No Phones Allowed? Really?

Hi this is Leslie Harris, and you may know that I love going to concerts.

I really like Jack White, formerly of the White stripes. Jack was playing in Chicago this past Tuesday night, but because I work on Tuesdays, I traveled up to Grand Rapids Michigan to catch him. It was a fantastic show, but, I didn’t get a single picture of the concert. You see, Jack has gotten fed up with people being on their phones during his show. He’s out there playing, and a lot of people aren’t even responding to him because they’re so busy on their phones.

So, when I entered the venue, I was presented with a pouch. I had to drop my phone into the pouch which was then locked. I was given the pouch back, but I was not able to access my phone at all during the concert. In fact, the pouch was not unlocked until I left the venue. There was a team of people with unlocking devices standing right outside.

I kind of love this idea, but I also kind of hate it. I have been to concerts where I spent so much time taking photos that I feel like I missed out on the experience of live music. I’m much more conscientious now, but honestly, we had great seats, and there were many moments that I was wishing I could have captured on my phone.

So the only photo my friend John and I got was this one, standing outside of the Van Andel arena after the show.

If I want to share photos from the show, I can share them from Jack White’s own website and social media, but it’s not quite the same, is it?

How do you feel about this? I can see both sides of it. Let me know in the comments.