A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel discussed the band’s no phone policy in a new Montreal Gazette interview.
“We have a no-phone policy at our show,” Howerdel says. They mean it, too — more than 60 people were ejected from a show this month in Reading, Pa., for breaking it. “First of all, it’s just rude. Putting up a phone in front of someone’s face so they get to watch the show through it? Getting a memento of the show — sure, I’ve done it myself. But then you ask, ‘What am I gonna do with this?’
“But the other point is, people talking about the show is so much more powerful. We’re inundated with videos and images, and getting back to a campfire conversation, letting people express how they felt in the experience — it says something more.
“And it speaks to, what does the music mean to you, and how do you want to tether it to your experiences in your life?”
He later said, “I do a VIP tour every day for 15 people on the stage. It’s a ticket you buy that gives you early access and a few extras, and a 30-minute tour with me on the stage.”
At a recent show, one fan had a surprise: he got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. “And the guy was telling me, ‘This is what the band means to me.’ There’s nothing more flattering than that. You want people to have it mean more. That memory will be ingrained in my head forever.
“And they didn’t even take a picture of it.”
A fan named Sean Bowers recently commented on Alternative Nation’s Facebook regarding the story about 60 fans being kicked out of a Reading, PA A Perfect Circle show for taking photos.
He wrote, “I was there and was kicked out for simply turning my cell on for about 30 seconds and checking an email. It had been sitting on my thigh and raised it no higher than the seatback in front of me and apparently caught the attention of security atop of the stairs.
I suggested they look in my gallery proving I wasn’t filming shit but they weren’t having it. Met a ton of people outside with similar stories. No doubt some ejected were guilty of taking pics too. As for me, I’m no rookie to Maynard events so know the standard. However, the staff at the venue were beyond trigger happy and dropped the ball big-time!”
Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan recently issued a brief response to fans following reports that more than 60 concertgoers were ejected from an APC show a week ago in Reading, Pennsylvania for taking photos in violation of the band’s stated policy. After a fan complained about the policy on Instagram, Keenan wrote: “No. Recording. Of. Any. Kind. For. 25. Years. Guided experience. Unplug and enjoy the ride.”
Keenan’s other two bands, Tool and Puscifer, also ban photos and videos. The policy got renewed scrutiny after the ejections that took place at A Perfect Circle’s show on Saturday night in Reading.
Metal Sucks previously reported, “According to David Farrar, the General Manager of the SMG Managed Santander Arena & Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, PA — where A Perfect Circle performed on Saturday night, November 4th — the venue staff forcibly removed more than 60 people for taking photos during the band’s set.
The revelation came on Instagram in a commented response to one concert-goer’s successful attempt at snapping a few photos. Farrar boasted, ‘Your [sic] good. We tossed over 60 people last night for taking pics..’ and then elaborated in another comment that ‘this was 110% the bands [sic] policy and has been for TOOL, APC, and Pusicifer.. it’s not a new policy.'”
See the Instagram interactions below via Metal Sucks.
