While it’s often considered by the guy standing behind you to be one of the biggest annoyances of going to a concert, there isn’t exactly anything inherently wrong with taking photos while at a gig. However, fans attending A Perfect Circle’s current US tour seem to have discovered the hard way how some bands feel about photography, with numerous fans stating they were kicked out of the group’s gigs for taking pictures.
As Brooklyn Vegan notes, fans heading into shows on A Perfect Circle’s current tour have been met with signs warning them that photography will not be allowed during the performance, as indicated by the below photo that was clearly taken during proceedings at the event.
Many punters turning up to these performances seemingly believed these warnings to be more of a suggested way of acting, because as Blabbermouth notes, over 60 people were ejected from the band’s performance at the SMG Managed Santander Arena And Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
One attendee of the gig took to the venue’s Facebook page to tell the story of how her husband was ejected from the gig “because he took his phone out of his pocket that was vibrating to turn it to silent.” She went on to question just what security were doing at the show, due to the fact that various videos of the gig that night had appeared on YouTube.
Responding to one fan on Instagram who had successfully taken a picture of the concert, David Farrar, the general manager of the venue, casually remarked “Your [sic] good. We tossed over 60 people last night for taking pics.”
After users began to further complain about the policy, Farrar offered further information by stating, “This was 110 percent the band’s policy and has been for Tool, APC, and Puscifer… it’s not a new policy.”
Farrar isn’t wrong though, fans who have found themselves in the crowd of any project involving Maynard James Keenan, whether it be A Perfect Circle, Tool, or Puscifer have been met with signs warning them that taking photos may result in being evicted from the show. A statement which has since been echoed by the band’s famously curmudgeon-like frontman.
In the comments section of a Puscifer Instagram post, when users began questioning Maynard as to why this policy was being enforced, he responded with the rather simple, “No. Recording. Of. Any. Kind. For. 25. Years. Guided experience. Unplug and and enjoy the ride.”
While A Perfect Circle haven’t announced any Aussie dates yet in support of their new song ‘The Doomed’, and their forthcoming studio album, we can only hope that Australian audiences will be more respectful of the rules put in place by the band, regardless of how strict they may seem.
Check out A Perfect Circle’s new song, ‘The Doomed’:
