Steve Newall: Flicks.co.nz editor on Download festival attendees being told to remove their smartwatches

After the UK's Download festival saw a significant spike in accidental emergency calls, authorities have urged fans to put their smartwatches on airplane mode.

Emergency calls were automatically being made from the moshpit because the tech incorrectly assumed people has been caught in collisions. 

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall explained further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb SO.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Following the passing of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, this
week Green Day frontman Billy Joel Armstrong he shared this
never before heard cover of what he says is his
favorite song ever. And Green Day are also heading to
the Download Festival in the UK and joining me now
to talk entertainment is Steve Newill, editor at flickstot Co
dot m ZE. Good morning, good morning, and actually the

(00:36):
Download Festival has been in the news for quite interesting reason.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
You here's the final There's quite a long list of
things that it's recommended not to take in too mosh pits,
like full glasses of beer. I was never a fan
of dreadlocks in the mosh pit.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Particularly some of them are obvious.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Exactly exactly. But at Download Festival, which is taking place
at Donnington Park in the UK this weekend, as headlined
by Green Day, Sleep Tooken and corn Concert girls have
been advised not to have this smart watches on in
the mashpet, which is okay, like they maybe don't have
a smart smart watch in the mushpit at all. But

(01:14):
it's because the collision between moshes was triggering emergency alerts
and the police. We're getting hundreds of calls to nine
nine nine in the UK, but automated based on people's
watches thinking that they've been in car accidents but actually
just having a good time.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Oh that's funny. I didn't know that. I don't have
a smart watch. I didn't know that they can do that.
Will the phone do that as well?

Speaker 3 (01:39):
I mean, I'm not not sure any issues in the
pit with my phone so far, but I'm not a
smart watch guy.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I'm sitting here trying to dance, which is very unusual
in this chair right now. But it must just be
violent movements of hands, is it? And smashing into other people?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
I guess it's sudden acceleration and rapid acceleration, which is
all the makings of a fun night.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, that is so funny. I thought it might be
because too many we're getting damaged and all people would
you know, getting wacked in the face with them, I
can imagine.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
So what would happen would be that your your device
would would would register this like sudden impact, and if
you would give you some kind of an alert and
if you didn't take any action after thirty seconds, would
automatically get.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Into you wouldn't even realize it had gone off? Would
you probably.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Washing away?

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Why?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Why did you pay attention to your the noise?

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Okay, there we go. Something to bear in mind next
time my head into a mosh. Butit exactly I will
keep that in mind and watch out for dreadlocks. Hey,
sly Stone documentary sly Lives has hit Disney Plus. Tell
me about that.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yes, so this is this a ride with not nearly
enough fan for a few months ago, but with the
passing of sly Stone alongside Brian Wilson this week, two
of the most enigmatic musical geniuses of the twentieth century
passed away within days of one another. Sly Stone of
sly and the Family Stone like utter savant genius. His

(03:02):
life story was recounted in the documentary sly Lives, directed
by the roots drummer Questlove. Questlove won the Academy Award
for Best Documentary a couple of years ago for Summer
of Soul, which was another fantastic black music focused documentary.
The title sly Lives is a bit sort of sadly ironic.
Now this week but this film was made to sort

(03:25):
of retell his story and what made him such a
groundbreaking artist, writer, producer and musical genius, but also a
highly troubled one. Film's great. It's on Disney Plus. Alongside
recounting the sort of beats of Stone's career, it also
examines through interviews with some people that have been highly

(03:48):
influenced by Stone, like, there wouldn't be a Prince without Slyestone,
sadly not with us to participate in this film, but
there wouldn't be a DiAngelo either, they wouldn't be outcast.
So hearing from some of those individuals about the legacy
of sl Stone and the difficulties he counted being a
very prominent black genius makes for a very thrilling watch.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
Commumrate him this week.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, absolutely, and it goes kind of light on the
troubled years of his life we were sort of in
and out of rehab and jail, because the focus really
is on the incredible legacy that he left behind. Sly Lives.
You can catch that on Disney Plus, and if you
want to revisit Brian Wilson, there's always the Paul Dano
starring biopic Love and Mercy from Yes about a decade ago.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Which is quite lovely.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
That's a pretty sweet what was good.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Wasn't it?

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Very sweet portrayal of Wilson, But you know, it does
suffer from some of the biopic cliches. Sly Lives is great.
So it's just got all this great archive and goes
right for the heart of what it's trying to do.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
I like it, Thank you so much, Steve.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.