We live in a world where we’re deeply connected to our phones, using them for everyday tasks like communicating with family and friends, taking pictures, and listening to music. Technology continues to find new ways to serve consumers and advance with better, stronger technologies. It has also changed how we interact with people and the outside world; we can be present at important events like birthdays, weddings, and even concerts as fans, but we often look at a phone screen to record a video or take a picture. Concerts used to be a way that fans could come together as a community to see an artist that they loved, enjoy listening to their music, and dance until their feet hurt, as well as singing at the top of their lungs until their voices gave out. This was how we were able to have fun and experience something we had never seen before from our favorite artists. Many people believe that now that we have smartphones, attending concerts is less exciting, and it takes away the experience and our ability to be present at an artist’s performance. Many artists have started to notice how their fans are engaging less and less with them, enjoying them only through phone screens, and feeling like it is becoming more of a distraction for them during their performance.
Some artists have decided to implement a phone ban where people who attend their concerts will be provided with a lockable pouch before entering the stadium. Performers that have done this at their shows — Phoebe Bridgers, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, and Silk Sonic — all believe that it is better to be more present and connected with them while they are on stage and enjoy the moment as well as the music. Even British singer Harry Styles implemented this idea for his concert in Manchester, U.K. on March 8. He performed a one-night-only Netflix special concert, Harry Styles. One Night In Manchester., where he gave audience members disposable cameras upon arrival at the stadium that they could take home to have developed. As so many fans had to hand over their phones and place them in a lockable pouch, the idea is that the fans would interact more with the artists, have a good time, and be drawn into the music and sing along to the lyrics. Fans loved being able to use a disposable camera, as they thought it was a very unique idea, bringing back memories for some who used to own a disposable camera and serving as a keepsake from the concert.
The U.K. film lab company Analogue Wonderland did say that shooting a dark stage from a very far distance on a disposable camera wouldn’t produce the best quality of results. Even still, the company spoke out on Instagram stating “We are seeing hundreds of disposable cameras coming through the lab this week.”
They were also nervous because over 20,000 fans who had received their developed photos from their company weren’t very good quality and most of the pictures were pitch black, so you couldn’t even see what was happening in the photo, and they thought that they would face some heavy backlash because of it. Other acts like Silk Sonic, made up of Mars and Anderson .Paak, who did a show in Las Vegas on March 31, 2022, were also very passionate about having a phone ban as they wanted their fans to have a more interactive experience with them. They had all of their fans put their phones in Yondr pouches before entering the venue.
I do believe that there are many pros and cons to having a phone-free concert experience because you are able to be present and live in the moment, connecting with the people and the artists around you, feeling the music flowing through your body, and making memories surrounded by the people that you love, not being distracted by your smartphone screen.