Jeepers Creepers who gives a Sh!t about my Peepers?
Another show experience to share and vent about. December 8, 2025 the fabulous Havoc of Mobb Deep and Rakewon the Chef of Wu Tang Clan held their 30th anniversary show of their amazing albums The Infamous and Only Built for Cuban Links in Silver Spring, MD at the Filmore. I’ve attended dozens of shows there- it’s just a block away from where I work and a great venue for shows. It’s proximity and frequent visits by me also makes it a primary source for my frustrations and issues with venues.
Of course we took advantage of the VIP offering with actual seats, early admission and a quick meet and greet with these titans of hip hop. We headed the emails and texts telling us to get there within a 15 minute widow or we would miss part of the experience. We waited at least an hour past the critical time before we were greeted by the VIP rep. She said “any minute”, handed out the laynards and told us to be ready for security screening. We breezed through security, got our wristbands, VIP merch and were lined up for the meet and greet. After meeting these giants of rap we had a long wait for the show so we grabbed a drink.
Thats when I was approached by security- he looked me over and asked about my glasses. Last year my family got me a prescription pair of Meta Glassess for Father’s Day. I was told I can’t have them in the venue and needed to leave. W.T.F.!?! I said they were prescription glasses and the battery was dead but they said no matter; it’s a privacy issue. I spoke to the head of security and offered to leave, drop them off in my office around the corner and come back. They agreed since security screened me and didn’t say a word initially. Luckily I found an old pair of regular, dumb glasses in my desk drawer so I could see the show and life went on.
But…. I stewed on the policy and call B.S.! Privacy has not been assured in a public venue since the advent of the cell phone. The Meta Glasses have a glaring LED that lets you know it is recording video or capturing pictures- something phones don’t provide. Yes I can capture pictures, videos and even stream from the glasses but I better do it quick because the batter life is dismal. I rarely make it to lunch time each day having them read my morning messages before the battery is spent. Most artist and venues have embraced pics and videos being shared by visitors so there was no justification there.
The policy is just arbitrary and not justified. Meta Glasses should simply be treated as any other everyday device that has a camera (like phones!). They pose no additional level of privacy concerns, bans could/will be challenged under the ADA and they are becoming more and more common so the issue is not going away.
