Sir Paul McCartney had to pause during a performance to chastise fans about using their smartphones to capture photos and videos of his concert.
Paul McCartney Bans Phones From Liverpool Concert
The former member of The Beatles made a surprise appearance at the Cavern Club in his hometown of Liverpool on Thursday, July 26. In the middle of singing "Twenty Flight Rock," he stopped his band to tell fans to follow the rules and keep their phones inside their pockets.
"You've all been told not to take photos," the celebrated singer-songwriter stated. "You're taking them, and you're taking them, and it's putting me off! So, you know, play by the rules, man!"
McCartney then continued playing the song, but not without saying one last thing about recording video footages of concerts on smartphones.
"The phone thing, I went to a Prince concert and he really was serious about that, he wouldn't start, you know," he added. "Put 'em down! You know what I'm saying?"
The 76-year-old joins the growing number of musicians who have spoken against taking photos or videos of live performances. In the past, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, and Alicia Keys were among the artists who banned phones from concert venues.
The BBC reported that prior to the performance, one fan was ejected from the venue for filming the concert.
Sir Paul McCartney Returns To Liverpool
On Thursday morning, the official social media accounts of McCartney announced that 200 tickets will be given away for free to a surprise concert at the Cavern Club, which is considered the birthplace of Beatlemania. Fans have camped outside of the venue overnight to see the music icon's homecoming performance.
It was fabulous and brought back loads of beautiful memories and reminded me of where we started @cavernliverpool #PaulMcCartney #EgyptStation pic.twitter.com/9kUFNCWU6Y — Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) July 26, 2018
The Beatles performed at the original Cavern Club nearly 300 times over the course of their epic musical journey.
The concert comes a few weeks after he held a surprise performance at the Philharmonic Pub in Liverpool for The Late Late Show with James Corden's viral Carpool Karaoke segment.
On Monday, July 23. McCartney also performed at the Abbey Road Studios where The Beatles recorded and recreated the iconic Abbey Road street crossing.
The award-winning musician is set to go on tour this year starting September at designated venues in Canada. He is also set to release his new album titled Egypt Station on Sept. 7.
