When a fan in the front row of Father John Misty’s concert at the Sydney Opera House last night pulled out a camera phone and started to film the show, they probably didn’t expect what would happen next.
As the singer-songwriter otherwise known as Joshua Tillman reached the final chorus of his song ‘Bored In The USA’, he spotted the audience member’s phone pointed his way near the front of stage. Reaching out to take it, Tillman then filmed himself in ultra-closeup mode for the remainder of the song.
While the fan no doubt got a thrill out of the occasion, nothing Father John Misty does comes without its dose of irony. So when he finished the last lyrics and then said, “I don’t think we got that,” suddenly the joke was on the would-be filmmaker.
Tillman then instructed his band to start the song again for a better shot – “This will only take four-and-a-half minutes,” he told the crowd – but he couldn’t get past the first line without laughing.
As he handed back the phone, Tillman said, “There – it’s just like you were almost here.”
If there’s a better summation of why you shouldn’t spend a whole gig watching through your mobile phone screen, we’re yet to hear it. But coming from someone as witty and sharp as Father John Misty, we’re not surprised either.
At this point you’d usually find footage of the incident, but if we filmed that, we’d be no better than the type of dickhead who records concerts instead of enjoying the moment, would we?
