Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe has aired his frustrations over audiences filming his performances on their phones.
The frontman discussed the issue during an appearance on the Kyle Meredith With ... interview series, noting how he feels there's been a loss in connection between the performer and their crowd due to excessive filming.
"I'm not asking for sympathy, like, 'Poor Randy, he feels bad.' But, yeah, the relationship is missing," he says. "And I want a relationship with the audience".
To combat the problem, Blythe reveals his plan for playing the audience at their own game, noting how he'll one day opt for sitting down with his phone during a performance rather than giving fans his full attention.
"I haven't done this yet, but I'm going to," he explains. "As the phones come more and more and more, I'm going to walk out one day at a particularly phone-driven show and I'm gonna bring a stool, and I'm gonna set it down in the middle of the stage after a song or two, and then I'm going to turn on my phone, and I'm gonna point it at the audience, and I'm gonna sit there, and I'm gonna sing a whole song.
"I'm not gonna move. I'm gonna do what they do. And then at the end, I'm gonna say, 'Did you people enjoy that? No? I didn't either. So why don't we be here together? Put your fricking phone down.'"
Explaining further on why he dislikes phone usage at concerts, he continues: "The memories that you're going to have, because you're experiencing this show through this digital filter or whatever of a crappy cell phone video…
"You're not Steven Spielberg. Sit here and enjoy the show with me. Be here with me, because that's how it was when I started going to shows. Except for — thank God — those people back in the '80s who were photographer nerds. The weird people, there was always one or two with a camera who would take pictures, and thank God for them, 'cause they documented things. But everybody else was present. And people are missing it nowadays by viewing a show through a tiny iPhone screen. Be here with me."
Warning fans of his plan, he adds: "The harder you go, the harder I'm gonna go. The more you look at the phone, the more I wanna sit on a stool and film you. And it's gonna happen one day."
When asked if he'd one day implement a full phone ban at his shows - a move which other artists have made, such as Tool - the vocalist answers: "I thought about it. My band probably wouldn't be down with it. I'd be totally great if they were no cell phones. Because these things, they are warping the shape of our reality in a horrific way across the board."
He adds, "I'm not a Luddite, I am not anti-technology — clearly we are using it right now — but I think it would behoove us to step back and examine our relationship with technology and see what is being taken from us, the human aspect. And I'm just gonna discuss music here — it's certainly removed that human aspect, in a lot of ways, from shows at times.
"I'm certainly not, like, 'Oh, nobody can take a picture,' I'm not that guy or whatever, but it's really disturbing to me how much people are missing. You are, in fact, missing the show. You're not here. You're looking at your phone, bro."
Speaking of his experience going to gigs in his youth, Blythe concludes: "When I went to shows, I was looking around and I wasn't looking at the band. I was looking around at the cute chicks who were there. You know what? You're not gonna get that on your cell phone. There is no 'swipe left' or whatever in the middle of the show. Get off your phone. Be here with us. Meet people, talk, have a human experience."
