Jack White has become the latest big-name performer to take an active stance against people looking at their phones—or, even more annoyingly, using them to record him—at his concerts. Following in the footsteps of folks like Dave Chappelle and Axl Rose, White has announced that phones and tablets will be outlawed during his upcoming run of shows, the better to “enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it IN PERSON.” (All-caps emphasis per a statement the rocker issued earlier today.)
White has previously gone the polite route on this impolite issue, simply asking fans to put their iPads away at his concerts. But he’s now turning to a more technological solution: Yondr, the same company that helped Chappelle block filming at his stand-up shows in 2015. The company manufactures lock-able bags that attendees are forced to place their devices in before the show starts; the bags automatically unlock once you leave the venue, or enter the “designated Yondr Phone Zone” in the lobby, if you need to make an emergency call or text.
White’s new album, Boarding House Reach, comes out on March 23; feel free to take as many pictures of it as you like, provided you do so in the safety and security of your own home, and not where Jack White can see.