Jack White Bans Cellphones At Concerts For '100% Human Experience' (nme.com)

Singer and guitarist Jack White has banned the use of mobile phones at upcoming live shows. NME reports that the policy will be strictly enforced, requiring concert-goers to lock up their smartphones in pouches." From the report: White embarks on a tour of the U.S. from April, with a statement announcing that shows would be "phone-free," confirming: "No photos, video or audio recording devices allowed." "We think you'll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it IN PERSON," the statement adds. "Upon arrival at the venue, all phones and other photo or video-capturing gizmos will be secured in a Yondr pouch that will be unlocked at the end of the show. You keep your pouch-secured phone on you during the show and, if needed, can unlock your phone at any time in a designated Yondr Phone Zone located in the lobby or concourse." "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... Repost our photos & videos as much as you want and enjoy a phone-free, 100% human experience."

Comments

is this from the artist himself

[desdinova 216]

or is this from some record label person?

Re:is this from the artist himself

[Luthair]

I would be shocked if it wasn't Jack White making the decision. The record labels don't give a shit since from their perspective touring is just marketing for album sales / streaming.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[The Evil Atheist]

If people valued their "hard-earned" money, they wouldn't be wasting it on a live show that they're watching on their phone. This is about people getting their actual money's worth: seeing a skilled musician performing live, not through a screen.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[91degrees]

A lot of concert goers get pretty irritated with the idiots on phones. You can tweet about it later.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[AmiMoJo]

People go to shows so they can post on social media about it and get some likes. It's a competition with other social media users, who all seem to be having more fun (because they don't post about the day-to-day drudgery).

These days an experience is only worth having if you can post it on Facebook later.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[thegarbz]

or is this from some record label person?

The record labels are only interested in making sure you don't bring an SLR with a nice lens into concerts. Apparently my $5000 Leica was allowed because it wasn't a good camera :-)

There's actually a few artists speaking out against the absurd fuckery that is people recording poorly lit unwatchable content with sound that ultimately is little more than a monotonous -0dB level with the occasional distorted blip into something that sounds like actual music. Here's Roger Water's (That's Pink Floyd for the millennials) take on the issue:

“For my part I would never turn on a cell phone at any musical event,” he wrote, “whether it’s at The Met, The Garden or anywhere else. It would seem to me to show a lack of respect to and care for fellow concert goers or for that matter for the artist. Apart from anything else, how could I possibly truly experience the thing I’d paid to see and hear, if I was fiddling with an iPhone, filming or twittering or chatting or whatever?”

Seriously I've never seen anyone look at one of these recordings. If they did their eyes and ears would bleed. Why do people make them?

Re:is this from the artist himself

[skegg]

These days an experience is only worth having if you can post it on Facebook later.

Later !? Even that's too kind. It needs to be posted on Facebook stat !

I can understand wanting to capture a moment (photo, video) to prompt one's memory in the future. Of course, living the entire experience through a lens ain't right.

I like the move taken by this artist, especially the hiring of a professional event photographer and making the media freely available.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[Nidi62]

Jack Black? Are we talking about Tenacious-D or the White Stripes?

They need a battle of the bands type battle between Jack Black and Jack White. Maybe do it for charity or something. They can call it the Jack Off.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[CodeHog]

You might think they have an impact to sales and you'd be right. Except not in a negative way. It actually helps increase the sales for an artist. Most of the recordings are crappy and not many people really care enough about an artist to listen to a crappy version of their favorite song. It makes for a good story though when sales drop off for an "artist" who starts making crappy music and it doesn't sale anymore.

Re:is this from the artist himself

[MitchDev]

Thank god, I was afraid I'd need yet another reason to not go see ...uhhh...what's his name?

Re:is this from the artist himself

[MitchDev]

Sounds like an invitation to sing along, loudly and offkey the whole time to me

Who?

[Pezbian]

n/t

Re:Who?

[DeathElk]

He's not black like Barry White is, he's white like Frank Black is.

Re:Who?

[No Longer an AC]

Rather than mod you as a troll I'd like to take this opportunity to say that anyone who completely avoids the subject of the article in favor of making fun of an artist who they'd like to belittle by insinuating that nobody ever heard of them or in particular you're too good to have ever heard of them is being childish.

(I think I've done it too regarding some pop-tart so I can't claim much moral superiority or anything).

I'm not a fan of Jack White. I've heard the name, but I have no idea what kind of music he even plays, but I do know that I can type "Jack White" into Google and find out in as long as it would take me to listen to some of his music.....which I will do now....after I get another beer.

....a few songs and a beer later....

I can now honestly say that I'm still not a Jack White fan, but at least his music isn't terrible. That's just a subjective opinion of course....the first song even reminded me of David Bowie just a little bit. And I even liked one of his other songs.

God forbid I might get so bored during a show that I would need to pull out my phone. Can I still bring a camera? Maybe I should just go home.

I've recorded shows before, both audio and video and it really does get in the way of enjoying a concert.

Even just recording one or two songs with your phone takes a lot away from your enjoyment of the moment.

Not only that but when you're in an audience and the stage is obscured by dozens of people holding up their cell phones above their heads that takes a lot away from the experience as well.

So I support this move by this White guy. I mean it's his show and if his fans don't like it they can stay home. His other fans might just appreciate the lack of phones in their faces.

Re:Who?

[mjwx]

He's not black like Barry White is, he's white like Frank Black is.

We dont need no water let the mother fucker burn... burn mother fucker, burn.

The 90's fucking rocked.

In before...

[Known Nutter]

In before all the posts crying "what if there's a disaster and the Yondr system goes down and all the lights go out and I need to call home and I can't be without my phone because reasons and disaster and my rights and oh noes and I need an Uber car and my kids must be able to reach me and did I mention active shooter and what do I do if there's a disaster?"

Re: In before...

[Pahroza]

Shit. Yes, I actually do. I meant to write $1000/mo. Mea Culpa.

Re: In before...

[Mashiki]

So what you're saying is you know fuck-all about diabetes. Got it. I'm not OP, but maybe at least read the wiki.

Don't read the wiki, it's full of stuff that's not medically recognized like "type 3" and "type 1.5" among other garbage. There's only three types 1, 2 and gestational(pregnant women), everything else has it's own diagnosis standard and despite the people pushing for LADA(adult onset) to become a new one. It's still type 1 even if you develop it in adulthood, the treatments are the same, the precautions are the same. If they were paying $1k/mo they were likely paying for a brand new drug, where a combination of 2 medications would have only run them $60/mo. The farce with liraglutide is a good example. $1k/mo, but could be done with two drugs.

This happens a lot when sales reps push doctors to use "new" medications because they're obviously better, and safer, that's what they're saying and you best believe it! Ever wonder why the vast majority of reps are stunningly pretty women who were hired based on their looks not their background? I'll give ya a hint, it's because male or female both respond to the tactic.

Re: In before...

[Pahroza]

Thank you for your insight. You're obviously more knowledgable than I am on the subject, and you could very well be right about the cause for the price of the coworkers meds.

My initial point was that one should not assume all diabetics are overweight. I've dealt also with gestational diabetes among members of my family, so I have done some research, though am not as well versed as you are.

Re: In before...

[thegarbz]

No I am simpler. My phone runs my diabetic equipment.

Just because you're suicidal doesn't mean you should use your phone at a concert.

Oh and quit lying. There's no life dependent system in the world that is approved for medical use if it requires to be tethered to a phone.

This is a good precedent!

[Templer421]

Hope this becomes the rule.

Re:This is a good precedent!

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

THere's zero chance that it will. Even though I don't use my phone during shows, the sheer inconvenience of this process ensures that I would never attend a show in which it was required. I'm certain I'm far from alone here.

This is a marginal at best artist sniffing his own farts.

Re:This is a good precedent!

[Anonymous Coward]

Good. I'll be at the concert and I'll enjoy not have annoying cell-phone addled paranoid people like you around.

Re:This is a good precedent!

[Anonymous Coward]

Excuse me if I read into your comment more than I should have, when I read it I got the impression that you dislike this policy and believe that it should not be allowed for them to confiscate / disable / make otherwise unusable your phone. If that's not what you meant, then ignore me.

Now for my response based on how I interpreted yours:
What you said is fine. You should understand the position you're in, and that there are certain times and places that don't make any sense for you. A concert, movie theater, Broadway show and any other such venue where it is completely and utterly inappropriate for someone to be a distraction to others are examples of things you simply should not attending with such demands placed on you. I would also hope that your children would be left in capable hands when you aren't around them, and that you stop worrying so darn much as it's not good for them or you! Maybe that's why you think they are so prone to "other crisis", because your definition of crisis needs to be reevaluated and adjusted. The thing is, the last part of your statement says it all... If you can't answer your phone on the first ring, it's someplace you cannot and do not wish to be. Simple, don't go there. Don't expect others to lessen their experience just so you can live your unnecessarily over-stressed lifestyle.

And shit like this

[Chas]

Is why I don't bother with live venues anymore.

Between the assholes in the audience and the assholes on stage...

Not sure what happened to "just come in, be a decent person and enjoy the scene".

So fuck them all. NONE of them get a cent of my money.

Re:And shit like this

[Pahroza]

Well, you pretty much said it, most people can't be decent people anymore. I'm not a fan of the artist mentioned here, but I do think an artist should be able to perform under conditions they'd like to perform. Siouxsie Sioux for example has -- in the past -- been a stickler for venue temperature when she performs because her vocal chords could be damaged otherwise. While that could suck if you didn't know you should dress warmer or colder to what you're used to, that's her livelihood.

I wouldn't expect people at an opera to be holding up their phones and carrying on with random conversations either. Don't like the rules, don't go.

So I guess I both agree and disagree with you. It's your money, you do what you want with it, but you could miss out on some great performances just because you don't want to give up your "right" to something.

Re:And shit like this

[uvajed_ekil]

Is why I don't bother with live venues anymore.

Between the assholes in the audience and the assholes on stage...

Not sure what happened to "just come in, be a decent person and enjoy the scene".

THANK YOU!!! If that's how you feel about live music in 2018, you're either going to the wrong shows or YOU'RE the one we don't want there. Most of the festival and one-off shows I see are a good time with no crowd problems. I generally avoid stadiums and large arenas because you are too far away to see anything and the prices are too high, but smaller theaters and clubs provide the same great experience the always have.

Humanity's biggest problem is not that it suddenly changed, it's people writing off the next generation or the current times as past prime and heading downhill. The same phenomenon can be seen in some of the oldest historical accounts and literature we know. It just means you're crotchety. Most people are still good, decent people.

Re:And shit like this

[Chas]

Okay, going to echo Gojira Shipi-Taro here.

I have no problem NOT holding up my camera to bootleg the performance.

I have no problem memorizing and retaining the experience with two pieces of OEM equipment.

The Mark I Eyeball.
The Mark I Binaural Ear Set.

If I have to make, or take a call, I'll get the hell out of the audience (or the venue if necessary) and take/make the call.

I don't need some self-riteous asshole to tell me how to act like a goddamn adult.
Hell, I don't even take that shit from my MOTHER (and DAMN if she doesn't have the capital to claim it anyhow).

Them demanding I put it in a lock-bag under THEIR control is treating me like a child.
It's also telling me "I don't want your money."

Fine. They can fuck off without my money.

Re:And shit like this

[Pahroza]

Thanks for something new to read up on, I've never heard of virtue signaling before. Perhaps I'm out of touch. If I had to guess it would have something to do with me expressing my opinions and you not agreeing with them and feeling a little hurt?

bye!

[markdavis]

>"Singer and guitarist Jack White has banned the use of mobile phones at upcoming live shows. NME reports that the policy will be strictly enforced, requiring concert-goers to lock up their smartphones in pouches." "

I have no interest in interacting with my cell phone during a concert (or movie or any other type of paid entertainment). But tell me I have to lock up my phone in a "pouch" and you can shove your concert where the sun doesn't shine. I am so tired of the lowest-common-denominator ruining everything for everyone. Either they ruin it directly by being rude, annoying, and/or irresponsible, or ruin it indirectly due to places creating draconian rules/procedures to try and combat it.

Re:bye!

[swillden]

But tell me I have to lock up my phone in a "pouch" and you can shove your concert where the sun doesn't shine.

So, you like going to a concert and looking over a sea of glowing cellphone screens when you look at the stage?

I find it unfortunate that this is necessary. But I do see the value.

Re: Don't tell me what to do

[Anonymous Coward]

Such a concert doesn't exist. Guess your next concert will be watching your grumpy face in the mirror with "All By Myself" cranked to 11.

Yondr? What's that?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm:

"Yondr uses a patented system to create phone-free spaces for artists, educators, organizations and individuals."

THEY GOT A PATENT? FOR PUTTING PHONES IN A BAG SEALED WITH CLOTHING SECURITY TAGS?

Re:Don't tell me what to do

[Anonymous Coward]

You're exactly the kind of asshole that has made other assholes create rules and procedures like this.

If you hadn't been such an asshole then maybe the rest of us could have enjoyed our concerts without all this BS about shoving phones in puches?

Cell phones used as CGMS devices

[PongStroid]

If you use your phone to monitor your blood glucose, but the venue forces your phone to be locked into a Yondr bag, are there ADA repercussions? Seems that the answer would be "yes".

For example, an ADA-related consent order: https://www.ada.gov/sfxinc.htm6/, and this line specifically: "Clear Channel Entertainment agrees not to discriminate against any guest with diabetes with regard to their bringing diabetes related medical equipment or diabetes related food into a concert venue.â

I sent a brief, polite message to Yondr 1.5 years ago asking if there is a protocol for this situation. https://www.overyondr.com/contact/

No response.

Obviously, there are back-up strategies like bringing the stand-alone G5 receiver, use a meter, exit the concert to check your Bg, or not to go to the concert at all, but all should be unnecessary as having a phone at your side for monitoring blood glucose is a reasonable accommodation.

Re:Cell phones used as CGMS devices

[Pahroza]

Bullshit on your horseshit. Nobody is forcing you to go see a show if your life is dependent on your use of your cellphone. They aren't taking it away and refusing to give it back the second you walk through the door. You can still say "no thanks, my life depends upon this device and I'd rather keep it, I'll move on and would like a refund, thank you"

Re:Cell phones used as CGMS devices

[Khyber]

" I consider a roof over your head and a place to buy food a little bit different than going to a show"

The law doesn't, which is why it is LEGALLY known as a PUBLIC VENUE, which means ADA is in effect.

Re: Cell phones used as CGMS devices

[PongStroid]

I asked Yondr again. They replied immediately this time: We have a special wristband for ADA requests that allows guests to keep their phones unlocked. A Yondr representative can issue these wristbands at the venue. So... there you go. And thanks for reminding me why I long ago stopped participating in Slashdot discussions.

Let's watch

[JThundley]

"Let's watch my recording of the concert I went to!"
-Nobody ever

Re:Let's watch

[No Longer an AC]

I would mod this up if I hadn't already commented, but I would point out that the link posted does go to a certain type of band....

The Grateful Dead is the first one listed and they even had taper sections cordoned off back in the day. Bring your tape decks and mike stands! We'll put you in your own little section.

I do love watching videos and listening to audio recordings of shows I've been to....especially if it wasn't me who went to the hassle of recording them.

I see Steve Kimock is also listed in that link.....this sort of reminds me of that time he went off on an audience and told some people to STFU.

"Seriously, man it's fucking rude. Get your money back and go home. I don't care. Shut the fuck up!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I've got the full recording of that show somewhere. The talkers in the audience who weren't even paying attention to the music were pretty bad.

Link to the whole show:

https://archive.org/details/sk...

IMO, he came across as being a bit petulant but I've also had to change seats in theaters just to avoid people talking over the music so I can sympathize some. And to his credit, Kimock put up with it for over 90 minutes before he lost it.

Re:Let's watch

[Ash-Fox]

I don't really care for concert recordings, however...

"Let's watch my recording of the concert I went to!"
-Nobody ever

I made one dodgy video recording of a song a friend of mine really liked (the audio was actually horrible in person, it was reverbing horribly; the phone's built in noise enhancement made it better) at a concert I went to last year. Uploaded it to YouTube. YouTube demographics say it's been watching 1.7k times, average view duration is 3:25 (video length is 3:59).

To be honest, that shows there is a demand for it. Considering I am not a popular YouTuber or anything.

Nothing new

[Patent Lover]

Prince and others did it years ago: https://petapixel.com/2013/08/...

Deal Killer For Me

[WindowsStar]

I understand all the annoyance with phones but I typically go with several friends or family and use the phone to re-connect and get together at the end. It is a huge pain in the ass to wait at the car for hours when you can just text or call each other and find out someone was lucky to go back stage or they got hurt or they were locked up for some reason. No a phone is a lot more than just videoing a concert or holding up as a lighter. For me deal killer.

addiction

[DogDude]

Locking your phone up for an hour is "draconian"? You may want to get some help for that. That sounds like addiction.

But, but..

[CptLoRes]

People don't go to concerts for the music. They go so that they can post on social media and show other people how trendy they are.

Indeed, who ?

[DrYak]

{...} in favor of making fun of an artist who they'd like to belittle by insinuating that nobody ever heard of them or in particular you're too good to have ever heard of them is being childish.

Or you know, maybe some of us have genuinely no idea who this artist is.

There are literally tons of different types of music out there (I mean litterally. If you pile up ever different disc, CD, tape, wax cylinider, scroll, and other forms of music produced by all the artists, it's going to be a really heavy total mass).

By chance, I might happen not to be into this specific music, and I might have actually never heard anything about the artist. Not that I pretend that the artist is bad or that I'm above this kind of art. He might simply be not one of the thousand other that's I've heard.

So we do what every sensible /.er would do (like the parent poster) :
We will bitch and moan at the editors, because giving a few key information about an artist mentioned in a summary would be a good idea~

In the present case, I actually did not register the name for real, and needed to fall back onto wikipedia to discover that he's actually the guy who founded The White Stripes (known for such titles as "Fell in Love with a Girl", "Seven Nation Army", etc.).
I did my duty to get informed, but I think that when the subject of a summary strays outside the typical tech field, I would be good to give some key informations (again, not every one might be into the same kind of music and some could genuinely completely ignore who the guy is).