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Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

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Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#101

Post by ghaff »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #86
ghaff wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all fairness, cell phone coverage is still pretty spotty in national parks, wilderness areas, etc. And I, for one, don't buy WiFi on planes, in part because I appreciate the time as an opportunity to read books and watch things I often don't have uninterrupted time to. But, yes, as you see on this thread people are growing up today who find the idea of not being able to be reached or to reach someone (even for a f…

People should learn to not be anxious of having no connectivity. Self-reliance used to be a thing, and while its inconvenient when you don't have connectivity, it should not cause anxiety.

I think there are circumstances where it's prudent, when reasonably practical, to have the means to summon assistance if things go sideways. However, you should be as prepared as possible to fend for yourself and, as you say, I find it almost bizarre to be anxious/fearful/freaked out just because you're separated from your smartphone.

ADDED: My concern is that there seems to be an increasing expectation that, if "they" don't make cellular coverage available everywhere they're creating an unsafe environment and something needs to be done about that. (And conversely, if I'm not always available, I'm being somehow irresponsible.)

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#102

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #89
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem is that your way of "enjoying the experience" is detracting from the experience of those around you.

We're talking about going to a gig here: there are many ways that people "enjoy the experience" which might detract from the experience of others: talking, singing badly, moving around too much, jumping up and spilling beer everywhere. If you try to eliminate all behaviour that might adversely affect others, we'll all end up strapped into a seat — no-one really wants that.

Playing with your cell phone is a lot less easily justified than singing bladly or dancing too wildly. If someone is talking over the concert or spilling beer on me I'm going to ask them to stop, too.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#103

Post by maxerickson »

hungerstrike wrote: post #68
illegalsmile wrote: post #46

I 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…

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Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#104

Post by mseebach »

watwut wrote: post #83
mseebach wrote: post #76

Perhaps 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…

The tablet to child thing is often done for benefit of those around - so that child is not noisy, does not atempt to run around etc. Of course you can also entertain the small child by playing with it and constantly telling it how to behave, but that tends to be even noisier that tablet. (Bigger child can have headphones and is able to sit calmly longer)

I was thinking of headphones.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#105

Post by usrusr »

elsurudo wrote: post #43
beat wrote: post #10

Personally, I'd kinda like to see venues Faraday-cage the concert areas, so people can't get online from them. That way, people could still take photos and video, but wouldn't spend the entire concert on Facebook. (Thinking of this due to a favorite venue of mine, the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, that has basically zero cell phone reception from the floor.)

The problem with this is that many people have that thing out every other song, recording video, and blinding me.

As a tall person, I tell myself that the small person in front of me is just trying to use the camera as an improvised periscope to get a glimpse at the stage.

I always thought that was just a private joke I had with myself, but now that I think of it I can't remember ever seeing a fellow tall person doing the camera thing. There might be a grain of truth to it.

(Now I hope nobody starts calling out Jack White as a sizeist for not allowing electric periscopes)

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#106

Post by monksy »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #48
zimpenfish wrote: post #32

Earlier 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…

Which is why they also have ushers whose job it is to move those conversations out of the concert hall. I'm not sure why you disagree with someone talking about Led Zeppelin based on your experience with Lisa Gerrard...

That's where I'm 100% with you. That's what they're there for.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#107

Post by epicide »

tuxracer wrote: post #61
CaptainZapp wrote: post #9

FAN! 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 you have the context of having been there then those ultra-shitty videos are more like a trigger for your own memory of that moment to help you relive a really good time. It's a phenomenon similar to how certain smells bring people right back to some moment. It might not be for you but I wouldn't get too indignant about it if others indulge.

This makes sense and is an unfortunate loss for those individuals that would've gotten something out of the video. However, it seems like phone presence is still doing more harm than good.

Sometimes, the best memories you have are the ones that you can't perfectly recall. You get to keep it as perfect as you'd like to remember it.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#108

Post by maxehmookau »

davb wrote: post #87

I experienced the Yondr phone prison last night for the first time (at a Chris Rock show). While I detest people being disruptive with their phones, I don’t think this is the right solution. From a practical standpoint, it took a lot longer to get into and out of the venue when phones had to be locked up. Checking your phone when you pop out to the toilet meant waiting in a queue to have your phone unlocked, and bein…

I agree, the safety aspects of this are shocking and the 'be free of phones' puritanism is a bit dull.

A _very_ strict code of conduct for attendees is something that can (and does) work.

Jazz pianist, Keith Jarrett has been known to stop his 4-hour long improvisation sessions in some of the world's most prestigous venues mid-flow to dress down an attendee trying to film him. People don't make that mistake twice. https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/aug/09/keit...

Unrelated, but I'd be way more on board with this if the DVD of the show wasn't £30 afterwards.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#109

Post by Nullabillity »

ChrisRR wrote: post #92
Nullabillity wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But this policy hurts both.
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