Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong urges fans to use their phones less at gigs
"Let’s have eye contact," he says
Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong has called on fans to have a “human” experience at their gigs instead of watching them vicariously through their phone screens.
A hugely divisive issue for gig-goers, Billie Joe concedes that people are well within their rights to take photos at shows but believes that fans filming large segments are missing out.
“At our shows I see lot of people holding up cell phones. You can look at a screen at home; you can look at your computer or your phone anywhere,” Billie Joe said.
“You can take your picture but let’s have eye contact, let’s have a human experience right now you can’t capture on a cell phone.”
He added at a Q&A in London: “Why would you want to listen to your favourite song going like this (holds arm in air) when you can just hear it right in front of you? I feel like a little more human contact is good.”
Over the summer, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor hit the headlines when he smashed the phone out of a fan’s hands at a show on the band’s North American tour. The band later shared footage of the incident online:
Back in March, Disturbed’s David Draiman controversially lambasted a female audience member for playing with her phone.
"What is so important going on in the world that you need to be texting the entire fing show?,” he blasted. “The whole show. You're right up front, I can see you clear as day. You've had your face in your fing phone the whole goddamn show. Are we that boring?”
In a less confrontational but equally controversial move, RATM, Cypress Hill and Public Enemy supergroup Prophets of Rage enlisted the help of a company called Yondr at their Whisky A Go Go show in June.
The company provides artists with “the tools to create phone-free events” by placing audience member’s phones in cases which prohibit them from being used within defined areas. To use their device, fans have to step out of the ‘phone-free zone’ to unlock it.
Green Day play three completely sold out UK shows in February before returning in July to headline British Summer Time Hyde Park.
Tickets are on sale from Kerrang! Radio Tickets now.
You can watch Jake Thomson's full interview with Green Day from earlier this week, right here: