WATCHING my nephew's school play - particularly poignant since it was his last one at primary school - turned into a bit of an irritating affair, thanks to a mother sitting in front of me who filmed the entire performance.

My eyes darted from the stage to her iPad screen, which I couldn't avoid. With her arm stretched out, she sighed and fidgeted with discomfort and whenever her arm drooped she lost the shot of the stage. It was hardly a Bafta-winning production, I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit through it. She'd have been better off just watching the play, and cherishing the memories.

You can't go to a concert or live theatre now without being surrounded by smartphones held high, shakily filming on-stage action. What do people do with all this footage, and what makes them think anyone-else wants to see it? Sharing amateurish videos via social media is the equivalent of showing the neighbours your tedious holiday slides in the 1970s.

We're so obsessed with documenting experiences that we lose sight of enjoying the moment. My friend told me about a relative she went on holiday with who posted continual comments on Facebook about the amazing time she was having. "If she'd looked up from her phone for two minutes she might have actually had an amazing time," quipped my pal.

If people looked up more they'd appreciate the life they're so obsessed with documenting - and the rest of us could watch a show without being distracted by pools of light everywhere.

Step forward Kate Bush, who has asked fans not to film her hotly-anticipated comeback gigs when they begin next week. The London dates mark her return to the stage 35 years after she last performed live, when anything resembling a mobile phone was confined to sci-fi.

Tickets for her 15 gigs sold out in minutes but, as Bush wrote on her website, she has chosen "an intimate theatre setting" rather than vast stadiums. She added: "I very much want to have contact with you as an audience, not with iPhones, iPads or cameras."

She's not the first musician to speak out about mobile use. The Who frontman Roger Daltrey recently despaired of gig-goers engrossed in their mobiles, declaring that "looking at life through a screen" means "you're only 50per cent there".

It must be terribly frustrating for an artist on stage to look out onto a sea of mobile devices.

Going to see Kate Bush will be a highlight of my life, but I have no desire to record it. I was 11 when I got her first album and her songs became a soundtrack to my youth. The memories they evoke will last longer than than grainy footage on a tiny screen.