No phones at Jack White show was … OK
“Houston are you with me or against me?” Jack White asked early in his Monday night set at Revention Music Center.
It would have normally been a throwaway line, a scripted greeting for any number of shows. But the simple statement took on added meaning in the wake of White’s nophone policy for his current tour.
No selfies. No grainy shots from the back of the venue. No blurry video clips or Facebook Live streams.
It’s true that phones, for many fans, seem to have taken away from the concert experience. Put it down, they say, and enjoy the moment.
But for me, it’s no more annoying than people who spend most of the show pushing past you to get to the beer line or those who engage in loud, off-topic conversations.
Except for the livestreaming. If you livestream a concert, you are a terrible person. And I’ve seen it done repeatedly, dozens of bad videos with even worse audio. The worst was a group of four friends who arrived late to Luis Fonsi’s show at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. Almost in unison, they began streaming the concert on Facebook. Every single take was a bad angle.
Which means there were benefits to White forcing his patrons to lock their phones in a Yondr pouch, which was a pretty easy process. Employees quickly locked devices into the bags, about the size of a large coin purse or sunglasses case, as you entered the venue. There were designated areas just outside the main hall where you could have your pouch unlocked for phone access, if needed .
I’m not the guy who feels the need to chronicle every moment of a show. Where does all that end up, anyway? Does anyone actually scroll through those after the show? I initially reached for my phone a few times out of instinct. It might have been because I kept wanting to take notes about not having it.
I also had a few fleeting moments of panic. What if there was an emergency? What if my mom needed to reach me? If White fell offstage, and no one recorded it, did it really happen?
What if someone tagged me in an unflattering Facebook photo? What if Beyoncé tweeted something for the 11th time in nine years? I sized up the pouch to see if my keys could cut through it. (Maybe.)
The phone-use areas saw a steady stream of people. And honestly, it would have been easy to slip out with an unlocked phone or even get one into the venue. A lot of this was based on the honor system.
I scribbled thoughts on a notepad — something I haven’t done in years — and tried to commit moments to memory.
I saw a few people phantom typing through their pouches. A digital photo booth was set up inside the main hall to capture GIFs of fans that could be sent to your email. White also provided high-resolution photos at jackwhiteiii.com/ live-photos and videos at Instagram.com/officialjackwhitelive.
Onstage, White simply did what he always does — communicate through his music. There wasn’t much banter. Just lots of squealing guitars and distorted vocals as he powered through “Over and Over and Over” and “Why Walk a Dog?” The awkward raps of “Ice Station Zebra” and the garagecountry of “Hotel Yorba.”
He’s a focused, effortless performer. I’m not sure if the lack of phones thrust into the air, capturing his every move, made any difference to White. But it was a strange sight after so many years and so many terrible photos.