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Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe believes strongly in the connection between a band and its audience, so much so that he wants fans to put down their phones and be fully present during concerts. In fact, he even has a tongue-in-cheek plan to combat phone use at his band's shows.
In the latest episode of the Consequence Podcast Network Kyle Meredith with… (listen above), Blythe explains that after all these years in Lamb of God, “I still feel the same energy from a crowd that’s really into this, because I see it as a mass form of communication… When I sing some words that I wrote in a 99-cent spiral notebook that I bought at CVS, sitting on my porch… and I hear thousands of people repeating those words… and I see the music physically moving people, it’s a symbiotic thing.”
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For that reason, he doesn’t like seeing fans standing around and holding up their phones to film a concert. “Put your fucking phones down and be present,” Blythe continues. “I haven’t done it yet, but I will. As phones become more and more popular, one day I’ll go out to a particularly phone-driven show and bring a stool, leave it in the middle of the stage after a song or two, and then turn on my phone, point it toward the audience, sit there and sing a whole song. I won’t move. I’ll do what they do. And then at the end, I’ll say, ‘Did you enjoy that? No? Me neither. So why aren’t we here together? Put your fucking phones down. ’”
And he adds: “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. Stay here with me, because that’s how it was when I first started going to shows. Except for – thank God – those people in the ’80s who were photography nerds. The weird people, there was always one or two with a camera taking pictures, and thanking God for them, because they documented things. But everybody else was there. And people miss that today by watching a show through a little iPhone screen. Stay here with me… I’m not asking for sympathy, like, ‘Poor Randy, he feels bad. ’ But yeah, the relationship is missing. And … want “A relationship with the audience. Because the harder you try, the harder I try. The more you look at your phone, the more I want to sit on a stool and film you. And one day it will happen.”
When Meredith asked if he would consider banning filming with phones like Tool does at concerts, Blythe replied, “I thought about it. My band would probably disagree. It would be great if there were no cell phones. Because these things are distorting the shape of our reality in a horrible way across the board.”
Blythe goes on to explain that he’s “not against technology” and has nothing against people snapping a photo here and there, but says it’s “disturbing” how much people miss out on at shows: “You’re staring at your phone, bro. … Come out here with us. Meet people, talk, have a human experience.”
Lamb of God is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ashes of the Wake on a North American tour alongside Mastodon. Use your phone to Pick up tickets herebut make sure you pack it when you go to the show.
Listen to the full episode of the Kyle Meredith with… podcast with Randy Blythe in the player above.
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