What was once mosh pits and crowd surfing has become precisely angled videos, live reaction selfies and perfectly coordinated outfits.
Gen Z has transformed the modern concert scene from a celebration of live music to a full-fledged photoshoot, solo performance and Instagram post opportunity. Is this the natural evolution of fan culture, or is there a reason for this shift in concert rituals?
For fans in the modern age, concerts have become less about the music and more about the moment, with more screens in the crowd rather than excited fans there to listen to their favorite artists. Sophomore Ryan Schiavo of Oceanport experienced this firsthand at Lorde’s “Ultrasound World Tour,” surrounded by concertgoers more focused on their phones than the performance.
“I could barely see anything happening on stage,” Schiavo said. “All I saw were screens; it took away from the experience.”
While some of these incidents can be attributed to a few bad apples, it is also the result of Gen Z spending a large part of their developmental years trapped inside.
COVID-19, the disease that shut down the world in 2020, happened during most of the generation’s middle and high school years. Freshman Pippa Hlatky of Neptune believes that spending hours in isolation in front of a screen each day during the pandemic has caused Gen Z to become out of touch with reality.
“We kind of seclude ourselves in our own minds,” Hlatky said. “We don’t really think about people outside of ourselves.”
According to the National Library of Medicine, COVID-19 and its associated quarantine resulted in significant disruptions to in-person social interactions, especially in adolescents.
“I think that Gen Z is so thirsty for interaction that they don’t know what to do with themselves,” Schiavo said. “They’re first instinct is to go on their phone and disassociate.”
When attending an in-person event, whether it be a movie, comedy show or concert, it is advisable to stay in the moment and be respectful.
