A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel on cellphone pics at shows: "it's just rude"

As you may have heard, A Perfect Circle are ejecting dozens of fans at their shows for taking cellphone pictures. Frontman Maynard James Keenan (also of Tool) has backed the enforcement of this policy, and Metal Injection points out that longtime guitarist Billy Howerdel has now also commented on it while speaking to Montreal Gazette. Here’s what he says:

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?’

The other point is – people talking about the show is so much more powerful. 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?

We caught APC’s tour at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where our photographer said they “threw dozens upon dozens out for cell phone pics.”