesn’t want you taking pictures or video of her band in concert
posted Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 9:35 AM EST
Here's another case of possible censorship -- or is it just common courtesy? Actress Zooey Deschanel has become the latest performer to post a sign at her concerts asking fans not take pictures or video during a show.
The sign, which you can see below, was posted outside a performance of Deschanel's band She & Him in Toronto, Canada last week. (The "Matt" referenced in the sign is the other half of the singing duo: Matthew Ward, also known by his stage name M. Ward.)
According to at least one concert-goer, security guards shined flashlights in the faces of attendees who tried to snap pictures of the band during the show. All of which begs the question: is it more distracting to have someone using their smartphone to take a photo during a concert, or someone shining a flashlight into the crowd?
This is not the first time the issue has popped up. Back in April, we reported on a rock group, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, posting a similar sign at their concerts asking the crowd not to use a "smart device/camera" during the show.
In both these cases, however, the anti-photography message seems to be aimed more at not ruining the concert-going experience for other show attendees, rather than at straight-up censorship. We don't know about you but we find the glow of a raised LCD screen on a smartphone or -- ugh -- an iPad to be tremendously distracting at concerts.
And, in the case of the sign at Deschanel's show, it only specifies that people not use "cell phones" during the show. As with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, we doubt Deschanel would object to an audience member inconspicuously snapping a picture with their camera while looking through the optical viewfinder or small EVF.
But if you really want to record video or snap photos at a concert without bothering anyone else, maybe it's time to invest in Google Glass? You may look like a dork and raise some privacy concerns, but there's no flashing LCD screen to annoy everyone behind you.
(Via Gawker)