As we previously covered, there’s a new scourge that’s plaguing concerts and festivals. We refer, of course, to the dreaded selfie stick, that infernal apparatus of narcissism, which, if you’ve noticed, is fast becoming the defining characteristic of the 21st Century.
Well, there’s one Australian promoter who is taking a stand to curb this awful tide before it consumes us all. Soundwave founder AJ Maddah has confirmed that selfie sticks, otherwise known as wands of narcissism, have been banned at all upcoming Soundwave events.
“Dear people with those fucking camera sticks: please have some consideration for people behind you trying to enjoy the show. Thank you,” the outspoken promoter wrote via Twitter on Sunday, not long after the Melbourne and Adelaide legs of Soundwave 2015 had concluded.
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“It is just the ultimate expression of narcissism,” Maddah told Fairfax in a follow-up interview, claiming he’d witnessed about a dozen people using the sticks at the Adelaide event, though the “biggest problem” was in Melbourne, where he saw “about 40 or 50 of them”.
“Most of them are pointed at the stage with kids taking photos. But I think the one that kind of put it in perspective for me was there was a band set going and a young girl pointed it at herself,” he said. “It took every fibre of resistance I had not to just grab the stick off her and kick her out.
“But then I figured she may have possibly paid for her ticket and so I resisted,” Maddah continued, adding that a ban on the sticks would be in place at the upcoming Soundwave instalments in Sydney and Brisbane this weekend. “It’s absolutely not going to happen,” he said.
“We’re just not going to tolerate one person using them.” If you do happen to bring your selfie stick along with you, Maddah said, you will be required to check it at the provided cloakroom. As Maddah is known for being a ubiquitous presence at his festivals, we reckon you ought to heed the warning.
Not only do selfie sticks enable “illegal recording” of a band’s set, Maddah explained, but they also inconvenience others and could even be dangerous. “It is insane that people don’t have enough courtesy to care about the people around them,” he said. “Just don’t bring them.”
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Numerous Australian venues, including Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, Domain Stadium in WA, Perth Arena, and Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane have also placed a ban on the stick, stating in their ticket terms and conditions that they will refuse entry to punters carrying the controversial wands.
According to a statement from a Qantas Credit Union Arena spokeswoman (via Fairfax), selfie sticks have been barred at the venue because they don’t “want our patron’s event experience being affected or ruined by others in front of them continually using these devices”.
However, despite their claim that the sticks have been banned “at most major arenas in Australia and around the world”, the Melbourne Cricket Ground has adopted a far more laissez-faire attitude, saying they would allow them as long as they don’t “impede the view of those seated in the nearby area”.
