Uli Jon Roth says he doesn’t allow himself to get annoyed by fans recording his shows on their phones – and adds that sometimes he’s glad they do.
The guitar icon is on the road in the US ahead of the release of his upcoming double album of reworked Scorpions tracks – Scorpions Revisited, out on March 10 via UDR.
And while he understands that it could be a distraction, he won’t insist fans keep their mobile phones in their pockets while he’s on stage.
Roth tells Rockeyez: “It could be annoying but I don’t allow myself to be annoyed. Usually when they are standing in front of the guitar, that is all they hear and it sounds ridiculous.
“Sometimes it’s actually welcome because sometimes we’re on stage and then I think, ‘Wow that was really good.’ You play a song and it’s a really good improv and I think, ‘I wish I had recorded that.’ And then I see a guy with a cellphone and I say, ‘Oh yeah, someone did record it.’
“Yesterday that was exactly the case. We played in Seattle and we jammed for quite a long time and it was the best we ever did. I was hoping someone was there with a cellphone and recorded it.”
A string of musicians including Kate Bush, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Peter Frampton have spoken out against fans who use phones and cameras at their shows.
Former Scorpions guitarist Roth said last week that he sees the songs he wrote with the group as his children. He said: “When you’re a songwriter, composer, your songs are a little bit like your children, and these are basically very, very old children of mine.”
