Maynard James Keenan Reflects on Phone Concert Ban: ‘The Thing You’re Getting on Your Phone Sucks’

Maynard James Keenan is far from the only artist to ban phones at his live shows, and now he’s expanded on the reasoning behind that decision.

Keenan – who is best known for fronting acts such as Tool and Puscifer – has been noted for years as one of the more prominent artists to discourage the usage of phones during live performances. In fact, one of Keenan’s other projects – A Perfect Circle – had previously made headlines for reportedly ejecting concert attendees who violated the request.

“You ever go to a play or a movie?” guitarist Billy Howerdel asked in 2018. “If you’ve ever been to a play or a movie, it’s kind of similar: you don’t take out your phone and start filming, and let the people behind you stare into your screen.”

In a new interview with the Serious Clownversation podcast, Keenan spoke to host Clownvis Presley about the apparently-divisive topic, outlining his disdain at how prominent phone usage has become at shows.

“A lot of times if you go to shows nowadays it ends up becoming the kneejerk thing, that’s just what you do, it’s just acceptable behavior to block somebody else’s view with your phone,” he explained. 

“It’s annoying and it’s distracting and the thing you’re getting on your phone sucks. It’s not a good representation,” he adds. “You’re not gonna go home and watch it.”

Notably, the likes of Tool and Puscifer (the latter of which are preparing for a pair of album preview shows in Los Angeles on Aug. 11) have employed a practice in their live sets in which audiences are allowed to use their phones to capture the final song. 

“We just kind of force the issue of just kind of engaging with each other – watching the show – and just being present,” he explains. “Take a break from it. 

“It’s only three hours and at the end we’ll let you pull out it out and you can film the last song,” he adds. “That way you have your souvenir that sucks that you’re never gonna watch.”

The topic of banning phones at gigs has been a contentious one over the years, with artists wishing for fans to live in the moment, and fans desiring a chance to memorialize their concert experiences.

In 2015, Jack White shared a verbal plea for no phones during his Lazaretto tour, and by the time The Raconteurs toured in 2019, attendees were told to put their devices in locked Yondr pouches.

“We think you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it in person,” a note from the band read at the time.

More recently, Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood made a public plea for fans to honor the request for limited phone use, later praising those who adhered to his request and wishing those who ignored his pleas “nothing but a very sore arm.”

Pop icon Sabrina Carpenter also sided with the topic of phone bands, telling Rolling Stone she was “absolutely” open to asking fans to pocket their devices at her shows after being turned onto the idea following a Las Vegas show from Silk Sonic.

“I’ve never had a better experience at a concert,” Carpenter explained. “I genuinely felt like I was back in the Seventies — wasn’t alive. Genuinely felt like I was there. Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing. It really, really just felt so beautiful.”