In a recent interview with Brocarde, former Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell shared his thoughts on the fans using their phones the entire show and not actually enjoying the live performances.
“As soon as we get on stage, you see all the phones coming up. And I don’t mind somebody filming a little bit — you know, half a song. You get people, and I see them and they’ve been there, they’re expressionless and they’ve been there the entire show. They haven’t moved a limb. And stuff like that really pisses me off,” the rocker shared.
He added, “You should live in the moment. And it’s off-putting as well. I much preferred it when people couldn’t be just filming. And the quality’s crap anyway. I’d rather see them tapping their feet or anything… You walk on stage and automatically everyone — the cameras come up, phones. You gotta be in the moment. You gotta be there. It’s important.”
In response to the fans recording the entire show and not enjoying the moment, different rockers took precautions for their shows. For example, Ghost brought a no-phone policy to several of their shows so that fans could truly enjoy what they were seeing.
Corey Taylor also chimed in to share his point of view. “It’s one thing to film it, it’s another thing to just be staring at your screen while you’re filming it,” he said. “It’s right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can’t do anything unless it’s on that little four-by-four screen? It’s very weird.”
In 2015, Sebastian Bach encouraged fans to keep their cell phones in their pockets and simply enjoy the performance “Be in the moment,” he said. “You’re distracted and it’s distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin’ cell phone away, dammit! You’re never even going to watch that footage.”
Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons are currently on tour with Accept. The band will perform in Munich, Germany tomorrow night. After the tour with Accept is done, they will perform a show in the Netherlands before starting their tour UK tour in February 2025.
