Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe doesn’t want fans to use their phones at live shows.
“Put your fricking phones down and be present,” the singer told Kyle Meredith in a recent chat. “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.”
Blythe continued, “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 [movie director] Steven Spielberg. Sit here and enjoy the show with me,” the vocalist said before giving more advice to the concertgoers. “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.”
He also added, “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.”
Blythe joined other artists like Maynard James Keenan and Eric Clapton in their firm stance towards cell phones at concerts. “It’s rude,” Keenan told Phoenix New Times in April, “Not to us, I mean, I just did a whole photoshoot. I’m not afraid of cameras and I’m not afraid of phones. I’ve got mine right here. It’s a very useful tool.”
The frontman further noted, “There’s no way you can actually capture what’s happening in that live moment on a phone. You’re missing the opportunity of actually absorbing in real time what’s happening. The art of storytelling. Being able to actually recount what you saw without having to record it.”
Clapton also doesn’t like fans using phones at concerts. He feels that when people use their phones, they aren’t fully listening or enjoying the moment. He thinks the audience is more focused on recording than being present. Clapton can tell when people are really listening and believes the performance will be better if fans put their phones away.