Randy Blythe Wants Fans to “Be Present” and Stop Using Their Phones at Shows
It’s nearly impossible to go to a show these days without seeing a sea of cell phone screens pop up over the crowd, with numerous people filming the set so they can have something they’re surely watch later. To some, it’s an annoyance while to others, it’s an affront to the very idea of going to shows in the first place. Some artists like Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan have been vocal in their opposition to cell phone use during shows in the past, while others have been completely insufferable pricks about it *cough*Danzig*cough*.
After a recent interview with Kyle Meredith, Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe added his voice to the chorus of people that wish fans would chill out with their phones.
“Put your fricking phones down and be present. I haven’t done this yet, but I’m going to. As the phones come more and more and more, I’m going to walk out one day at a particularly phone-driven show and I’m gonna bring a stool, and I’m gonna set it down in the middle of the stage after a song or two, and then I’m going to turn on my phone, and I’m gonna point it at the audience, and I’m gonna sit there, and I’m gonna sing a whole song.
“I’m not gonna move. I’m gonna do what they do. And then at the end, I’m gonna say, ‘Did you people enjoy that? No? I didn’t either. So why don’t we be here together? Put your fricking phone down.’ The memories that you’re going to have, because you’re experiencing this show through this digital filter or whatever of a crappy cell phone video… You’re not Steven Spielberg.
“Sit here and enjoy the show with me. Be here with me, because that’s how it was when I started going to shows. Except for — thank God — those people back in the ’80s who were photographer nerds. The weird people, there was always one or two with a camera who would take pictures, and thank God for them, ’cause they documented things. But everybody else was present. And people are missing it nowadays by viewing a show through a tiny iPhone screen. Be here with me.”
Sounds like a pretty emphatic stance against phones at shows, right? Blythe later clarified that he’s likely not going to go the Tool route and ban phones outright. All he wants, Blythe said, is to be conscientious of their cell phone use during a concert.
“I thought about [wanting to ban phones]. My band probably wouldn’t be down with it. I’d be totally great if they were no cell phones. Because these things, they are warping the shape of our reality in a horrific way across the board.
“I’m not a Luddite, I am not anti-technology — clearly we are using it right now — but I think it would behoove us to step back and examine our relationship with technology and see what is being taken from us, the human aspect. And I’m just gonna discuss music here — it’s certainly removed that human aspect, in a lot of ways, from shows at times.
“I’m certainly not, like, ‘Oh, nobody can take a picture,’ I’m not that guy or whatever, but it’s really disturbing to me how much people are missing. You are, in fact, missing the show. You’re not here. You’re looking at your phone, bro. When I went to shows, I was looking around and I wasn’t looking at the band. I was looking around at the cute chicks who were there. You know what? You’re not gonna get that on your cell phone. There is no ‘swipe left’ or whatever in the middle of the show. Get off your phone. Be here with us. Meet people, talk, have a human experience.”
Lamb of God is currently out on the ‘Ashes of Leviathan’ tour with Mastodon. You can catch Blythe and the rest of the guys live at any of the dates listed below.
‘Ashes Of Leviathan’ tour
Aug 13 – Moorhead, MN – Bluestem Center For The Arts Amphitheater
Aug 15 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Aug 16 – Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre
Aug 17 – Kent, WA – accesso ShoWare Center
Aug 18 – Portland, OR – Theater of the Clouds
Aug 21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Kia Forum
Aug 23 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
Aug 24 – Rio Rancho, NM – Rio Rancho Events Center
Aug 25 – El Paso, TX – El Paso County Coliseum
Aug 27 – Magna, UT – The Great Saltair
Aug 29 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Aug 31 – Omaha, NE – The Astro Amphitheater
