A PERFECT CIRCLE Guitarist Defends Band's 'No-Cell-Phone' Policy At Concerts

November 15, 2017

A PERFECT CIRCLE guitarist Billy Howerdel spoke to the Montreal Gazette about the band's strict no-cell-phone policy at all concerts. He said: "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," he continued. "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?"

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 earlier in the month 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 has also enacted a strict ban on photos with his other groups, TOOL and PUSCIFER, but it got renewed scrutiny after the ejections that took place at A PERFECT CIRCLE's show on November 4 in Reading, Pennsylvania.

David Farrar, the general manager of the Santander Arena & Performing Arts Center where the band performed, said on Instagram after a fan revealed he had snapped some photos: "We tossed over 60 people last night for taking pics." He later added, "This was 110 percent the band's policy and has been for Tool, APC, and Puscifer… it's not a new policy."

Stops on the current APC tour have featured printed warning signs posted around the venue, security guards announcing the policy and a video message displayed on the venue's video screens.

A PERFECT CIRCLE continues its fall tour on Friday night (November 17) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The band has been playing several new tracks on the road and recently issued a single called "The Doomed". A new studio album is expected out in early 2018.

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