This is a pretty good idea. Dave Chappelle does it before all of his comedy shows. But I'm not going to be part of some sort of rally against phones. The guy on his phone not talking to the person sitting next to him is just the new guy with his head in a newspaper.
Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
91–100 of 545 posts
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#92FAN! FUCKING! TASTIC! Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea. There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at. Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven. A rant about…
Maybe it'd be reasonable if the show actually started at the posted time, rather than first spending multiple hours on horrible-to-mediocre opening acts and breaks. If people are openly bored at your shows then it's probably time to reevaluate how you're running things, rather than getting into shouting matches on Twitter.
He's talking about people recording the gig on their phone, not playing angry birds.
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#93FAN! FUCKING! TASTIC! Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea. There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at. Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven. A rant about…
Maybe it'd be reasonable if the show actually started at the posted time, rather than first spending multiple hours on horrible-to-mediocre opening acts and breaks. If people are openly bored at your shows then it's probably time to reevaluate how you're running things, rather than getting into shouting matches on Twitter.
just show up later? the person you're trying to see was one of those opening acts once
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#94I think his statement "If they can’t give me that energy back? Maybe I’m wasting my time." is thoughtful. Jack is old enough to have gone to and performed shows in his youth where cells phone were rare if there were any. He performs not only for the music but for the energy of the crowd. A crowd that's now placed a screen between themselves and the performer taking away that energy or removing that sense of connectio…
> ...if you can't respect the reasonable wishes of the person who you paid to go see what are you doing there? Why the false dichotomy? A person could easily lack all respect for an entertainer and still want to go see them... Heck, I've gone to concerts before just to make fun of the band and its fans with my friends. One could be there doing a lot of things but the blindingly obvious answer in this case is that peo…
Also tells you not to complain about downvotes, but I guess thinking is hard.
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#95FAN! FUCKING! TASTIC! Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea. There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at. Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven. A rant about…
Maybe it'd be reasonable if the show actually started at the posted time, rather than first spending multiple hours on horrible-to-mediocre opening acts and breaks. If people are openly bored at your shows then it's probably time to reevaluate how you're running things, rather than getting into shouting matches on Twitter.
You go in late. Shows never start at posted times. That's always how it's always worked and always will.
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#96FAN! FUCKING! TASTIC! Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea. There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at. Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven. A rant about…
If this policy were blanket, we wouldn't have things like this [1][2], a crowd-sourced film, pieced together from many individual audience recordings, which won a Live Production of The Year award.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_in_Praha_(Radiohead_video...
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#97A suggestion. If entertainers ban phones at events they should at least record the event themselves and publish the video for the participants or everyone. I noticed at the Mark Twain wards for David Letterman when my hero Bill fucking Murray came out a woman was literally watching him through her phone. And I was watching the whole thing on youtube at a much better angle and quality. Of course my video was probably…
The post mentions doing exactly that:
“For those looking to do some social media postings, let us help you with that. Our official tour photographer will be posting photos and videos after the show at jackwhiteiii.com and the new Jack White Live Instagram account @officialjackwhitelive. Repost our photos & videos as much as you want and enjoy a phone-free, 100% human experience.”
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at. Au contraire. The people on either side having a conversation about their weekend dinner party whilst Lisa Gerrard does a quiet solo piece are infinitely more annoying than any camera phone. Or a lady with big hair in the first 3 rows sitting on someone's shoulders and blockin…
Why does it have to be either/or? Why not ask people not to talk disruptively and disallow people from sitting on someone's shoulders in addition to the phone ban?
Because they will break any rule you set. People at concerts are inebriated and uninhibited. That's the point. So you do actually have to physically enforce any rules you want to exist at a rock show.
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#99I think his statement "If they can’t give me that energy back? Maybe I’m wasting my time." is thoughtful. Jack is old enough to have gone to and performed shows in his youth where cells phone were rare if there were any. He performs not only for the music but for the energy of the crowd. A crowd that's now placed a screen between themselves and the performer taking away that energy or removing that sense of connectio…
> ...if you can't respect the reasonable wishes of the person who you paid to go see what are you doing there? Why the false dichotomy? A person could easily lack all respect for an entertainer and still want to go see them... Heck, I've gone to concerts before just to make fun of the band and its fans with my friends. One could be there doing a lot of things but the blindingly obvious answer in this case is that peo…
> Heck, I've gone to concerts before just to make fun of the band and its fans with my friends.
Sounds like you're the vampire here.
Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”
#100Perhaps an outright ban is a bit heavy-handed, but we do need to come to terms with what the appropriate etiquette for the usage of personal electronics is. I guess I could care less is someone wants to spend a show checking Facebook, but it's rude to other guests if their screen grabs your attention or it blocks your view. This ties into general camera usage -- wanting to take a picture (or 50) does not entitle you…
>> but we do need to come to terms with what the appropriate etiquette for the usage of personal electronics is.
Isn't it actually simpler than this?
To me, it's just about being aware of your surroundings, and acting appropriately.
The people who are disruptive at live events, movies, airplanes and other public places seem very focused on "what I want to do" and are ignorant of the fact that there are other people are around whose experience could be negatively impacted by their behavior.