With rock supergroup A Perfect Circle famously banning phones at their recent gigs and implementing a 'no photos' policy, there's been a raging debate of late about acceptable levels of technology usage at shows.
We caught up with Don Broco frontman Rob Damiani – whose latest album Technology touches on these themes – to get the point of view of someone on the receiving end of dealing with snap-happy gig-goers.
This is what he had to say…
“I’ve got a real thing against phones at gigs. I definitely take pictures if I’m at a show, but I am very conscious. It’s something you probably don’t think about when you’re in the crowd, but when you’re on the other end, onstage, it’s the most off-putting thing you could ever see at a show.
“I get that you want to remember the night, but you also want to enjoy yourself. You are never going to enjoy a gig [that way], because the moment you have your phone in the air, you start worrying about trying to get a good picture or video. If you magnify that by how many people are also doing that, it just sucks the energy from a room. Live music is about living in the moment, about being there and experiencing it. It’s not about having a crappy photo that you can put up on your social media the next day, or while you’re at the gig.