By Izzy Hurcum
On paper, a phone-free concert is Gen-Z’s worst nightmare. Imagine seeing your favourite artist live, and you can’t take any videos and boast about it on social media the next day. In recent years, though, phone-free concerts are becoming increasingly popular among artists who want to see something other than camera phones when looking out into a crowd.
Concerts that are labelled as phone-free involve a person’s phone being put into a lockable fabric pouch, usually a Yondr Pouch, and the person can only unlock the pouch once the concert is over or if they enter a designated phone-use zone. The pouches have been used by artists such as Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys, The Lumineers and Bruno Mars, with Keys testing the pouches out at a show back in 2016.
Phoebe Bridgers returns, phone-free
Recently, American indie phenomenon Phoebe Bridgers made her highly anticipated return to music by hosting pop-up shows across the United States, which were announced at small venues the morning of a show. If fans wanted to attend these exclusive shows, they had to queue at the venue and purchase a ticket from the box office. Bridgers performed only 19 of these shows, with the final at the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York City. Across the tour, she performed new unreleased songs, teasing a new album. However, there was a catch to these shows, they were phone-free. However, it seems a pretty good trade to me.
The day after her show at MSG, Bridgers announced a US and Europe tour, both of which have been labelled as phone-free, just like the pop-up shows. This has left a lot of fans up in arms and has divided her fandom. Many fans are content with the sacrifice of their phones, not caring that if they want to see their favourite artist live, then they have to go without their phones, but others aren’t so happy.
So, what are the cons?
Having your phone locked away when you are attending such a major event like a concert can be daunting, especially for fans who may not speak the language of the country they are attending the concert in; if they have travelled abroad, for example. There is a concern that fans who need their phones for health and accessibility purposes will not be able to use them; however, the venues have stated that those fans will not have their phones locked away.
‘Classist’ move?
There is also an argument that the concept of phone-free concerts will separate the fans who can afford to go to concerts from the fans who cannot afford to go and watch videos of the concert online afterwards. If phones are banned, it means that fans who are unable to attend will be unable to view any sort of content surrounding that artist and that tour, and many people online are calling that unfair, and some even say that it is ‘classist’, especially with how ticket prices are being increased to extortionate rates and many fans are being priced out of live music.
Longtime concertgoer Caitlin Russell, who has tickets to Pheobe Bridgers’ phone-free tour said: “I understand why people argue that it is unfair for fans who can’t attend, especially when tickets are becoming so expensive, but at the same time, I understand why artists are slowly turning to phone-free tours. It can’t be nice pouring your heart out on stage and seeing a sea of phones in return.
“Artists want fans to live in the moment more rather than watching the whole show through their phones. It’s like a shift is happening and we’re slowly seeing artists want to recreate the atmosphere of concerts in the 80s and 90s, where everyone is simply present and not worrying about getting a video that would look good on their Instagram story.”
Is this what artists are trying to avoid?
But what about the venues?
Implementing phone-free concerts can be an expensive investment for venues, with a single Yondr Pouch costing up to £30 ($40). This can be quite a burden for smaller venues, and that cost doesn’t even include the actual system that will unlock the pouches at the end of an event.
“I’m not sure if we would ever put on phone-free events,” says James Northrop, owner of live music venue Alexander’s in Chester, “It’s a massive investment which many fans may not appreciate. Lots of people have their bank cards stored on their phones, so we’d have to ask attendees to bring their physical cards with them. I think it would put people off attending shows at our venue as well, and as a small venue we can’t really afford that.”
Phone-free concerts may be the way forward for large venues and for artists who want their fans to be present at their shows, but for smaller venues, it might prove to be quite detrimental. And with some fans online saying that they won’t buy tickets to a phone-free show, artists may have to choose between ticket sales and creating an atmosphere they desire.
Music Journalists Izzy Hurcum and Freya Hoare discuss phone-free concerts.
