A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel Brilliantly Summarizes “No Cell Phone” Policy
A Perfect Circle has caused a stir during its latest tour with a stringent no photo or taping policy, warning fans they face ejection if caught using their cell phones or other devices to record the band.
More than 60 people were ejected during a recent weekend show in Reading, Pa., causing frontman Maynard James Keenan to remind fans that the policy has been in place since the beginning of Tool, as well as with his other other [cq] band, Puscifer.
APC guitarist Billy Howerdel tells us that he feels phone recording is “rude” to fellow concertgoers and that the band would prefer to have fans focus on its performance:
“I think at the end of the day it’s time to just disconnect for a second…The videos that you take and for your own benefit, you put online, they look like shit and they sound like shit. We’d rather you communicate this orally, let people know what you saw and how you felt. It’s much more powerful than given a bad representation.”
APC has released one new song, “The Doomed,” and is performing two others, “Feathers” and “Hourglass,” during its concerts; All three are slated for the group’s fourth album, which is due out next spring.
APC’s current tour runs through December 4, while Keenan is also working on a new album with Tool.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
