Jazz Legend Hates Cell Phone Cameras More Than We Do

jharv | August 9, 2007 10:15 am
If you’re tired of seeing half the audience watch a concert through the teeny viewfinders of their cell phones and digital cameras rather than just relaxing and, you know, enjoying the friggin’ moment instead of trying to desperately trying to capture the fleeting memory of some shitty band, you are not alone. Pianist Keith Jarrett has earned himself a perma-ban from Italy’s Umbria Jazz Fest for putting the smackdown on a sea of digicam zombies.

“I do not speak Italian, so someone who speaks English can tell all these assholes with cameras to turn them fucking off right now,” Jarrett says as his band takes the stage. He then tells the audience that if anyone else takes a snap, the band “reserves the right” to “leave the goddamn city.” Unfortunately, the big wuss has already sent out a formal apology, thereby deflating the impact of what could have been the first strike in a unified assault against doofuses with overactive Flickr accounts. Musicians and fans, it’s time to take back the night.

Keith Jarrett’s Outburst Should Be Applauded [Guardian]