Are mobile phones ruining the experience of live events?

Do we have a problem with phones generally? Yes, no, kind of. Beyond their obvious logistical function, mobile phones seem to be a contradiction. They make you feel connected but also disconnected. Shared and yet not shared. Objectified and subjective at the same time. Watched and watching. Loved and unloved. Efficient yet inefficient. (I’m sure you have more…)

Do we have a problem with phones at live events? Sometimes. And it seems like we aren’t the only ones.

There’s a growing movement of artists, event organisers, venue owners, stadium performers and 90s nostalgics who are increasingly talking about a phone free space. Whether that’s a part of the dance floor, or an event where phones are put away so it can be enjoyed in real time.

Why? We know we don’t need to spell it out, but we will anyway, having a phone free event encourages the people “present” to connect with the atmosphere and with those who share the space with them (who they should have plenty in common with as they are there for the same thing, (unlike your friends who didn’t come and who will likely give you a few seconds of their attention looking at your posted video)).

This is not a new movement, but one that is gaining popularity. Jack White, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, John Mulaney and many more are now making their shows phone-free zones. They have been for years and it’s easy to see why. A quote from Psyche.co on the impact of a phone free Chris Rock comedy gig:

But as Chris Rock cracked jokes, people laughed at the same lines at the same time. No one held a phone aloft to record the moment. Rock could see our faces and adjust to us, and we to him. The collective laughter (and the occasional groan) built energy, generating a feedback loop that heightened the show as we all experienced it together, in real time’. Read more

Author, Johann Hari talks in his book Stolen Focus about the tools and mechanisms to keep us hooked on our phones used by Meta and co based on lab tests done on pigeons in the 1960s, that leads him to conclude that we are all being taken for fools, addicted to our little handheld machines which are increasingly stealing precious thought time from us. Some of Silicon Valley’s inventors and CEOs know this only too well and either regret inventing what they did (Mr Infinite Scroll for one) or who won’t let their kids touch smart phones for the aggressive grip they will then hold on their children’s minds and ability to focus. A certain level of double speak from tech giants when they offer mindfulness practices for their employees who are employed to create technology that encourages endless scrolling and shares satiable content tweaked perfectly to your neuroses through sharpening algorithms. More on that here.

This summer Ibiza clubs already created a phone free dancefloor to bring back what many people are saying is lost from the island’s club culture – that sense of freedom, of giving yourself to the moment (Watch: DC10 then and now). Famous Ibiza venue Pikes asks that people coming to its boutique club Freddie’s keep it free of smartphones and prying cameras and Hï Ibiza has done the same in their Club space. More here This has more recently spread to a new nightclub opening in Manchester where your smartphone camera has to be covered with a sticker – a new idea for UK clubs but apparently the norm in Berlin.

Understandably for clubs, celebrities and those being photographed, it does have a direct impact on their value and enjoyment. But does this sentiment spill down into private parties, weddings and other celebratory events?

We asked Alice, Event Director at Marble Private what she thought on the matter. She said that although at corporate events there is no getting away from the social requirements – capturing unique moments, the result of extensive planning and execution, private events are ‘a different matter’. Over the years there has of course been a huge increase because of social media and incredible camera technology. ‘Phones are now a big part of modern life and people want to remember significant events and have their own recording of them. For our clients and wedding couples, after the memories fade and you look to your cherished photos, it does seem a shame that in them are so many guests looking at the event through their phones not through their own eyes. If I was getting married now would I encourage a ban? I think I would. I’d send a polite request to all guests to avoid using their phones at some of the key wedding moments and work with the photographer to increase their activity so that many of the more behind the scene elements of the party are captured, and share those with the guests following the event’.

Professional event photographers, Volkers and Stroud who photograph high end parties for celebrities and HNW clients are already ahead of the curve and have experienced events where phones are already off limits. They see this as a growing trend: ‘Increasingly our clients are calling for privacy around their celebrations and are encouraging guests to leave their phones behind. We have photographed a few events now when all guests are asked to leave their phones behind. It’s amazing to see people freed-up, unable to be distracted in documenting all that is around them. There is a lightness, an atmosphere for confidence and awe, where moments are not interrupted by poses and self-consciousness. Conversations flow, connection deepens and there is a special atmosphere which I am not sure you get when people are constantly distracted by the outside world on their phones’.

We asked Charles Cannon Audley, videographer from Indigo 24. From his perspective as a parent he says he tries to set an example and puts his phone away when around his children but when shooting live events, he says it’s ‘almost impossible to get around phones being out, as it’s a default muscle memory for most people now which I find deeply frustrating, as we can offer them a far better depiction of the event than a 90 minute phone video from an inadequate position far from the focus, and yet still they are held aloft, constantly…
I think they’re a blessing and a curse, and as a film production company, can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em!’

The Broader View

The wider movement includes banning social media usage for under 16s, dumb phones, time restrictive apps – suggests all is not lost. Johann Hari says we can get our focus back from our digital addiction, but we need to fight for it. Where there is discord with the current status quo, there are companies offering alternative solutions. Once such company called Yondr has actually been offering a solution for phone free events since 2014. They make the thick plastic security tags you find on clothes that have to be removed with the special tag removing machine. They offer this service at concerts, giving each person a pouch to lock up their phone, but keep it on your person at all times, so if it is ringing /vibrating constantly and you feel like someone is trying to get your attention urgently, you can go back to the booth to open it at one of the unlocking machines and access your phone. More here

There are ways to achieve ‘in the moment’ enjoyment whether using Yondr, a lock box or traditional will power, but there are a few ground rules, whatever sized of event, that you will need to go by:

• Make it voluntary
• Alert guests in advance so they don’t start the event with a nasty surprise
• Create a phone station where guests can voluntarily leave their phones with an attendant or if a dinner party at home, you lock them in a box somewhere nearby
• Guests can check their phones if necessary, but only briefly and they need to put them back.

Some Gen Z’s who are native smart phone users, may not see the purpose of this, oblivious to the notion that their experience could be any better than it is. This movement is not initiated or lead by them, but they would most certainly benefit from it. Human connection amongst strangers, cringy dancefloor moments as newly fledged teenagers, are where you learn, embarrassingly or otherwise, how to operate in social environments. By always hiding behind a screen or looking ‘busy’, disconnected from the present on your phone, you miss vital experiences, interactions, connections and learning experiences that are a big part of life.

So, looking into the crystal ball, do we see a time where phones are for logistics, calendars, quick comms for arranging schedules and not for having on the dancefloor or getting in the way of you and a real life experience, or have the floodgates been rusted open, Pandora’s box finally empty, with our new pal AI turning us into cyborgs?

Ultimately phones are incredibly useful. They are a Swiss army knife of communication and resource. Although a forced ban at live events is long out the question for reasons such as family responsibilities, medical monitoring etc, creating alternatives or a consciousness around phone usage in public is, I believe, something we all need to promote if we are to get back our focus, our appreciation of and joy for life. The tech giants have honed their behaviour techniques and sharpened their tools, it’s time we honed ours. After all we can’t change the past, we don’t own the future, we only have the present and it’s a gift.